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

Let me give an example of a problem that will arise from, for example, the Commission proposals on discarding off the south coast. Let us suppose a fishery is catching cod, haddock and whiting in the same net. Because cod stocks are good, there is a proposal to increase cod allocation by 1%. Whiting stocks are strong so there is a proposal to increase by 29%. The catch allocation for haddock, which is caught in the same net, is to be reduced by 55%. The mesh size of the nets has been changed so that juvenile fish will be released, reducing the overall number of discards. There will be a problem with mature haddock. They are the same size as cod and whiting and will be caught in the same nets.

In order to catch the increased quota of cod and whiting, the haddock will be caught but there is no quota for haddock. This will result in a significant increase in the discarding of mature marketable haddock. This makes no sense on any level. We have to find a way to avoid catching mature haddock by means of some technical measure or else there needs to be a more rational approach to the haddock stocks to see if a higher TAC, total allowable catch, could be permitted in order to avoid discards. The haddock will be caught in any event. The damage is being done to the stock one way or the other. We need to address the discard situation while hoping to achieve some economic value for the catch. The alternative is to reduce the cod and whiting quotas in order to reduce the level of fishing effort generally and in this way to protect haddock stocks. This is very difficult to argue at a time when we need to see an economic benefit from fishing and when two out of the three stocks are at a very healthy level. It would mean a reduction of fishing for two of the stocks to protect the third.

It would be a different matter if the data about haddock stocks was a cause for concern. If we wish to make a case that the haddock stock is not under significant pressure - it may not be growing but neither is it shrinking dramatically - it is our responsibility to make a scientific case to show that haddock can bear less of a reduction in the TACs. This should be argued on the basis of an anti-discard measure as much as about stock management. This is an excellent example of the complexity of the management of mixed fisheries from the point of view of MSY and discards. There is no simple way of dealing with that without the existence of an intelligent net system that could release certain fish of the same size for which we do not have a quota. This is in the realm of "Star Trek". We need a reasonable compromise whereby fisherman can be permitted to catch fish stocks which are not under pressure, which are growing as a result of good management, while at the same time making sensible TAC decisions about the reduction in the level of discards. The Celtic Sea cod, haddock and whiting fishery is a really good example.

I am informed that haddock stock in area seven is healthy. Biological calculations of the volume of fish show the stock level is way above what is regarded as a trigger limit for a big problem. The issue is that haddock is a very unusual fish in that there are spikes in the size of class size in different years. There can be a dramatic spike increase in haddock followed by a decline. This is currently a period of decline. However, there remains a significant level of mature haddock as a result of spike increase three or four years ago.

I have described the detail of the issue because many people do not understand the complexity of trying to manage mixed fisheries.