Doherty says Donegal teen ‘banned’ from catching pollock while supertrawlers ‘hoover’ up fish

Tánaiste Micheál Martin, however, objected to the Sinn Féin TD’s characterisation of the situation, stating that the fishery has been temporarily closed for scientific purposes.

Speaking in the Dáil on Thursday, Deputy Doherty said: “Muireann Kavanagh is a 14-year-old girl. She lives on Arranmore Island off the coast of Donegal.

"Her father, grandfather and great grandfather were all fishermen. Muireann also fishes. She catches pollock with a hook and line, the method of fishing with the lowest impact.

"She wants a future on the island but she has been banned from fishing for pollock. While Muireann is told by the Government that what she was doing is now illegal, she watches from her bedroom window and sees what look like small cities. These are the foreign super-trawlers off the coast of her island hoovering up thousands of tonnes of fish, including pollock, and the Government tells her that for them it is perfectly legal.”

Deputy Doherty said the situation was not fair.

“This is a young girl who just wants to fish. How does the Tánaiste stand over this? A 14-year-old island girl is banned from fishing with a hook and line while foreign super-trawlers hoover up the same fish as by-product off her island,” he said.

The Tánaiste replied: “The fishery has been closed on scientific advice to make sure stocks can recover. Can the Deputy be a bit more honest in his public debate on these issues? He presents it in a certain way...and with a certain spin. Is he saying we should ignore scientific advice?

"Is he saying we should now enter into a new era where we simply ignore all advice that we get, just do whatever we want, allow the stocks to be depleted and then some fine day people will turn up and there will be no fish to fish?

"I am advised that the fishery has been closed on scientific advice, with reducing stocks. If you close it, it recovers and people will be able to fish sustainably into the future. That apparently is the issue.”

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