That was underlined to FISHupdate.com by deckhand and marine writer Cormac Chesser as Irish fishermen continued their protests over the impact of sky-high fuel costs and other issues.

Mr Chesser said John D Sullivan from Cork is just one of many examples of how the various pressures are bringing the industry to its knees. Mr Sullivan had explained how he purchased the Ronan Ross in 2003/04 on the basis of fuel costing him 28 cent a litre. "That same fuel now costs up to 84 cent a litre in some places, leaving him in a position where he can hardly cover his expenses, especially with the tight quotas he and his crew is forced to survive on," Mr Chesser added.

Michael Walsh of the Federation of Irish Fishermen had stated that many boats now have running costs taking 50-70% of their gross profit, when the optimum level for expenses is 20-30% of total grossings.But Sean O'Donoughue of the Killybegs Fishermen’s Organisation was anxious to make clear that the industry is not looking for fuel subsidies, however, something which would violate EU law. He stated that the industry could not survive under current pressures and they merely wanted aid to give them time to find their way out of the "wilderness" in which they have found themselves.

The pressure from fuel prices is exacerbating the long running issues of “miniscule” quotas and poor prices for the Irish fleet , and the situation is beginning to look disastrous to many.

Restrictive quotas already mean dumping of fish on the South coast, where each individual vessel is being forced to dump hundreds of kilos of cod, monk, sole and other species.

Jim Connolly, skipper of the Supreme, was forced to steam 200 miles and burn a considerable amount of fuel to leave the South coast and fish on grounds where he could avoid dumping fish as he had been doing for the previous two weeks. This was done to "remain legal," as one bystander had put it, and avoid breaching the restrictive quotas that the Irish fleet is forced to operate on.

For some the mounting operating costs and dwindling quotas have been too much and a considerable number of boats are now for sale, Mr Chesser added.

www.fishupdate.com is published by Special Publications. Special Publications also publish FISHupdate magazine, Fish Farmer, the Fish Industry Yearbook, the Scottish Seafood Processors Federation Diary, the Fish Farmer Handbook and a range of wallplanners.

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