The WCSGF is now actively engaged in a feasibility study for a prototype sail and electric (hybrid battery and hydrogen fuel cell) fishing vessel, for trolling and jigging. As a first step, it is intended to fit a fuel cell driven electric outboard in a 16ft open boat, fishing mackerel, pollack and squid.

Below is the text of an address given to the inaugural meeting of the West Cork Sustainable Fisheries Group by Joe Aston (2nd March, 2009).

This current crisis we find ourselves in has many strands, and people give very different accounts of it. There was a very succinct one today on the BBC website by an economist from Rio de Janeiro called Marcos Arruda, in which he stated his opinion that: ‘We live at a point in human history when our civilisation - its cultural ideas and its mode of social, economic and political organisation - is heading for extinction.’¹ This would accord with my way of thinking. Of course it did not all come about just recently, out of the blue.

Back i n 1973, Dr E.F.Schumacher, Economic Adviser to the British Control Commission in Germany from 1946-1950 and subsequently to the National Coal Board, published the very influential book ‘Small is Beautiful’, thereby giving a hefty endorsement to some of the more serious insights of my own, subsequently much derided, ‘hippie generation’. He summed up his case for ‘getting off our present collision course’ thus:-

‘I started by saying that one of the most fateful errors of our age is the belief that the problem of production has been solved. This illusion, I suggested, is mainly due to our inability to recognise that the modern industrial system, with all its intellectual sophistication, consumes the very basis on which it has been erected. To use the language of the economist, it lives on irreplaceable capital which it cheerfully treats as income. I specified three categories of such capital:

• fossil fuels,
• the tolerance margins of nature,
• and the human substance.’

Schumacher was referring to the obvious folly and unsustainability of burning through the precious carbon fuel deposits of the planet in a couple of generations, to the fact that we are thereby abusing the natural systems upon which human life depends to the point of self-destruction, and to the human cost, in terms of lives blighted physically and emotionally and spiritually, health ruined, communities destroyed.

Today, some 36 years later, we are undoubtedly witnessing this triple crisis building to some kind of resolution. In terms of fossil fuels , with the advent of Peak Oil whereby global demand is potentially getting ahead of supply, it is apparent that there can be no economic or social stability until the stranglehold of oil-dependence is broken. The surge in oil prices last year was surely the biggest single factor tipping the world into global recession; the current collapse in the price of oil is only going to make the next peak in its price more severe, which will surely occur when demand picks up again. We must pin our hope on those who will work to replace this deadly cycle with a green recovery . I am going to suggest that this includes all of us right here tonight.

Turning to the tolerance margins of nature , of course we have come a long way since Schumacher’s day, though still not anything like as far as our children are likely to, in terms of realising the extent of the devastation which is being caused by the reckless over-use of fossil fuels. It is worth mentioning in this context that the carbon build-up in the atmosphere with its potential for climate change is only part of the story. Roughly one third of the CO2 we are generating ends up in the oceans, causing their acidification. This and other kinds of pollution have combined with over-fishing to cause a global crisis in fish-stocks. In the waters around Ireland, it may be said there are now something like 10% of the marketable fish in the sea that there were when Schumacher wrote Small is Beautiful. I myself witnessed how for example Donegal Bay was reduced in the ‘70s and ‘80s from a very rich fishing ground to what can only be called a fish desert.

Such destruction comes at a severe human cost. During the ‘70s when I was fishing herring in a half-decker from Teelin in south-west Donegal, there were some 50 men employed in small boats at that fishery, putting out from every creek around the coast, plus more ashore processing them. I am sorry to say that the Killybegs trawlers must take a large share of the responsibility for the destruction of this fishery; first they glutted the market, and secondly they destroyed the stocks.

I nipped down to the pier there one day in the ‘80s, on my way to a weekend sail with my father from Poole to Cherbourg, to watch the big new tank boats pumping huge bin-fuls of mackerel ashore, forklifts flying in all directions spilling and squashing them on the pier. Everyone knew that one pair of those boats would be capable of catching, and very likely needed to catch, the entire Irish quota. Well in mid-Channel we came upon a fleet of small French boats, each with a sail set and tangons spread, just one man in each boat fishing mackerel with lines. I watched them landing in Cherbourg subsequently, a beautiful product packed with ice in little polystyrene boxes. No marks for stating which fishery could be called sustainable. And yet it is unlikely to have survived the bubble of so-called development that has taken place since, with each new technological phase digging ever deeper into the very fabric of the resource.

On a global scale, this same tragedy has been played out the world over, with capital-intensive, high technology ships utterly out of proportion to the techniques employed by traditional fishing communities for ages past, wreaking human and environmental havoc, then moving on in search of other opportunities to do it again. They are only fit to take a good swipe at a given fishery, practically fishing it out and then moving on. But instead of addressing the need to decisively put a stop to their predations, governments are prone to attempt to rein them in with regulations, so that all fishermen, if they survive at all, find themselves being steadily throttled.

I may perhaps be allowed to tell a personal story relating to a son of mine. He makes his living in a 36 foot wooden fishing boat, with one crewman; the days when we used to fish as a family in a 58 footer with four men on deck are long gone. The other evening (3rd February) he finally got a chance to shoot his nets for the first time since before Christmas, though conditions were far from ideal, about 10 miles off Mine Head in County Waterford. The wind was ENE about force 5, forecast to freshen 6-gale force 8 next day. At least he shot the nets well; they were full of fine big cod in the morning, the kind of catch that has become an extreme rarity. The bighting wind did freshen to force 7 as the two men worked through their catch on the open deck, work that would have been done by five men when things were right, and still thought hard. Every fish has to be un-tangled from the net, gutted, washed and thrown in the hold. Eventually, with the boat loaded down with some eighty boxes of fish and nets, they were only able to get a favourable slant on wind and sea by steaming for Kinsale, where they arrived very early in the morning to land their fish. They must have been exhausted, cold, and very relieved to be safe in port, but they were met by fisheries officers who seized their catch and slapped four charges on James, for landing over quota, failing to put the weight of the catch (which they had just flung into the hold and had no means of weighing until landed) in the log-book, failing to notify the department officials that they were landing in Kinsale, and so on.

Without getting too caught up in discussion of the Common Fisheries Policy and alternatives to it, I may say that I regard it in its present form as a Napoleonic aberration, a montrosity of command and control, generated from a passion for the power of technology that unfortunately none of us can claim to be totally immune from. It flies in the face of the Principle of Subsidiarity² , which is our one hope that the EU may not degenerate into another Empire, but rather live up to the ideal of a community of nations that inspired it. However much we may be patronised with reference to the Lisbon Treaty, the Irish electorate are not fools. It might be gently pointed out to the Government that there may well be quite a large number of votes hanging on this very visible and indeed archetypal issue, that so far tends to confirm the worst fears about the EU.

However, in order to propose holistic and structural modifications to the CFP, we need to practically develop alternative ways of thinking and working; to actually show how things could be done differently. Yet it is no use waiting for the Government, let alone banks or business entrepreneurs, to lead the way. They are up to their tonsils in this crisis, and can hardly look a week ahead, let alone take a serious long-term view. If we are to find a way forward, we have nowhere to look but to whatever resources we can muster ourselves. Which is not to deny that we may expect them, and indeed the EU, to support us; what is needed is serious widespread application of the powerful idea of a green recovery .

I wish to propose and discuss this evening the setting up of a Sustainable Fisheries Association, which while mindful of such issues as the future of the C.F.P., would primarily focus on developing ways of fishing that are unquestionably sustainable, of their very nature, so that the quota system for example would eventually take a totally different form. I would see this Association as relating to the Organic farming and Slow Food movements, but what I have in mind as a particular project to kick off with, is a feasibility project with a view to building a sail and hydrogen fuel cell powered fishing boat, that would fish for tuna, mackerel and pollack with lines.

A fuel cell powered motor is now available in Germany that has already been employed in a boat there, as well as in buses and all kinds of vehicles. One is employing electric power that, instead of being derived from mechanical charging, is produced chemically by recombining hydrogen and oxygen in the fuel cells. This German boat uses 50 kilos of hydrogen for 3 days’ work. It is stored in a pressurized tank at 350psi.. In terms of actually using this technology, obviously there is much to be found out. I imagine that our children and grandchildren will come to consider diesel engines dirty, smelly, noisy and troublesome machines in comparison, but it will nonetheless be challenging to develop a way of working that is much less reliant on brute force. They will have to relearn how to work with nature, instead of going to fight with her and subdue her. Energy will be too expensive to waste, and the value of all that wind blowing past us will once more be appreciated.

Any yachtsman can tell you that the moment you stop your engine and start to sail is magnificent; all of a sudden one feels peaceful, at one with nature, while the motion of the boat becomes more comfortable. Besides having advantages in terms of comfort, economy, safety and sheer joy in one’s work, from the point of view of trolling for albacore, sailing is more effective than fishing under power at low speeds, when of course it is much easier to actually land the fish than when one is travelling fast.

I take it as generally accepted that we urgently need to find new ways of generating employment, laying the foundations for economic recovery rather than contributing to our current woes. A fishing boat that employs lines and hooks is going to produce a catch of the highest quality, with neither excessive impact on fish stocks nor the destruction of juveniles and unwanted by-catch. This would be a kind of boat acceptable to all fishing communities throughout the world. From a market point of view, landing small but high-quality catches maximises value while minimising waste and favouring small-scale and localised distribution and processing. Far from favouring over-centralised industries that need to draw in large ship or lorry-loads, and that small processors must compete against for a share in the resulting glut or famine supply of indifferent product, our kind of boat would be more inclined to make small but high-quality and more localised landings, that could genuinely be associated with organic food.

While the primary object of this research project would be to see if we could find our way to a new, viable and sustainable paradigm for the fishing industry, obviously the lessons learnt would have many other applications. There is a sea of potential job creation out there; beyond the fishing, the fish processing, the provision of raw material for green tourism, the boat building and marine engineering, there is the whole business of the production of hydrogen with renewable energy and the establishment of a hydrogen economy. It adds up to a major and critical challenge. Can we rise to it?

You too are welcome to participate.

|Please contact one of the coordinators:-

Joe Aston
T:. +353 28 20598
M: +353 87 7972366
E: joe (at) gannetsway.com

Dr Sam Shephard
M: +353 86 1723878
E: s.shephard (at) ucc.ie

Constitution

(This has been revised, as of April 2010, in accordance with the wishes of the Revenue Commissioners.)

1. Name: The name of the body is West Cork Sustainable Fisheries Group...(WCSFG).

. 2. Main Object: the main object for which the body is established is the promotion of sustainable sea fisheries both in West Cork and globally, through the development and operation on a research basis of fishing vessels and techniques not dependent on oil.

3 . Subsidiary Object(s): The body shall have as a subsidiary object the furtherance of sustainable and participatory management of sea fisheries.

4. Powers: To the extent that the same are essential or ancillary to the promotion of the main object of the body as heretofore set out the body may exercise the following powers:

raise funds; carry out research; commission, charter, build and operate appropriate vessels and acquire ancilliary equipment; employ appropriate staff; recruit volunteers; promote the sustainable management of sea fisheries, including the marketing of the produce of sustainable fisheries research projects.

5. Rules:

Membership is open to all interested parties, subject only to the approval of the executive committee.

An AGM shall be called once a year, which shall elect an executive committee of at least 4 and up to 12 persons. This committee shall appoint officers (at least Chairman, Secretary, Treasurer and Assistant Treasurer) and shall meet at least once a quarter.

6. Income and Property

The income and property of the WCSFG shall be applied solely towards the promotion of its main object as set forth in this Constitution. No portion of the body's income and property shall be paid or transferred directly or indirectly by way of dividend, bonus or otherwise howsoever by way of profit, to the members of the body. No Officer shall be appointed to any office of the body paid by salary or fees, or receive any remuneration or other benefit in money or money's worth from the body. However, nothing shall prevent any payment in good faith by the body of:

a) reasonable and proper remuneration to any member of the body (not being an Officer) for any services rendered to the body;

b) interest at a rate not exceeding 5% per annum on money lent by Officers or other members of the body to the body;

c) reasonable and proper rent for premises demised and let by any member of the body (including any Officer) to the body;

d) reasonable and proper out-of-pocket expenses incurred by any Officer in connection with their attendance to any matter affecting the body;

e) fees, remuneration or other benefit in money or money's worth to any Company of which an Officer may be a member holding not more than one hundredth part of the issued capital of such Company.

PROVIDED HOWEVER that nothing contained herein shall prevent the payment of remuneration to one member of the Executive Committee for the chartering of vessels to the WCSFG provided that such remuneration is commensurate with comparable services to similar organisations and provided that he/she is not present at the meetings of the Executive Committee when his/her remuneration is discussed and voted upon.

7. Winding-up

If upon the winding up or dissolution of the body there remains, after the satisfaction of all its debts and liabilities, any property whatsoever, it shall not be paid to or distributed among the members of the body. Instead, such property shall be given or transferred to

some other charitable institution or institutions having main objects similar to the main

objects of the body. The institution or institutions to which the property is to be given or

transferred shall prohibit the distribution of its or their income and property among its or their members to an extent at least as great as is imposed on the body under or by virtue of Clause 6 hereof. Members of the body shall select the relevant institution or institutions at or before the time of dissolution, and if and so far as effect cannot be given to such provisions, then the property shall be given or transferred to some charitable object.

8. Additions, alterations or amendments

No addition, alteration or amendment shall be made to or in the provisions of this Constitution for the time being in force unless the same shall have been previously approved in writing by the Revenue Commissioners.

9. Keeping of Accounts

Annual accounts shall be kept and made available to the Revenue Commissioners on request.

Proten Fuel Cell Powerpack as used in...

Zero Emission Ship "Alsterwasser"

Launch

Minutes of meetings

Related Blogs from Joe

From Mr. Joe Aston,

Secretary, WCSFG,
Horseshoe Cottage,
Sherkin Island,
Skibbereen,
Co. Cork.

Re: West Cork Sustainable Fisheries Group (WCSFG)

Dear Ms Hennessy,

Thank you for yours of 16 th instant. Allow me to respond point by point:-

• The permanent address for the body.

Joe Aston, Secretary, WCSFG,

Horseshoe Cottage, Sherkin Island, Co. Cork, Ireland.

Tel. +353 28 20598

mobile, +353 87 7972366

email, <gannetsway@gmail.com>

web-site, www.gannetsway.com/wcsfg/

• Please confirm from where activities will be carried out.

Practical activity will be based mainly Baltimore/Sherkin Island, while there will be a working relationship with the Commercial Fisheries Section of the Galway and Mayo Institute of Technology, along with any other interested educational or research and developmental establishments.

• Provide background information leading up to the setting up of the body.

The founding members are mainly people whose career has been in different aspects of the fishing industry. In Baltimore, the once thriving tradition of fishing and related industries (boat building, fish processing etc) is now moribund, which is a story replicated all around the world. The essential features of this crisis in sea fishing are the collapse of fish stocks due to over fishing with destructive techniques, along with excessive capital and running costs especially as to the price of diesel oil, with resultant unemployment. In the future is the prospect of an actual scarcity of diesel oil, while the environmental degradation and global climate change associated with dependence on it are in the background. Such matters also form the context of an agronomy even more radically unsustainable than that which prevailed before the Great Famine. There is however the difference that we are today a much more educated people, with vastly more resources. We should not have to wait for another famine to do something about it!

For further background information, please see (this web-site).

• A Statement of Activities describing all aspects of operation and the intended operation of the body. The statement should refer to the objects or purposes set out in the Constitution and explain in full how the body intends to accomplish these objects or purposes. Comprehensive plans for the next twelve months, including any literature or other documentation should be forwarded in support of the application.

The principal initial project is to design and assess the feasibility of constructing and operating on a research basis a 65foot fishing boat that will a) not depend on hydro-carbon fuel, b) operate in a manner that will not harm the marine eco-system and c) have the potential to be replicated in a fleet of boats that could bring new life to our fishing industry, along with that of artisanal fishermen everywhere. In the process we intend to explore and evaluate modern applications of wind power, and the potential of hydrogen fuel cells with regard to sea fishing. Please see attached doc. Sailfish 2009 .

• Please confirm if the body will engage in lobbying. Full details should be provided.

The WCSFG will be primarily focussed on research and development, however any attempt at a radical renewal of fishing is liable to come up against established vested interests, with resultant political and commercial blockages. Moreover, artisanal and coastal fishermen are in danger of being wiped out everywhere, and stand in urgent need of advocacy. For these reasons we wish to reserve the right to lobby etc.

• Please provide comprehensive details of all trading activities.

In the course of our research, fish will necessarily be caught, which will be landed and sold by agreement with the ISFA, who have already expressed an interest in our work.

• Please provide clarification on whom/where the body’s activities will be focused.

This is about bringing revival to coastal fishing communities, beginning with our own here in West Cork.

• Please indicate how the body will be funded and provide details of projected income and expenditure and confirm how these relate to activities carried on in furtherance of the main object.

We are presently looking for €20 pa from our members, which will not of course take us far. Please refer to my response to your next question for our main initial expectation of funding. Once registration has been secured, we shall register with the United Nations Environment Program and seek funds both nationally and internationally. Some members of the Group have a small track record in this respect, having secured funding from a Swiss foundation for the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group’s expedition to the Cape Verde Islands in 2003, in connection with the breeding humpback whales there.

• Will the body be in receipt of Government or other Public Funded Grants? If so, provide details.

The West Cork LEADER group has expressed an interest in our project, and in principle a willingness to fund a feasibilty project to the tune of 90% of costs, along the lines of the attached document Sailfish 2009.

• Will the body work in collaboration with other organisations. Please provide documentary evidence.

Through the GMIT connection, we will be working in collaboration with the Marine Institute and BIM. We already collaborate with the IWDG, and stand willing to do so with any interested body.

• What controls are in place to ensure the long-term viability of the body?

Please refer to our constitution. There can however be no guarantee of long-term viability, though any work we succeed in carrying out will pass into the public domain one way or another.

• I note that the bank account is not held in the name of the Charity. Please clarify your position in this regard.

The Bank of Ireland would not accept an account in the name of our Group until it is registered, so we opened it in the names of the Treasurer and Assistant Treasurer. When registration is achieved, we will change the account accordingly.

• Provide confirmation as to whether any of the Officers are currently, or will in the future; be engaged as employees of the body, or in receipt of any remuneration there from.

In accordance with the Consitution, officers may not be employed by the Group, though they may receive remuneration as outlined in para 6, sections c) and d), that is, they may be paid out-of-pocket expenses and rent for property, which may include the charter of vessels.

• Please outline how the body is considered to be established for charitable purposes only.

The Group’s objectives are philanthropic and have no prospect of commercial profitability at this stage. The possibility of pursuing them in the context of established mainstream research and development, for example through BIM, has been explored and rejected.

• To what extent is the body involved in charitable purposes, which are of benefit to the public?

We are trying to secure some hope of future viability for our community. If we succeed it will be of massive and almost universal public benefit.

• As you are aware Section 207 Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 provides for a tax exemption for charitable bodies. Please outline what taxable liabilities would the body incur without exemption?

It appears unlikely that the body will incur any tax liability. It is to be hoped, however, that it may be possible for our supporters to contribute funds free of tax.

• Provided there is a tax liability, please clarify why charitable tax exemption is being sought by the above named body.

No tax liability.

• Please forward a tax reference number for the body, which may be obtained from the Revenue Office, Revenue House, Assumption Road, Blackpool, Cork. Tel; 021 6027000.

Would we not need to acquire some legal personality or registration before we go looking for a tax reference number?

I trust this sufficiently answers your queries. I am attempting to gather documentary evidence of support from other organisations, but this will take more precious time. I will be in further contact with you in this respect, but think it best to get this response off to you without more delay.

Yours sincerely,

Joe Aston.

_____________________