‘IF THERE WERE PEARLS IN THE BOYNE MUSSELS THEN SOMEBODY MIGHT BE INTERESTED’ - TULLY

December 1970

DESPITE THE FACT that, for hundreds of years, sewage from the town of Drogheda has been pouring into the Boyne, the mussels picked by Mornington fishermen are the best in the country, and the best in this part of Europe.

This is the opinion of Deputy James Tully, given when he spoke in the Dail, and voiced concern over the effects which Drogheda Harbour Board operations is having on the mussel beds in that area.

The sewage from Drogheda, said the Deputy, has resulted in shellfish being contaminated, but, an extraordinary feature was that although the people of the area ate the shellfish, they do not appear to suffer any ill effects from it. He supposed that these people were immune to it from the time they were born. If the fish were to be eaten raw by outsiders, they would probably suffer serious effects, whereas the processed fish was safe for human consumption.

The fishermen picked the mussels and sold them either for processing elsewhere in the country and abroad or sold them as bait. On every occasion that he had spoken in the Dail on fisheries he had asked why a processing plant or a purification tank could not be given to them. Every year, even at the low price paid for contaminated fish_, there were picked and sold, thousands of pounds worth of fish in the area

Approximately 40 families lived by mussel fishing in the area. Sometimes it was easy to get a market, but at times it was not easy. Last year, he had found it necessary to ask the Minister’s predecessor to ask for assistance in finding markets for the mussels. The Department did everything possible to find such markets

The widening of the Boyne and the changing of the harbour by the Drogheda Board was having an effect on the river bed. At one time the fishermen feared that their livelihood would be taken away completely. Some experts from the Department went down to the area and reported on their findings. It was suggested that the loss to the musselmen would not be so great because the mussels would live even in deep water.

In Mornington the men raised mussels with a rake. The proposal to deepen the waters to a depth of 20 ft. would make this impossible. “I suggested that the Department might perhaps introduce skin diving there, but it was pointed out to me that since mussel fishing was done during winter that might not be the answer either. Maybe if there were pearls to be found in the mussels, somebody might be interested.”

From time to time he had led deputations complaining about what Drogheda Harbour Commissioners were doing and seeking markets. Drogheda Harbour Commissioners had a job to do, but for several hundred years fishermen from that village had the right to fish there for both salmon and mussels. “This right should not be taken away without some form of consideration being given to them.”

Compensation, said the Deputy, was suggested, but this was not the answer. There might be as many as seven members of one family engaged in picking mussels — some part-time. The system operated well. “All I ask the Parliamentary to do is request a senior official to ensure that the interests of the fishermen are properly looked after.’