Why Commercial fishing in Greystones will not work

Dun-Laoghaire-Harbour-Fishing-Pier

 

Commercial Fishing pier in Dun Laoghaire Harbour. Comparison to Greystones

Commercial fishing boat problems in Greystones:

  • Moorings only 8 months a year. Difficulty insuring vessels?
  • Store tenders in huts.
  • Lift to waters edge.
  • Row to moored fishing boat and climb up.
  • Difficult to load from a small boat.
  • Load from pier, install crane and no power, no power or water on pier.
  • Need skilled/insured crane operator in public space. In DL can be lifted from deck to pier by hand.
  • Where park van. Pier too narrow. Access control for vehicles. Pay parking.
  • Dun Laoghaire loads of boxes, diesel, old nets on pier. Seagulls and droppings. Houses are much nearer in Greystones.
  • Cost of maintaining swing mooring.

It’s not going to work.

Some people who fish off Greystones use this Dun Laoghaire pier to load/unload/moor/park vans. This internal pier is 13.5 m wide (Greystones 7.5m) and much lower, the tops of boats being above the pier level. In Greystones it is at least 5m higher as it has been designed as a promenading pier so that people can see over the sea defences. This makes loading/unloading much more difficult and increases the danger of falling.

In order to separate the vans from people the DL pier is fenced off allowing a 2m strip for pedestrians and 11.5m for vans/net and fishing box/diesel storage etc. A significant amount of ropes etc are trip hazards on the pier edge. This fencing off will be difficult to achieve on the much narrower Greystones Pier.

There is a strong smell of fish and diesel on the pier in DL. The pier is stained with oil. Also seagulls tugging at the fish boxes and droppings everywhere. The nearest homes are 300m plus away and the smell had declined at that distance. In Greystones the homes will be about 100m away and will be much more affected by smell. In DL the marina is well away and not much affected by seagull droppings. In Greystones it is very close.

The inner harbour in DL is reasonably calm in storms. The moorings laid in Greystones will only be safe for 8 months. The cost each year of getting divers to inspect, raise and lay them will be €6,600. Charging a third of this to each fisherman will be expensive compared to DL which charges about €800 a year to berth alongside. There will still be the problem of the remaining 4 months and poor or no unloading facilities.

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