A Mayo View: Time to get ahead of the game on fishing quotas
COUNTRY FILE
WE'RE all at sea this week, where interesting changes appear to be taking place.
Climate change takes the blame for many things, including our lack of any sign of proper summer over the last couple of years.
And it might be true that this north-west corner of Europe is enteringa period of disruption from the normal wet-and-windy weather to which we have become acclimatised.
Our new normal appears to be one of even more wet together with even more wind. One thing is certain – we cannot say they didn't warn us.
Of course, our perennial onshore autumn wasn't born here. No, it comes from afar, originating in the western Atlantic where warm air lifts unimaginable quantities of water from a warm sea.
What goes up must come down, and unfortunately a great deal of it comes down on us.
On the plus side, we have no need for irrigation. Otherwise, climate change is no friend of ours – unless, of course, you happen to be a commercial fisherman.
Commercial fishing within Europe has long been subject to a quota system, which on the face of it appears to be a good thing.
For instance, marine scientists might tell us there a million tonnes of mackerel swim in the world's collective seas. If these were all harvested in one year, the mackerel fishery would become non-existent.
And so, in the interest of all, one country is permitted to catch X amount, and another Y, with the aim of permitting a responsible harvest that ensures very tasty mackerel remain a viable quarry.
Of course, the gentlemen and gentleladies responsible for dividing up these individual catch quotas have other people tugging at their sleeves, looking for a little extra.
That little extra has to come from the communal pot, which means somebody else has to make do with a little less.
When it comes to people's livelihoods, those thus deprived are inclined to resent others who are permitted to do a little better. Mention Spanish or French trawlers in any Irish fishing port and you will see what I mean, and get a flavour other than that of fresh fish.
But here's the thing. Climate change – that same bringer of life-sustaining water to these western parts – is also currently carrying fish that normally thrive in the Bay of Biscay and even in the Mediterannean Sea itself, and is delivering them almost to our door.
Take the anchovy, as an example. One anchovy itself might barely dress a slice of toast. But take a few thousand tonnes of them and you suddenly have such wealth you might never be satisfied with mere toast again, for these little fishes are much sought after.
Last year, the Celtic Sea Herring Acoustic Survey recorded about three-quarters of a billion tonnes of anchovy swimming off the Irish coast, plus a near-equal quantity of sardines.
Both of these species are more at home a thousand miles to the south, where warmer waters abound.
But now they are here, and it is highly doubtful they are here alone. No, other, more predatory fishes will be with them, and these will likewise have significant commercial value.
So if I was a fisherman I think I would be inclined to take a good look and see what kind of fish we could expect to find off our coast 10 years from now, and start trying to get an an allocation of quota for those species.
Those in authority would probably laugh if anyone in this country applied for a commercial bonito or skipjack tuna quota. Yet bonito are starting to show up in our warming seas, possibly on the trail of valuable sardine or anchovy shoals. Isn't it time to get ahead of the game?