Donegals Island Fishermen Moving Forward

A meeting of Donegals island fishermen was held on Sunday (23^rd Feb) on Arranmore Island to discuss sustainability of the industry and ideas for moving forward in the sector. The meeting came in the wake of a recent report by the Joint Sub-Committee on Fisheries which looked at promoting sustainable rural coastal and island communities.

Arranmore fisherman Neily Kavanagh explaining the nature
of the islands waters to Ian MacKinnon
(photo. fieryspirits.com)

The meeting which seen up to 50 fishermen in attendance from different Donegal islands was called by an action group made up of people who work in the industry which had formed several years ago following a ban on salmon fishing that had a detrimental effect on the coastal communities of Donegal.

Speaking following the meeting, spokesperson for the group and Arranmore Islander Jerry Early said he was very heartened by both todays meeting and the report by the Joint Sub-Committee on Fisheries. “Todays turnout at the meeting just goes to show the passion with which the fishing communities on Donegals islands have for what is not only their industry but their way of life. Their support to protect it and indeed see it grow shows that we can have great hope for the future and the content of the recent report by the Joint Sub-Committee also gives us great hope for the future” Mr Early said.

The meeting, held in Ionad an Chrois Bhealaigh and which went through the contents of the report seen much positive interaction from those attending and the topics discussed ranged from making the industry sustainable to safety. The meeting also discussed ways of moving forward and from that it was decided that the group would form to become an organisation so that Donegals native islanders and people living on the islands who had an interest in the fishing industry could join together and work for their common goal.

Jerry Early

“Following on from the report we are very positive that the government and the EU have an interest in seeing our communities survive now” Mr Early said. “The ban on salmon fishing has had a huge and negative effect on the islands communities and has caused both job losses and the forced emigration of our youth in search of work who in the past would have stayed at home and made a living from fishing.

“It means a lot to us that the report acknowledges that the decisions made in the past by our governments in relation to fishing have had a detrimental effect on Donegals islands and we appreciate the fact that the authors of the report seem willing to help us re-bulid our communities once more.

“The islands fishermen have always known the importance of how marine protection and sustainability of our industry go hand in hand and we are glad that the report also acknowledges that our community organising within itself to make that sustainability happen is the way forward. The report has come from the continued efforts of those in our community who have fought long and hard for several years for the government to recognise us and our requirements for survival. It has been a long hard road of meetings, both at local, national and European level. It has involved many people, not just the fishermen, but supporters within our communities and everyone from those who made space available to us to have meetings and those who simply showed up to make tea and show support. But despite many knock backs and dark days everyone stuck with it and we now see a light at the end of the tunnel.”

Concluding, speaking of the new organisation called 'Donegal Islands Marine Resource Organisation' (DIMRO) Mr Early said “DIMRO, the organisation of Donegals island fishermen we have formed, will continue on now to build our industry back up and continue to fight for the rights of our fishermen, their families and communities and we hope that other fishing communities will follow suit and if so we really look forward to engaging with them also and building an even bigger support base for the fishing industry and ensuring the sustainability of that industry and our marine resources.”