Fishermen stage protest in Dublin

Fishermen took to the streets of Dublin today in a bid to get a better deal from Europe for the industry.

Protest organisers estimated that around 400 fishermen handed out fish to passers-by on O'Connell Bridge before marching to Government Buildings to demonstrate at the arrival of French president Nicolas Sarkozy.

“We are trying to get the message to Europe and to Mr Sarkozy that we will continue to look for a No vote until we get some sort of fair deal. We haven’t got it up to now and we feel if we go into Lisbon we will have less of a say in what happens,” a spokeswoman for the protesting fishermen said.

The protest is hoping to raise awareness of the difficulties faced by the industry. The Irish fisheries industry is limited by quotas imposed by the EU. The fish were being handed out to highlight the fact that the quotas imposed by European officials mean that fishermen are not allowed to land some of the fish they catch and are forced to dump some of their catch back into the sea.

“Fishermen feel they have got an unfair deal from Europe since we joined,” the spokeswoman said.

“We have 20-23 percent of the most lucrative waters of Europe and we only have 4 per cent of the catch. While the Irish fishing industry is in decline, the rest of Europe is making a lot of money and still building up their fleets, and most of it is being from Irish waters. We feel it’s time for Irish fishermen to demand a bit more back.”

Fishermen have sought aid from the EU and the Government to help offset the impact of rising fuel prices. At last week’s EU fisheries council, a €600 million emergency aid package was agreed for vessel owners "hardest hit" by the fuel price crisis.

However, Irish fishermen are unsure exactly how much of the aid package will be distributed to them.