Open letter: Guardian article unfair to Irish fishing industry

As a young Irish woman who comes from a small fishing community on the south east coast of Ireland and from a prominent fishing family who have fished as part of their livelihood for generations, I was surprised by the very serious allegations and insinuations made within the article published in the Guardian on November 2nd.

I was even more surprised at the clear lack of understanding the article displayed regarding the Irish fishing industry, and the very narrow lens adopted by the journalists – in particular given that this ‘project’ was carried out by several journalists/parties over an entire year.

The article highlighted two distinct issues – allegations of trafficking and abuse, and the issue of undocumented workers. While these issues are not mutually exclusive nor are they one and the same.

However, this is precisely what this article succeeded in conveying – it painted undocumented and abused as synonymous, it took the general conditions that go with a life at sea and painted them as exploitation, and it took tragedy at sea and painted it as easily avoidable.

While I am sure that it is unlikely that Ireland’s fishing industry has managed to remain immune to the possibility that issues of trafficking and abuse occur (indeed, unfortunately, I would imagine one would be hard pressed to find such an industry anywhere globally where such instances do not occur), I am equally sure that such instances are isolated and the exception rather than the norm. Of course such cases deserve documentation and addressing, however, this was not what this article succeeded in doing. Perhaps it is not what it sought to do?

The results of an article like this are numerous. Firstly, these journalists will get paid for their “exposé”. Secondly, and rightly, if there are legitimate cases of trafficking and abuse hopefully they will be dealt with swiftly and appropriately. However, there are also further ramifications from such a sensationalist and what seems to be poorly researched article:

• It unfairly and unnecessarily damages a small industry on the edge of Europe.

• It harms the livelihoods of good, honest people – not only Irish skippers and crews, but also non-Irish and undocumented crews. Yes, unfortunately, there are undocumented crew members working in Ireland etching out a living as best as they can (just as there are many undocumented Irish in other parts of the world and have been for quite some time), however, in most cases they are doing so on the same basis as documented crews – Irish and non-Irish/ EU and non-EU. This has already been seen with the arrest of an Egyptian fisherman in Union Hall yesterday.

• It defames countless hardworking people, their families and their colleagues.

• It causes insurmountable hurt to individuals, their families and their communities.

However, I guess this isn’t the concern of those who wrote the piece. It would appear this article was primarily concerned with exposure and gave little thought to the costs of such. Perhaps it is their prerogative to print sensationalist articles filled with huge gaps and generalisations?

Perhaps it is naïve of me to expect that they would adhere to robust and rigorous research methods?

Well it is my prerogative as an Irish woman, a member of a fishing community, and the daughter of a hardworking fisherman and woman, indeed, more specifically the daughter of the owners and skipper of the Tit Bonhomme (whose tragedy was exploited in the quest to demonstrate the validity of this story) to refute these generalisations and condemn the decision to use the Tit Bonhomme as a case in point of the narrow story you sought to spin, and with which you sought to paint the entire Irish fishing industry.