The "negative publicity" generated by Greenpeace and other environmental organisations in relation to overfishing by EU supertrawlers is not based on fact, a leading Dutch fleet-owner has told an international conference in Dublin.
The days of "fish and go" were over, and European vessel-owners not only paid for such rights but also provided local employment and funded research, Mr William van der Zwan, of the Netherlands Freezer Trawler Association, argued.
However, about 30 per cent of total European landings of mid-water species would be caught in west African waters from next year, he said yesterday.
He was addressing an international conference on small pelagics (mid-water species) in Dublin, hosted in association with the UN Food and Agricultural Organisation and Bord Iascaigh Mhara.
Pelagic species, on which some 23 Donegal supertrawlers depend, account for 35 per cent or £83 million of Ireland's £273 million fish export trade annually.
The most recent statistics show that well over one-third of the EU fisheries budget is spent on buying such "third country" agreements for the larger vessel-owners to meet a rising demand in the Community for fish.
So far, Spain has been the major beneficiary, along with the Netherlands, and most of the Irish fleet has not taken advantage of this, apart from the largest vessel, the Veronica, from Killybegs, Co Donegal.
A Dutch scientist who also addressed yesterday's conference warned that exploitation of these countries by the EU was "only a matter of time".
Mr Ad Corten, of the Netherlands Institute for Fisheries Research, said there was no international management system in force in west Africa to prevent overfishing shared stocks.
African states such as Morocco and Mauritania were gaining income from inviting European fleets to fish in their waters, Mr van der Zwan said. "Where local fishermen are fishing with canoes within a few miles of the coasts for squid and other species, we are operating from 20 to 60 miles from the coast, catching sardinella," he said.
It was the goal of European trawler-owners to fish off west Africa on a long-term basis, and they intended to explore "a long-term, responsible fishery in west African countries, not only taking, but also giving in terms of investments and creation of jobs".
Nevertheless, stocks of certain key mid-water species were under serious pressure, Mr John Molloy, a Marine Institute pelagic expert, told the conference.
Drawing from the latest International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) data, he gave a stark overview of the state of the main pelagic stocks currently exploited in the north Atlantic, ranging from herring and mackerel to horse mackerel, capelin, blue whiting, sardine and anchovy.
"There is a growing awareness of the finite nature of the resource and a desire to use it in the best economical and biological manner possible," Mr Molloy said. The industry was becoming more interested in sustainability.
Norway is not only the main competitor for Irish fish farmers, but has displaced Danish, Scottish and Irish processors on traditional pelagic markets, Mr Jarlath Morris, pelagic co-ordinator with BIM, told the conference. The turbulence in the Russian and Asian economies had caused considerable problems for Irish exporters, he said.
The two-day conference, which is being attended by about 170 international delegates and a strong contingent from Irish ports, continues in Dublin today.
