This article is from page 12 of the 2008-03-18 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 12 JPG
SECTIONS of the Clare fishing in- dustry are on the verge of collapse as a result of the all-out ban on wild salmon fishing.
The ban, which was introduced last year, has already resulted in a number of fishermen leaving the industry, with many others being forced to switch to the already crowded lobster and crab sector.
According to one west Clare fisher- man, the Government has abandoned GET com ER ialouselosMO Om Asim ITI (on
“It’s affecting an awful lot of peo- ple, from Loop Head right up to Black Head. It’s very difficult for any of us to keep going. The salmon was our big thing. We had 32 days a year and in those days we were able to pay for the rest of our fishing for the whole year. But that is all gone now, said Quilty fisherman Michael Crane
“The compensation being offered by the Government won’t make one inch of difference to the fishermen in ETc
“The bottom line is that Govern- ment didn’t do its job on this. We have got no back-up here at all, we have just had to take everything on the chin and get on with it. We have no choice and the Government doesn’t seem to care.”
According to Mr Galvin, fishermen are being forced to either leave the industry altogether or switch to the already well served lobster and crab sector.
“The navy are out there checking us every day. When we come back to port, we are met every day by people going through our catch, checking all the fish. Everything we land is gone through,” he continued.
“There are lot of people who just can’t cope with it. People are leaving the business all over the place. The
only choice is to try and get into lob- ster or crab but there 1s enough peo- ple already doing that and it’s just putting more pressure on people.
“It just doesn’t pay anyone to get in a boat and go out there and fish. Peo- ple are walking away from it all over the county. They have no choice.”
Meanwhile, Minister of State and Clare, Tony Killeen last week said that the Government remained com- mitted to helping Clare communities to diversify and reduce the effect of the loss of income from wild salm- on.
His comment follows the announce- ment of an allocation by Minister Eamon Ryan and Minister Eamon O’Cuiv of €200,000 to Rural Re- source Development Ltd.