Fishing in Irish Waters: A Blow-in's Tale by Trevor Simpson

If you want to know what is happening in the marine environment, then ask your fishermen. They are the best source of information, because they are on the water day and night, summer and winter. They can see the evidence and read the signs. They have an inherited local knowledge that helps them to earn their living and to survive in a dangerous environment. Fishermen often report things that are detrimental to the health of our seas and rivers. They should be listened to.

When Trevor Simpson arrived in Ireland in 1967, Dunmore East in Co. Waterford was home to just a few trawlers and some lobster boats. All that was about to change, however. More boats, most of them big trawlers, were arriving in Dunmore. The growth in the fishing industry increased and within the next few years, a great number of boats were purchased and added to the local fleet. Great enthusiasm was shown by fishermen from all around the coast. During this period, Bord Iascaigh Mhara (BIM) was most helpful. Their loan-and-grant scheme made things possible.

I think that the supporting role shown by BIM may have influenced some of the nation’s bank managers as well. Perhaps it made them more favourably inclined when their fishermen clients were seeking to go bigger and better.

Everyone connected with the fishing was so upbeat and confident in the industry’s future. All of these boats joined the growing fleet at Dunmore East and they were skippered and crewed mostly by local lads.

Now, everything has changed. There are no young men down our harbour now. There is nobody to follow us. We old-uns have watched the destruction of our wonderful local industry and all the ancillary jobs that it supported. We do have our memories though. Despite the hardships and the dangers, fishing the way that we did it was the best job in the world.

Fishing in Irish Waters: A Blow-in's Tale by Trevor Simpson
Non-fiction, memoir, autobiography, occupational memoir, seafishing
186 printed pages with colour and B&W illustrations. Paperback.
First published in Ireland, in 2023, under the imprint of The Manuscript Publisher
ISBN: 978-1-911442-42-4

About the Author

Fishing in Irish Waters: A Blow-in’s Tale is the third in the Cornish Fisherman’s Diaries series by Trevor Simpson. The first volume, Diary of a Cornish Fisherman: Newquay, 1962-1967 was published in 2014, followed by A Cornish Fisherman’s Irish Diary in 2017. The author is a retired seafisherman who continues to reside in Co. Waterford, close to where he fished for many years.

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