Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 25 July 2023
947. Deputy Jennifer Whitmore asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the reason Article 17 of the Common Fisheries Policy has not been used to ensure fisheries management is more ecologically and climatically sensitive, to ensure the future viability of the fishing sector in Ireland; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36988/23]
View answerArticle 17 of the CFP stipulates that ‘When allocating the fishing opportunities available to them, ... Member States shall use transparent and objective criteria including those of an environmental, social and economic nature... Member States shall endeavour to provide incentives to fishing vessels deploying selective fishing gear or using fishing techniques with reduced environmental impact, such as reduced energy consumption or habitat damage’. Ireland operates to this principle.
In Ireland, fishing quotas are a public resource and are managed to ensure that property rights are not granted to individual operators. This is seen as a critical policy to ensure that quotas are not concentrated into the hands of large fishing companies whose owners have the financial resources to buy up such rights. It is worth noting that within the EU, a significant number of quota systems have been privatised for their main commercial stocks, and many quotas have been purchased by international companies with limited connections to their coastal communities. Any movement towards privatisation of fishing rights in Ireland would seriously risk fishing vessels losing a socio-economic link with Ireland’s coastal communities. This could have devastating consequences and I continually work closely with the fishing industry to ensure this does not happen.
Consultation on the management of quotas within National Policy is carried out each month at the Quota Management Advisory Committee (QMAC) meeting involving fishing industry representatives from the catching and processing sectors, the Department and the Sea Fisheries Protection Authority (SFPA). The QMAC examines in detail the operation of each fishery, available quota and uptake patterns for the different metiers of fishing vessels. The QMAC may also take account of the weather/sea conditions in the preceding quota period and the impact this may have had on the industry during that period, particularly in respect of the smaller vessels. The recommendations of the QMAC are brought to my attention to inform my decision on the management arrangements within National Policy.
Ireland has strongly supported the introduction of more selective and environmentally friendly fishing gear to reduce catches of juvenile fish and unwanted by-catches. Fishing gear trials have been carried out in our main fisheries working in collaboration with our fishing sector. A number of changes to fishing gear and practices which demonstrate improved selectivity have been adopted at EU level following recommendations from the North West Waters Member States Group (Ireland is a key member of the Group). These measures support building more sustainable fishing practices in the waters around Ireland. From time to time, the quota system is also used to incentivise the introduction of environmentally friendly fishing gear in particular fisheries or for particular types of vessels usually in advance of seeking to implement change at EU level.
Furthermore, over the past number of years, quota balancing of both pelagic and whitefish stocks has been introduced to align the principles of the landing obligation to Ireland’s quota management system. Quota balancing is a conservation measure meaning that when a catch limit allocated to a vessel is exceeded, a balancing adjustment will be made from future allocations of fishing opportunities and will operate independently of any other action being considered by the control authorities.
