A 14-year-old fisher from Árainn Mhór in Donegal has met with MEPs at the European Parliament in Strasbourg where she highlighted the impact of the recent closure of the line-caught pollack fishery on the island and other communities.
Muireann Kavanagh travelled to Strasbourg with her father Neily Kavanagh for a series of meetings facilitated by Sinn Féin MEP Chris MacManus.
Following the meetings this afternoon Ms Kavanagh said that they had gone well and "we felt that we were listened to".
"We will continue to put pressure on the Irish government and fight for our future," she said.
Her father described the meetings as very productive and he said "we all agreed that the current one-size-fits-all rules are detrimental to inshore fisheries and the future of island communities".
The Irish Islands Marine Resource Organisation (IIMRO), which represents fishing families like the Kavanaghs, has called for urgent new scientific studies on pollack to be carried out, arguing that the assessment that led to the recent closure of the pollack fishery is "flawed and causing a disproportionate social impact on island and inshore communities".
IIMRO is also a member of the Low Impact Fishers of Europe (LIFE) in relation to the issue which they say affects a huge area from the west of Scotland to the French channel coast.
Today the Executive Secretary of LIFE, Marta Cavallé said "with Muireann's testimony we can put a face to the effects of unfair EU policies".
"It is unacceptable that high-impact fishing of pollack is still allowed (as a bycatch species) while low-impact fishing is forbidden," Ms Cavallé said.
"It means closing access to those impacting the fishery less, having disproportionate socio-economic consequences on island communities, discouraging young fishers and leaving them with few alternative livelihoods and prospects for the future."
Chair of IIMRO Jerry Early, who is from Árainn Mhór, said following today's meetings that they "are hopeful that Muireann’s young voice can be heard and listened to in the corridors of Europe, they are not being heard in Ireland".
"We all have a duty to allow her and the future fisher’s to have a means to preserve island life," he said.
Read more: Donegal teenager to raise pollack fishing concerns with EU
