Fish war February 28, 2019
Posted by WorldbyStorm in Uncategorized.trackback
The impounding of two Northern Ireland fishing boats by the Irish Navy has been condemned as “quite outrageous” by the DUP deputy leader Nigel Dodds.
The boats, the Amity and the Boy Joseph, were detained in Dundalk Bay on Wednesday for allegedly breaching fishing regulations. They were fishing for crabs, lobsters and whelks when they were arrested.
Then there’s this:
DUP MP for Strangford Jim Shannon said the boats clearly were British fishing vessels. “They were illegally seized in waters that are disputed, waters that belong to this great nation,” he said.
This could get nasty. It’ll make India/Pakistan look like a row outside the chipper.
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On a broader note, I am surprised that Rockall is not an issue,. Loftuis might have been quite mad, but he was right on this.
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I did predict this you know – first item on the agenda post-Brexit will be a fish war on multiple fronts.
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Two nations with nuclear weapons confronting each in open hostility for decades versus a row over two fishing boats. Comparable?
I seem to remember Iceland, not exactly an international military power house, being able to protect its fishing interests. It’s what independent countries do.
As for the DUP and their threats. Feck’em
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And before people get worried that the DUP is going to send their navy against us, from what I read there is 10 Km exclusion zone from the low tide mark of a country’s beaches out to sea. This exclusion zone is internationally recognized and separate from the 200 Km Economic exclusion zone recognised internationally. This is probably why the UK proper hasn’t made such a big deal of the issue – because it’s not.
There was a reciprocity agreement between the Ireland and the UK with regard to the six counties that allowed vessels in both jurisdictions to fish in each other’s exclusion zones, but this agreement lapsed in 2016. The lapse was either caused by the missing assembly in the North or the fact that the UK parliament isn’t too exercised about such matters to do with Ireland.
If a Brexit crash-out occurs (and this seems likely right now), Ireland will be forced to protect its economic interests. If a crash-out does not occur, the issues surrounding fishing rights and so forth are yet to be negotiated. In either case, UK vessels cannot fish in our waters according to internationally recognised agreement.
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we really should be very, so very, afraid. after all DUP are so aligned with HMS vessels: DEFIANCE, TERROR, PUNCHER, PURSUER, CONVULSION, AMBUSH, DEVASTATION, VENGEANCE, MAGPIE and INVINCIBLE.
All sounds kinda’ like business to me.
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