The slow death of Ireland’s fishing industry

Irish fishermen say they are being “sacrificed” for the post-Brexit trade deal between the United Kingdom and the European Union.

Known as the Trade and Cooperation Agreement, it came into force in 2021, and obliges European vessels to progressively transfer to the UK part of their quota shares for certain fish stocks in the Atlantic Ocean and the North Sea.

For Ireland’s fishing industry, this means a 15% cut to its quotas by 2025, and a projected annual loss of €43 million, making Ireland one of the worst affected countries by this deal.

“It’s a death blow," says John Nolan, the manager of the fisherman’s co-op in the southwest village of Castletownbere. 

He reckons that 25% to 30% of his staff will be made redundant as a result over the next two years.

Dubbed the ‘whitefish capital’ of Ireland, Castletownbere could see 19 of its ships decommissioned, as part of a plan approved in the summer of 2022, by the Irish government, with the help of the EU.

According to Charlie McConalogue, Minister of the Marine, the scheme will help “restore balance between fishing fleet capacity and available quotas, following the reductions in quotas for stocks arising from the EU/UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement.”

Of the country’s 180 whitefish vessels, 64 have reportedly applied for decommissioning.

Skipper Daniel Healy is one of the applicants, but he has yet to receive the government’s offer for his boat, the Robyn R.J., which is named after his three children. After a life at sea and years of promising catches, Daniel tells Euronews that his industry “just isn't in a very good place at the moment. It's on a slippery slope and we just don't know where it's going to stop.”

“Quotas have been cut year on year, there's very little increase in