L E Roisin approaching Galway Harbour on Friday evening.
The Sea Fisheries Protection Authority (SFPA) are running adverts on Irish radio at the moment, though I’m not sure why. The SFPA is charged with ensuring that fish quotas are observed by fishing boats. The sharp end of this work is done at sea – the SFPA, along with the naval service, stop and check fishing boats to see what, and how much of, fish stocks are being netted. If a fishing crew have caught a protected species, or exceeded their allowed quota of a permitted species, the naval service escort the fishing boat to the nearest port (and, by extension, the nearest District Court).
In the eyes of some Irish fishermen, the SFPA catch more than their fair share of Irish fishing boats, and I doubt if an advert [which merely explains the function of the SFPA] will change that opinion. It’s a bit like the police running an ad to explain that the reason they arrest people is because, well, it’s their job.