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Updated 9.01am
THE SECOND LARGEST trawler in the world, previously banned from Australian waters, is back off the coast of Ireland – and it has some in the industry concerned.
The 143 metre long Margiris is currently sailing along the north coast of Mayo, having entered the Irish European Economic Zone on 7 January. It can process as much as 250 tonnes of fish per day.
The ship has sailed under a range of names, including the Abel Tasman, and various nationalities.
The vessel is currently being kept under the watchful eye of the Sea-Fisheries Protection Authority, assisted by the Naval Service and Air Corps.
“A basic principle of the EU Common Fisheries Policy is shared access for all EU vessels to all EU waters,” a spokesperson for the authority explained.
“As a European registered fishing vessel, the Lithuanian registered vessel the Margiris is permitted to operate in any European waters and can fish in any area and retain on board any fish for which it has a nationally assigned European quota.
It was the target of an Australian ban on so-called supertrawlers in 2012.
The ban was extended just before Christmas to smaller ships, The Australian reports.
Local fishing groups have previously expressed grave concern over ships like Margiris, which has far created capacity than many smaller boats combined, when it arrived off the west coast in March last year, soon after the ship was reportedly again refused entry to Australia.
Quotas
Francis O’Donnell from the Irish Fish Producers’ Organisation said last night there are issues surrounding the quotas assigned to these vessels.
“The enforcement agencies know that they have quota to be there, or at least they think they do, but they actually don’t know what the quota available to these ships is,” he told TheJournal.ie.
“From an enforcement perspective, it’s a real problem. It’s totally unacceptable.”
O’Donnell stressed that there is no evidence to suggest the ship has been behaving illegally. He said is believed it may be fishing for horse mackerel.
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Don’t agree. The future may be in better hands with young people like these. They have at least taken some action.
spot on
Fair play to them!
He became an activist after watching 1 film twice in 1 day?
does that make me an avenger then?
I watched Debbie does Dallas 3 times in one day…
What is going to happen to me? :(
You’re gonna go blind Tal :)
Fools
at least they’re standing up for what they believe in and want to make the world a better place. It beats being silent or just moaning about.
Wonder who is providing the funding for this little venture. There’s more to this than meets the eye.
Properly some green nazi lobby that’s supporting Obama
Activist’s strike again! The culture has gone mad!
Lol they look like they want to destroy every bit of industry left in the world and play their play stations at the same time
Refreshing to see young people putting their energies into something positive even if it turns out to be a fruitless endeavour. They should be encouraged and applauded.
Climate change/Global warming is one of the biggest scams in the world. Its just another excuse for the elite to tax the life out of us now and for years to come. This is a pathetic story. How about exposing the hoax instead!
Would agree to a certain extent- I wouldnt say its the elite taxing the life out of us though. Its just another excuse for governments to earn tax!
I read an article recently saying that in the 1960′s there was 1,800 weather stations in the USA, By 1990 there was only 1,000, now its something like 700. The shut all the ones in hard to service areas, ie in the mountains etc, where it is colder. This is not factored in when comparing temperature avergages from the 1960′s or 1990′s to today. This may only be in the U.S that this has happened but alot of the global warming brigade use American figures…
Well thats a relief, can you show me where you heard this? I’d like some proof before I ignite an oil well In celebration.
oh dear god!
we are on the eve of destruction..anything that buys us a few more minutes is worth it
Omg this must be a late April fools joke!
Ever heard of the greenhouse effect??? More carbon in the atmosphere = warmer atmosphere
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