The Chairman of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Communications, the Marine and Natural Resources, has accused the Government of 'criminalising' fishermen.
After discussions with EU fisheries officials in Brussels, Fianna Fáil Deputy Noel O'Flynn said the Department of the Marine was trying to put a 'spin' on new marine legislation to be introduced to the Dáil next Thursday.
The department has said the EU wants much higher fines for illegal fishing. Mr O'Flynn said this was not correct and called on the department to change its attitude.
The proposed bill would substantially increase fines for illegal fishing that fishermen claim are already the highest in Europe, also providing for confiscation of a boat and even allowing the Navy to fire warning shots into vessels.
The Minister of State for the Marine, Pat 'the Cope' Gallagher, told fishermen in the west that the Government was only setting the upper level of fines and it would be for a court to impose the levels considered appropriate.
However, fishermen responded that, while they were not condoning illegal fishing, they felt the Government was trying to make criminals of them.
