Mr. Jason Whooley:

I am thankful for the opportunity to address the committee on our 2011 annual report. I have a brief presentation that should take no longer than 15 minutes. It highlights the key activities of my organisation in 2011. We can take questions subsequently.

I will give the background to the organisation, provide a macroeconomic update on the industry and outline some of the key highlights across our three main customer divisions. These divisions cover fisheries, aquaculture, business development and innovation, and training. Training is actually part of the fisheries division but we will highlight what we did in respect of it also.

Bord Iascaigh Mhara, BIM, is the seafood development agency. It is our role to promote seafood development. We have bases around the country, in the main in the fishing ports. The organisation, a State organisation, was founded in 1952. We like to see ourselves as providing an integrated service to everyone in the seafood sector, be they fishermen, processors or fish farmers.

We have 125 staff, which number is reduced from 175 in 2009. We have, therefore, had a considerable reduction in staff since 2009. We have five key strategic objectives. The first concerns adding value to the fish we currently land, be it farmed or caught in the wild. The second is scaling the sector, in that we believe there is a big opportunity to grow the sector from its current turnover of approximately €850 million to in excess of €1 billion. To do that, we need large-scale operators. The third concerns the critical supply of raw materials. There is a big future in processing in Ireland and adding value to catches. To do this, we need to increase the volume of raw material supplied by various means. Fourth, sustainability is critical. Anything we do in the sector must take into account the sustainability of stock. Fifth, if we are to grow the sector, it is imperative that those involved have the requisite skills to enable them to maximise the opportunity that exists.

Broad figures for 2011 show that the sector was worth approximately €750 million. The negative aspect of this was a 4% reduction, as one would have anticipated, in the domestic economy. Difficult times were experienced. We believe this levelled off during 2012 and 2013, but 2011 was difficult for those in the domestic retail sector. The export position is much better. During 2011, we recorded a 13% increase in exports, a very sizeable gain. We saw double-digit growth in 2012, as high as 17% or 18%. There has been growth in excess of 30% over a two-year period.

Some 11,000 people are employed in the sector. It is critical that they are employed in coastal areas where, as we have said on numerous occasions, there are very few economic alternatives.

Let us consider the current market focus of exports. Not surprisingly, Europe is our biggest market. Dependency on this market has reduced slightly over recent years. What we have seen is growth in Asia and Africa, primarily in respect of our pelagic species. There is very little trade with North America, which we regard as an opportunity. We envisage major opportunities for the sector in Asia.

Consider the key highlights for the different divisions within BIM. The fisheries development division deals exclusively with the fishing fleet, both offshore and inshore, in our various ports. I will first deal with the financial elements and then refer to specific projects. Overall, we invested approximately €636,000 in fisheries grants in 2011 in areas such as safety, which is very important given the announcement this week. With recent tragedies, we cannot have enough invested in safety and safety awareness. We upgraded 87 vessels during 2011 for safety purposes. We also helped fishermen to invest in their fishing vessels. In 50 cases, this was to enhance on-board quality. It is critical that we get young blood into the sector. Two young fishermen received grants from us of €50,000 each in 2011.

We had smaller scale investments in lobster V-notching. Over 200 vessels benefited from lobster V-notching. With regard to seafood environmental management systems, over 230 vessel owners received financial assistance from BIM to enable them to bring their vessels and catches up to a certain standard to allow them to label catches as caught in an environmentally friendly manner and sustainable.

With regard to some of the key projects we are involved in from a fisheries perspective, members will have heard over the past 12 months, in particular, about the drive at European level, including by the Council of Ministers, to reduce the amount of discards from EU fishing fleets. The impact on the Irish fleet is particularly important to us. We have been involved with various measures on discarding to try to work with the industry to try to identify fishing gear that will catch fish more selectively and, in particular, avoid certain species or reduce the number of juveniles being caught in our nets.

Two of those involved a cod recovery programme and what is called a Seltra sorting box. On one side of the hold there are adult fish, while on the other side there are juvenile discarded fish. That is the extent of the problem in some of our fisheries. We are trying to work with fishermen to introduce grids like this into their fishing nets to determine if they are more suitable from a selectivity perspective, so that the non-critical catch escapes and the commercial catch is retained.

In the image one can see the juvenile fish swimming out through those square meshes. That type of selective gear is essential for the protection of fish stocks and the long-term security of this industry.

BIM is involved in a large number of other areas, including the tagging of albacore tuna, which is a valuable fishery. Our fleet is currently chasing tuna 400 miles south of Ireland, nearly as far down as the Azores. Some of the technology those vessels are deploying was developed in partnership with BIM. We are also involved in key projects such as avoiding cetacean by-catch.

In addition, what does a fishing vessel which is 100 miles offshore do with its waste? How can we ensure that environmental considerations are taken into account from a waste management perspective? We have been involved with the industry specifically on projects that will see them baling and recycling the waste netting they might come across.

Aquaculture is another key area for BIM. In 2011, we invested €654,000 in aquaculture projects. That includes a commercial aquaculture scheme which comprised €104,000 for four recipients. There were also 25 recipients in an aquaculture development programme.

BIM is also involved in the development of appropriate assessments, which are essential for Ireland to comply with the EU birds and habitats directives and Natura 2000. A lot of staffing work has gone into that area.

In 2011, we made a lot of progress with seaweed. It is new and different and we think it has considerable potential for the Irish sector. Almost 1 million tonnes of seaweed are grown in China every year. In 2011, we developed Ireland's first commercial seaweed farm off the Kerry coast in Dingle Bay. That is now harvesting commercial quantities of seaweed which is sold both here and on international markets. The images give examples of some of the trials BIM staff have done to enable this company to develop its own commercial operation.

Members of the joint committee may have heard that BIM is involved in a new salmon farm off the Galway coast in the lee of the Aran Islands. We term it a new approach because we have been working with scientists at the Marine Institute to investigate suitable locations. Having gone through a number of locations, we think we have found a very good one off the Galway coast.

We received work packages from the Marine Institute in the following areas: farmed salmon and wild salmonid interactions, including sea lice and escape issues; hydrography and oceanography, including modelling of waste products, dispersal of any medicines used on the farm, and modelling of other possible environmental impacts; information characterising the marine environment at the proposed locations, including wave climate predictions, the fate of all and any emissions from the proposed farm, and the nature of the water column; and ornithology, both in the vicinity of the proposed farm and in the protected areas in and around the farm. We got all that scientific information from the Marine Institute, which led us to believe that we have a viable site off the Galway coast. Following receipt of the information, we proceeded to apply for a production licence. That was the first time that a State agency like BIM has applied for such a licence. If we are successful in obtaining a licence it is our intention to seek a suitable commercial investor to operate in that location. We also have plans to move to a site in Mayo and, in due course, a site in Donegal. The screen image shows the site in the Galway area.

From a business development perspective, BIM is involved in helping our processing sector to add value to the catches being landed. We also want to help it to invest in the capital costs of increasing capacity and expertise within its plants. In recent years, BIM has been successful in creating additional jobs in the processing sector. The figures are included in the presentation.

We have also had success in working on programmes like Lean SeaPro manufacturing and Green Seafood to ensure that there is full environmental compliance throughout the value chain - not just from the fishing vessel but all the way through to the catching and processing sectors. There is a requirement from a market perspective - particularly concerning the multiples - for that level of traceability.

BIM also works with the processing sector to attain BRC or HACCP accreditation so that the top level of standards are attained by the processing sector. That enables us to compete in the highest possible value markets. Targeting markets that offer the highest price premiums must be the future for Irish seafood. Those big niche markets - that is not a contradiction - are the future for Irish seafood, rather than competing at a commodity level.

BIM also offers a comprehensive service to the Irish retail sector which is offering fish, whether they be multiples or independent retailers. We work with them on cold-chain management, labelling, branding and customer service. That includes everything from their displays to their pricing. BIM staff work with these companies to try to make fish more attractive and available to consumers. The overall value of the domestic sector might have fallen in the last 12 months but, in fact, the amount of fish has increased. That is particularly so for the more valued species such as hake. BIM works on a value-added scheme which is specifically aimed at taking existing commodity players and transforming them into companies that add more value and make more efforts to address what modern consumers want, as opposed to just exporting on the hoof. That is more easily done in some cases than others, such as pelagic fish. We accept that the latter is more of a commodity trade.

BIM is also working with UCC to develop a graduate programme. We now have young graduates coming into the sector every year who are trained in BIM for six to nine months. They are then placed out in the industry to engender new blood, new thinking and enthusiasm into a sector that has real potential. The appetite among graduates for these jobs is enormous. The sector is seen as a new growth area, which is an important image for BIM to project.

Boarfish constitute a new business development project. BIM discovered this fish species with our scientists in the Marine Institute. Over the last two years, a quota has been set and Ireland's quota is approximately 56,000 tonnes. BIM believes that there is a real future for boarfish, even though it is currently being sold exclusively for fishmeal. It is only approximately the size of the palm of one's hand. We have the majority of the total allowable catch, or TAC, in Ireland. BIM believes there is major potential to take this fish - approximately all 56,000 tonnes of it - and develop a new high-value species that will be attractive to international markets and Asian markets in particular. Even though it is a pelagic fish, like herring and mackerel, its flesh is similar to cod and whiting. There is a major opportunity for us in that regard.

In 2011, we were in Qingdao, China, with the different product formats developed in our seafood development centre, trying to attract international interest. I am certain that over the next two years we will see a considerable amount of that fish going into the human value chain, which will be an enormous boost for the processing sector. We did the same with blue whiting. Historically, it was never eaten, but by 2012, 80,000 tonnes of that fish were landed in Killybegs for human consumption. We believe the same transformation is possible with boarfish.

Our seafood development centre, based in Clonakilty, Cork, is the only dedicated seafood centre in Ireland and one of the few in Europe. In 2011, approximately 300 companies went through the centre, resulting in 20 new product launches. It has incubation space to encourage companies, whether large or small, to avail of our technologists, business development expertise and facilities. This has proved to be very successful.

Training is a critical area that is often overlooked in every sector. It is important in the seafood sector because of changing technologies and the dangers associated with fishing as a profession. We have two excellent training facilities in our national colleges in Greencastle, County Donegal and Castletownbere, County Cork. In addition, we have coastal training units which take the training to communities as opposed to communities having to go to the colleges. During 2011, those units, similar to mobile cinemas, visited 29 different locations. There is a significant uptake from the industry. With the recent announcement in Union Hall, County Cork, by the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Deputy Varadkar, and the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Deputy Coveney, we expect a further increase in throughput in these coastal units, as well as at the national colleges. Since 1999, 8,000 students have gone through the school at Castletownbere. Obviously, some of them are repeat students upskilling but the figure is still significant. There will be a big focus on training in 2013.

During 2011, we trained 1,250 individuals. Areas covered include fisheries and aquaculture training, seafood safety training, safety training as well as workshops and different career events around specific areas such as fire fighting and vessel stability.

I thank the committee members for their attention and welcome any questions they might have.