A fourteen-year-old fisherwoman from Arranmore Island is raising her voice for the future of small-scale fishing.
Muireann Kavanagh is a student of Gairmscoil Mhic Diarmada, but yesterday she left the classroom to highlight the plight faced by her and her family under the zero catch policy for pollack.
Muireann fishes pollack with hook and lines alongside her father and uncles. Yesterday she presented that line to Sinn Féin MEP Chris MacManus as an example of the “demeaning and detrimental” impact of zero catch restrictions.
MacManus MEP held a meeting with Muireann and said: “Today Muireann explained to me just how devastating these decisions are on her future in fishing and on her family’s way of life. I would like to thank Muireann’s teachers and classmates for the opportunity to meet them.
“I would also like to particularly thank Muireann for presenting me with the fishing line that she is no longer allowed to use. It is a powerful symbol of the neglect, disregard and downright disrespect that has been shown to fishing communities in recent decades by successive governments and ministers.”
Sinn Féin MEP Chris MacManus meets pupils of Gairmscoil Mhic Diarmada on Arranmore.
Sinn Féin TDs Pearse Doherty and Padraig Mac Lochlainn also took Muireann’s hooking line into Leinster House yesterday to highlight the unfairness of foreign super trawlers being allowed to “hoover up thousands of tons of fish” while Muireann is banned.
Watch here:
Muireann Kavanagh, a 14 year-old-girl from Arranmore, catches pollock off the coast of the island, like her father and grandfather before her, using just a hook and line.
She has been BANNED by government from doing this.
Yet, for foreign super trawlers, it is LEGAL for them… pic.twitter.com/R9ftnNmqR1
— Pearse Doherty (@PearseDoherty) March 21, 2024
MacManus MEP said there are 3 Fs we must address when looking at the fishing industry.
He explained: “Firstly, Focused leadership. We need a dedicated minister for fisheries. It’s too important to share with any other portfolio.”
“The second F is Fairness. A fair share of waters, of catches, of species, of opportunities. People want fairness. The very first delegation I organised to Brussels four years ago was a Fisheries delegation, where I invited Irish fishermen and organisation representatives to visit the EU institutions and present their case for a fairer sharing of fish in Irish waters at EU level.”
“Since that first delegation and right up to most recently when I visited the Skipper Fishing Expo it has been about fairness for our fishermen. Every person I’ve met in fishing communities and every coastal town or village or island I’ve visited, the message has been the same. People are looking for fairness, and right now our fishing communities are not getting fairness.”
“The final F is for a Future. A future for our young people in fishing communities. A future for young Muireann Kavanagh. A future for her family. A future for her classmates in Gairmscoil Mhic Diarmada. A future for Arranmore, and a future for all of our fishing, coastal & island communities.”
Muireann Kavanagh is one of Donegal’s youngest fishers
