Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

My understanding is that we will have a detailed discussion of the sustainability impact assessment of the European Commission's proposal for discussions on total allowable catch and quota, which is scheduled to take place in the coming weeks. This discussion will allow members to gain an understanding of the Government's position on the issue and some of the priority areas on which decisions will be made. I hope the meeting will focus on some of the specific issues that arise from the sustainability impact assessment, rather than having a general discussion on fishing and the European Union as this sometimes gives rise to a particular type of discussion on quotas. I hope also that the joint committee will provide some information as regards its key priorities for December.

The annual fishing opportunities for the Community's fishing fleets are traditionally agreed at the December Fisheries Council. This year, the arrangements for 2013 are due to be negotiated at the Council scheduled for 18to 20 December. The levels of total allowable catch, TAC, and quotas for Ireland will again be determined at the meeting following negotiations with member states and the European Commission. The Fisheries Council will also decide on the fishing effort, which determines days spent at sea, available for the Irish fleet in the Irish Sea and off the north-west coast for 2013.

The process of preparing for the Council is now well under way with the publication of detailed proposals for TACs and quotas of key stocks of interest to Ireland in October. The proposal covers stocks which are not subject to third party international agreements and are, in the main, whitefish and prawn stocks. The Commission's proposals are based on formal advice received from the International Council for the Exploration of the Seas, ICES, which is the independent international body with responsibility for advising on the state of fish stocks. The Commission also takes account of the views of the Scientific, Technical and Economic Committee for Fisheries, STECF, which gives the Commission its views on the economic, technical and social impacts of the scientific advice. The basis of the advice provided by the ICES has changed in recent years. In 2012, in response to a request from the Commission, the ICES has addressed the issue of providing quantitative advice where a precise assessment may not have been possible. In the most extreme data limited cases where the exploitation pressure and stock status is unknown, ICES advises a 20% reduction in catch relative to the average catch of the previous three years.

To inform my negotiations at the December Fisheries Council, I have had an assessment undertaken of the impacts of the Commission proposal. The preparation of a sea fisheries sustainability impact assessment is provided for in the programme for Government. To facilitate and inform these deliberations an open consultation process was initiated, whereby stakeholders were asked to submit their comments and observations on the Commission proposal for fishing opportunities for 2013. On 2 November, an online web portal, fishingnet.ie, was activated to enable the transmission of electronic submissions for consideration. In addition, I convened a meeting of stakeholders on 15 of November, which provided a further opportunity to key stakeholders to outline their position on the many aspects of this proposal. In all, nine submissions were received by the closure date and the full content of all the submissions received by the deadline are to be found on the website.

When one considers the various contributions to the consultation process, there is a general acknowledgement that the national consultative process is a positive addition to the debate. While acknowledgement is made of improvements in recent years in respect of stocks, particularly in the Celtic Sea, there is understandable concern about the poor state of certain whitefish stocks targeted by the Irish fishing fleet. I agree with the sentiment in many of the contributions, which call for greater adherence to the scientific advice available to enable prudent and appropriate management decisions to be taken. However, one criticism, which I share, is that of the arbitrary cuts proposed by the European Commission for fishing opportunities in 2013 and the narrow view taken on the use of scientific advice. There is justifiable concern that these cuts in certain quotas will only lead to further discards.

The Marine Institute and Bord Iascaigh Mhara have undertaken an evaluation of the Commission's proposal which is contained in the sea fisheries sustainability impact assessment, copies of which has been circulated to members. The impact assessment acknowledges that while many stocks in which the Irish fleet have an interest are not in a healthy biological state, there has been an improvement in 2012 on the state of the resource base in respect of pressure and state indicators. Of the 59 stocks in which Ireland has a share of the EU total allowable catch, 42% are now fished below the fishing maximum sustainable yield, MSY, compared to 36% in 2011. The position is, therefore, improving. The state of the resource base in terms of the biomass, that is, the population of mature fish in the stock, has also improved, with 34% above the trigger level set, an increase of 8% on last year. The number of depleted stocks has declined from 12 to eight and 14% of stocks are assessed to be depleted. The number of stocks with unknown biomass, no assessments or undefined trigger levels remains relatively high at 51%. This is because we have a large number of fishing stocks for which it is almost impossible to obtain the data required to make assessments maximum sustainable yields.

It is also noted that the activities of the fleet have other impacts on the wider marine ecosystem. Greater efforts are necessary to achieve a more harmonious and eco-friendly interaction with the broader environment and ensure compliance with European environmental directives. These efforts will be required to be imposed at European level on all EU fleets fishing in shared fisheries under the Common Fisheries Policy, CFP. This is an area that will receive attention during the CFP reform process.

I stick to my frequently stated view that decisions on setting total allowable catches should be informed by the science available. However, I am opposed to blanket rules on so called "data poor" stocks requiring automatic reductions of 20%, even where the quantitative information available shows that the stock is being fished sustainably and the biological indicators are positive. I do not intend to engage in a stock by stock discussion as the specific details are available in the document, which has been laid before the Dáil, and the accompanying stock book, which was prepared by the Marine Institute. However, I am prepared to address any specific issues on individual stocks that members may wish to raise.

The impact assessment itself agrees with the need to cut quotas for some of the stocks in 2013, though the level of these cuts is queried in some cases, while in others there is clear scientific data to suggest that a cut is unwarranted. As a general principle, Ireland is committed to having total allowable catches set at levels that can produce maximum sustainable yield, MSY, by 2015, where possible, and by 2020 at the latest. This is consistent with the Council's general approach on the Common Fisheries Policy reform. However, I stress that the transition from the current management framework to a framework based on maximum sustainable yield will need to be on a phased basis. In this way, the transition to maximum sustainable yield will reduce the impact on fishing activities by limiting reductions in quotas, while moving on a staged basis to delivering maximum sustainable yield in the coming years.

The issue of delivering maximum sustainable yield for stocks which are "data poor" is a challenge. For instance, the sole and plaice fisheries off the west coast are so small that it would not be economically reasonable to do a comprehensive scientific sampling programme. In these and other similar cases, the Marine Institute has provided advice and a clear rationale. In one important instance, Celtic sea herring, the ICES advice is for a total allowance catch of 19,000 tonnes but the management plan, agreed by industry, proposes a lower TAC of 17,200 tonnes. We have also for the first time followed a rebuilding plan for the herring stock off the coast of Donegal, in Area VIIa South. This rebuilding plan was prepared by the Irish industry and has received the support of STECF. The Commission has agreed to implement the plan and a TAC of 1,458 tonnes is being proposed. This involves a substantial reduction from last year's TAC of 4,200 tonnes but reflects the commitment of the industry to take hard decisions in order to rebuild stocks and follow management plans even where this involves reductions in quota levels. That is a sign of the maturity of the industry.

The Commission's approach to the science appears at times contradictory and inconsistent and it can be accused of ignoring additional pieces of scientific advice, that is, trends in landings and effort, which give indications on the state of the stock and should inform the TAC setting exercise. In these situations, I intend to follow the advice of the Marine Institute and use all available information to inform the setting of TAC levels.

One major concern surrounds managing for fisheries that need remedial action in a mixed fishery by means of landing restrictions only. It is a fact that in mixed fisheries it is often the case that if quotas are cut without introducing additional technical measures, there is a likelihood that this will only increase discards. In addition, it is clear that if quotas are cut in a situation where the science is indicating increasing biomass, there will also be an increase in discards. This is the situation in the mixed cod, haddock and whiting fishery in the Celtic Sea. The TACs to be set must have regard for this situation. In addition, we should build on the important industry initiative of last year where technical measures developed by industry were introduced in the Celtic Sea and resulted in significant reductions in catches of juvenile haddock and whiting. That is a good news story that cannot be ignored.

The impact assessment is forthright in its contention that reductions in fishing levels on certain stocks are both justified and inevitable and that these reductions will come at a social and economic cost. Taking the Commission proposal as it currently stands, it is estimated that it will result in a net reduction in fishing opportunity for the Irish whitefish and prawn fishing industry of 21% by volume. In financial terms, this amounts to a direct income reduction for the primary producers, that is, the fishermen, of €16.9 million. At a regional level the 12% reduction in fishing opportunities, quotas, in the Celtic Sea and in waters off the west coast will result in a €10.6 million primary production loss for the whitefish and prawn fleets operating there. The level of reductions in fishing opportunities, or quotas, in the Irish Sea amount to 44% with a resultant economic fisheries production loss to the fleets of €2.2 million.

Landings are the raw materials of our seafood processing sector and when the level of landing is reduced it has an exponential impact on the operation of approximately 200 processors as well as other ancillary industries. BIM estimates that the full cost, direct and indirect, of the proposed quota reductions by the Commission are in the order of €53 million with estimated negative impacts for between 450 and 550 full and part-time jobs.

The proposal does not include the 'Hague preferences' which are a safety net for the Irish fleet on specific stocks where total allowable catches are in decline. They are negotiated annually at the Fisheries Council and when agreed offer additional quotas to Ireland. The loss of these allocations in 2013 would amount to 1,625 tonnes of fish with a direct value of €2.95 million. It is estimated that the full value would be in the region of €9.2 million with an associated impact on between 90 and 100 full and part-time jobs. The reason I give those figures is to remind people that the negotiations in December have a real impact on coastal towns, fishing ports, fishermen and processors. It is important to outline the seriousness of that when debating these issues and the management of the quota.

I concur with the findings of the sea fisheries sustainability impact assessment. I will not support blunt and impractical rules for arbitrary cuts where the Marine Institute offers additional information to inform the decision and where there is a real risk of generating higher discard levels than at present. That would be counterproductive. There is a high cost from a social and economic perspective when quota cuts are proposed and we have to be satisfied that in every case these cuts are justifiable and necessary in terms of protecting the stock into the future. Fishing ports and whole communities all around our coast are dependent on fisheries for their very survival. In towns such as Castletownbere or Killybegs, between 80% and 90% of the income in those communities comes from fishing or fishing related activity. That is an indication of its importance. Many other towns are similarly affected.

I publicly thank and acknowledge all those who contributed to the production of this impact assessment, and look forward to the debate on the conclusions. I thank, in particular, the fishing industry and its representatives who have contributed and, most particularly, the Marine Institute. If we did not have as competent and as professional a Marine Institute in Ireland I would be going into difficult and tough negotiations in January without the ammunition I need to make the best possible case for the Irish fishing industry. We are lucky to have an institute that is respected, as the Marine Institute is, at Commission level. I hope that will allow me to do what I did last year, which is to make the best case possible, based on science, for the Irish fishing industry to ensure we get the balance right between, on the one hand, protecting fish stocks for the future and, on the other, ensuring we get the maximum economic benefit from this fantastic natural resource off the coast. I look forward to questions.