Representatives of the fishing industry and fishing communities from around Ireland are taking their case to the European Commission to seek a fair share of the fish in Irish waters.
The delegation will be in Brussels on Monday 30th and Tuesday 31st May.
Sinn Féin MEP, Chris Mac Manus is hosting the visit.
Speaking ahead of visit, he said: “Ireland has some of the richest fishing grounds in Europe within its Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ- 200 mile limit).
“But due to the decades old Common Fisheries Policy of ‘relative stability’, access to a fair share of the fish and wealth from our own waters has been denied to our fishing fleet and fishing communities.
“This is not sustainable and goes against the wider principles of the Common Fisheries Policy and the European Union in terms of reducing carbon footprint and of the economic and social linkage between those catching the fish and the communities closest to those fishing grounds.”
Sinn Féin spokesperson on Fisheries and the Marine Pádraig MacLochlainn TD said: “It is estimated that the Irish fishing fleet is only allocated about 15% of the fish in Ireland’s EEZ every year. And there is no return allocation of fish quota in other EU Member State’s EEZ to the Irish fishing fleet.
“Even when the annual fish quota allocated to fishing vessels from other EU Member States has not been used, this quota is still not allocated to vessels from the Irish fishing fleet based in the communities closest to those waters.
“This is deeply unjust and has only worsened since Britain left the European Union in recent years.
“That is why we have invited a delegation of some of the leading voices for Irish fishing communities from around our country to come out to Brussels and meet with the politicians and European Commission officials who are making these decisions and to make the case for urgent change.”
