vol. 10, no.5, october 1981 - Memorial University of Newfoundland

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42-0 ECKS AWASH The Irish fishery: where Canada means competiti on I m agine the rage of Rory O'Donnell, Earl of Tyrconnell in 1607. The English Lord Deputy and the Bis hop of Derry had confiscated his right to levy taxes on the foreign boats fishing out of Killybegs, in what is now County Donegal. The O'Donnell clan had been in charge of this northwest corner of Ireland for centuries. When the English invaders took control, they found that monarchs of France, Sweden, and other nations were willing to pay 10,000 pound s or mor e per year for the privilege of fishing off Ireland's west coast. A look back through history shows that conflicts about jurisdiction and marketing in the fishery are noth ing new . Today , about a third of the total Irish catch Is landed in the gra nd har bour of KiUybegs, and though it is a bustling por t with new facilities bein g constructed, local officials are fea rful of the future. "If you compare the price paid to fishermen In the fir st quarter of 1981 with what they got in the first quarter of last yea r," exp lains Joey Murrin, chief executive of the Killybegs Fis hermen's Organization, "you find a 40% drop this year. It's a frig htening figure whe n you consider tha t inflation is carrying the prices of fue l and everything else in the other direction. Being from Cana da, you come from a country that we blame par tially for this prob lem . It is the importation of third country fis h, particularly Canadian fish, that is upsett ing the European fish market. Having said that, it lJ, not the Canadians themselves that we blame, but the Surope an Economic Com mu nity Commission.'\ The pro ble m is that withi n the EEC (European Economic Community), such countries as Germany, Hollan d, France, and Eng lan d have tied up huge fr eezer -tr awlers that were desig ned to fish in forei gn waters. "These big natio ns in the EEC ," maintains Murrin, who fished for 20 years, " are looking for fish ing rights inside Canada's 2OO-mile limit for their freezer -tr awlers . The counterbalance to the deal is that the EEC must buy Canadian fish, which goes for a cheaper price tha n our own . Ireland exports 10% of its ca tch, so we are depende nt on the German and French m ar kets th at are buying Cana da's fish instead. As long as we allo w the impo rt of fish into the EEC , to the detriment of our own fishermen, there is never going to be any stability in the Europea n fishing industr y. As for the freezer-trawlers , they should be scrapped so that the EE C can concentra te on develo ping a more viable fishery in European waters ." Back in Newfoundland, ther e is some agreeme nt tha t the freezer-trawlers are reli cs of a by-gone er a in the international fisher y. " That is the fleet that wiped us out in th e 19605," exclaims Bill Wells, president of the Fisheri es Association of Newfoun dl and and Labrador. " And since we sa ved our fisher y by Implementing a ZOO-mile limit, that European dis tant -water fleet has been gr adually squeezed out , not only by us, but also by other nations with territori al fishin g limits. " Most of the rree eer-teawters are old enou gh that J· 12 BAITER Jennex Lon g-line Baiting System "A Better Way" ( J· 16 BAITE R J-14 BAITER • The Origin al Newfound- / land de signed longline hoo k baiter . • Pate nt pend ing • Tested and appr oved by the Newfoundla nd Dep t of Fisher ies • Fabr icated trom stainless ste el and marine alu minum • Now in three convenient mod els to suit size of boa t and fishi ng oper atio n R·2 RACK P·2 PAN • J·12 baiter and A-2 rack combination for high vorume gear use • J-14 and 4ft. 8 line slorasgepans- intended tor small decked boats • J-16 baiter suitable for outboard mo tor powered boats - used wifh pans • Don 't be tooted by the cheap quality-lacking imi tations - install a Jennex • Write or pho ne now lor Iree br ochure . MANUFACTURED AND MARKETED BY Jenkins Industries Limited 62 McCurdy Drive GANDER Phone 256·4081, 256·4082
they have been fully paid off, and it would not be a great economic hardship for the companies to scrap them. Very few of them come within our 200-mile limit anymore. Our Association's policy is that the foreigners are welcome to come in after species such as silver hake that we do not catch, but otherwise, the Canadian industry should process its own fish as much as possible. We object to trading fish for market access in Europe." Bill Wells can appreciate the consternation of Irish fishermen, but is hoping their situation can be improved without destroying Canada's position in the European fish market. "They're really in a mess over there," he says, "with quotas being over-fished and prices flying up and down . So many nations, see, are fishing the same waters and the EEC has been unable to formulate a common fisheries policy to keep things organized. From our point of view , we now seu about 80% of our fish in the United States, but would Uke to diversify and sell more in Europe. If we stopped what little remains of the EEC freezer-trawler fishery on the Grand Banks, there might be some short-term marketing difficulties in Europe, but we would rather just weather that out instead of giving away our fishing rights. Eventually, our price will look good to them, even if there is a heavier tariff put on fish coming from cutstde the EEC . Because of our devalued dollar and the fact that we are gelling our fuel for less than world prices, Canadian fish on the European market is a legitimate bargain." Getting back to Ireland, it seems that this marketing problem has a long history. In the late 17705, Arthur Young wrote in his Tour of Ireland about the situation with herring: " The Scotch have a bounty per barrel on expo rtation, which they draw on sending them to Ireland , by which means they are enabled with assistance of a higher bounty on their vessels, to undersellthe Irish fishe ry in their own markets, while the Ir ish me rchants are prec luded from exporting eit her to Scotl an d or England. This is a very hard case, and cfOrtainly may be said to be one of the oppressions on trade in Ireland, which a legislature acting on liberal and enlarged principles ought to repeal." Ireland today has roughly 3500 full-time and 5400 part-ti me fishermen, which means that in each categor y, the nalion employs about a third as many fishermen as Newfoundland, even though Ireland's population is more than six limes that of Newfoundland. Then there are about 1700plant workers spread throughout some 30 plants. With agriculture being Ireland's main industry, the " emer ald isle" knows little of problems with too many people trying to get into the fishery, except in a few .reas such as the scallop and oyster fisheries where stocks are being strictly conserved. A tot.l of 145,000metric tons of fish was landed by the Ir ish fleet in 1980, for a value of 35.6 Irish punts, or rough ly $18 million Canadian. The total catch has almost doubled in the past five years. A look at landings for the three years 1977to 1979shows herring and mack er el to be the main species caught, together acco unti ng for roughly 60% of the total weight, but only 35% of the va lue. Shellfi sh, including prawns, mussels, crabs, lobste rs and othe r species, account for only about 12% by weight , but aroun d 28% by value. Among demersal (bottom-feeding) species the most important is whiting, with abo ut 8000tons caught each year, while the catch of cod ran ks second, around 5000 tons per yea r . DECKS AWASH-43 Wheelhouse of the tar-teet 'Western Viking', one 01 tne Irish uenertes' big new trawler-seiners that can fish up 10 100 miles offshore with mrcweter trawls 33 by 36 fat homs in size , and seins up to 31SIathoms long. John Bach, the veeeets' skipper is shown checking some 01 the electronic gear . Though a Dane by birth, he has been fishing tram Killybegs for 10 years and is now Director of Ihe local Western Seaboard Fishing Co. ltd. "This boat has been fishing November 1980," Bach explains, " and we can go out Ipr three days at a time , but olten the boat is filled much sooner. In J anuary 1981once, we filled her In two hours with one set of th e trawl that brought in 430 metric tons !" Since 19S2, the Irish government has had an organinlion devoted to improving the fishery in terms of facilities, methods. training, marketing. and investment. This Irish Sea Fisheries Board em ploys about ISOpeople and is usually referr-ed to by its Iris h name, An Bard lascalgh Mhara, or B.LM . for short. To get an overview of the Irish llshery, we spoke to offici.lsof B.LM. in Dublin and Killybegs. "T he first thi ng to appreciate 15that the fishery here has traditio na lly been an inshore one," explains Sea n F ree man, ass istant public relations manager in Dubli n. "There are the curraughs (light canvas-and-pitchcovered craft resembling a cross between a punt and a canoe), the as-rooters. and the half-deckers with out board engines. These fish a season that is no more than eight months long. and use a variety of gear. including lobster pots , longlines. and drift nets . In the past five or six years, gillnets have also been introduced and caught on well." Newfoundlanders m.y be unfamiliar ..r
Page 3 and 4: DECKS AWASH-1
Page 5 and 6: history Peterview ohn Peyton's hous
Page 10: 8-DECKS AWASH while three searchlig
Page 15 and 16: otwood Willing to go out on a limb
Page 17: town , ex iled by the lack of local
Page 24: 22-0ECKS AWASH went over to Point L
Page 27: DECKS AWASH·25 farming,fishing,saw
Page 31: The Leading Tick les plant has also
Page 40 and 41: 3M)ECKS AWASH between intensive ses
Page 42: 4O-DECKS AWASH back section home ga
Page 48: 46-DECKS AWASH Building a better dr

vol. 10, no.5, october 1981 - Memorial University of Newfoundland

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