IWDG Supports Fishing Industry’s Call for 10-Year Moratorium on Military Exercises in Irish EEZ – Afloat

The Irish Whale and Dolphin Group (IWDG) says it supports the call for a moratorium on military exercises within Irelands Exclusive Economic Zone.

Both the Irish South and West Fish Producers Organisation (IS&WFPO) and the Irish Fish Processors and Exporters Association (IFPEA) have appealed for the Government to introduce a 10-year halt on any future manoeuvres within the area, according to The Skipper.

It follows Russias decision, as a gesture of goodwill, to relocate live-fire drills that had been planned for this week in international waters but within the Irish EEZ, some 240km off the Cork coast.

The outcome was hailed as a victory for diplomacy on the part of Irelands fishing industry, with the EU fisheries commissioner paying tribute at the weekend.

There had been fears of confrontation between Irish trawlers and Russian naval vessels in the Atlantic as long-standing fishing grounds on the continental shelf adjoin the area previously earmarked for the military exercises.

I think the Russian have set a precedent nowthat we need to bring in a 10-year moratorium to stop all military exercises in the Irish EEZ, IFPEA chief executive Brendan Byrne told Highland Radio.

We cant bring in an outright ban [due to international law] but we have have the rightto bring in the moratorium based on the eco-sensitivity of the area, based on the biological importance of it to [the] sea fishery which is mackerel, in this case, or nephrops and the entire environmental argument, notwithstanding the displacement of fishing.

The IWDG said it supports fishers right to work without feeling threatened by military exercises and that additionally such a moratorium would also greatly reduce the threat these exercises pose to whales and dolphins.

It added: While on this occasion the Russian navy notified the State of their intentions, UK and NATO vessels regularly carry out naval exercises within the Irish EEZ.

They have also been known to use active sonar within the Irish EEZ and such events have been linked to the mass mortality of deep-diving whale species in Irish waters, most recently in 2018 with an unusual mortality event of Cuviers beaked whales in Ireland and Scotland.

Mass strandings and inshore sightings of northern bottlenose whales and Sowerbys beaked whales, which occurred in 2020, may also have been linked to naval activity.

In light of this, the IWDG is proposing four additional Marine Protected Areas for deep-diving cetaceans along the slopes of the Rockall Canyon, Porcupine Seabight and Whittard Canyon System.

The marine wildlife charity also expressed its fears that the Northeast Atlantic has become a global hotspot for beaked whale strandings, which appear to be increasing in both magnitude and frequency.

It adds: Given the vulnerability of beaked whales to underwater noise, supported by significant advances in our understanding of the impacts of military sonar on these animals, it appears ever more likely that military sonars used in or adjacent to important beaked whale habitats are a significant factor in these mortalities.

Meanwhile, concerns remain among environmentalists for marine wildlife in the vicinity of wherever Russia moves its planned naval and air force drills.

Speaking to Claire Byrne on RT Radio 1s Today programme, Ken OSullivan, the documentary maker behind Irelands Deep Atlantic, said: Exploding bombs in the ocean is never a good thing to do, for many reasons.

RT Radio 1 has the full interview HERE.

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IWDG Supports Fishing Industry's Call for 10-Year Moratorium on Military Exercises in Irish EEZ - Afloat