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

I thank the Chairman for allowing me to make those remarks.

As members are aware, the annual fishing opportunities for the Community’s fishing fleets are traditionally agreed at the December Agricultural and Fisheries Council. This year, the arrangements for 2014 are due to be negotiated at the Council scheduled for 16 to 18 December. The levels of total allowable catch, TAC, and the quotas for Ireland again will be determined at that meeting, following negotiations with member states and the European Commission. The Agricultural and Fisheries Council also will 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 2014.

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 on 30 October last. The Commissions’ proposal for nephrops in the Irish Sea was, however, only received last Friday, 22 November and consequently the sustainable impact assessment, SIA, does not cover that stock. The proposal also does not cover stocks which are subject to ongoing international negotiations, such as mackerel and blue whiting, as well as whiting in the Celtic Sea. The Commission’s proposals are based on formal advice received from the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea, ICES, which is the independent international body with responsibility for advising on the state of fish stocks. It 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.

In order to inform my negotiations at the December Fisheries Council, I have had undertaken an assessment of the effects of the Commission's 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 2014. From November 6, an online web portal on www.fishingnet.ie was activated to enable the transmission of electronic submissions for consideration. In addition, I convened a meeting of stakeholders on 13 November, which gave a further opportunity to key stakeholders to outline their position on the many aspects of this proposal. In all, five submissions were received by the closure date. The full content of all the submissions received by the deadline are available on the aforementioned website and have been laid before this joint committee for those members who are interested. On examining 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 there is acknowledgement of improvements in recent years in respect of some stocks, particularly in the Celtic Sea, there is understandable concern about 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 2014 and the overly narrow interpretation of some of the scientific advice. There is justifiable concern that these cuts in certain quotas will only lead to further discarding. The Marine Institute and Bord Iascaigh Mhara, BIM, have undertaken an evaluation of the Commission’s proposals, which is contained in the sea fisheries SIA. While noting an improvement in the status of some fish stocks, others remain a concern, namely, in areas west of Scotland and in the Irish Sea. Much needs to be done to rebuild all stocks to sustainable levels, including further reductions in fishing opportunities and improving selectivity to avoid by-catch. Implementing the new reformed Common Fisheries Policy, especially the phased ban on discards, and ending overfishing will require continued work and commitment by all member states, including Ireland.

The new regionalisation model in the reformed Common Fisheries Policy provides for member states with a direct interest in fisheries in a region to work together with the EU advisory councils of stakeholders for the same region to develop appropriate conservation measures for the fisheries in the region. Ireland hosted the first meeting of the regional group of member states, involving the United Kingdom, France, Belgium, Spain and the Netherlands, earlier this month. The first major task will be preparing for the effective implementation of a discards ban for fisheries in north-western waters. I also appointed Dr. Noel Cawley to chair a national discards implementation group, involving fishing industry representatives, to develop appropriate measures for fisheries in which we have an involvement. This group will develop and support Ireland’s input into the advisory group of stakeholders and the EU regional group of member states.

As for TACs and quotas for 2014, the sustainable impact assessment summarises the pressure on the 59 stocks dealt with in the 2013 stock book.

It also compares the situation with the same evaluation presented last year. In general, the situation has deteriorated slightly with a lower number, 20, and percentage, 34%, of stocks assessed to be sustainably fished in 2014 compared with last year. The percentage and number of stocks overfished has increased slightly in 2013 and the number and percentage of stocks with unknown status also increased.

Over one third or 18 stocks are above biomass trigger points. The number of depleted stocks has declined, from eight to seven, and now 12% of stocks are assessed to be depleted. The number of stocks with unknown spawning stock biomass, no assessments or undefined biomass triggers remains relatively high, at 58%. This poses a big problem.

I do not intend to go into a stock by stock discussion here, although if the members have questions, I will try to answer them. The specific details are available in the document which has been laid before the Dáil and in the accompanying stock book, which was prepared by the Marine Institute. I will be prepared to address any specific issues on individual stocks raised.

It is estimated that the proposal, as it currently stands, will see a net reduction in fishing opportunities for the Irish whitefish sector of 24% by volume. In financial terms, this amounts to a direct income reduction of €10.5 million or 19% on 2013, and while pelagic quotas will rise, due in large part to increases in the boarfish quota and the Celtic Sea herring fishery, the overall impact will be a reduction of €3.1 million or 6% on 2013. Overall, this amounts to loss in direct income to the catching sector of approximately €13.5 million.

However, I must stress that these figures do not take account of the huge implications of the proposed cut in the nephrops quota in the Irish Sea and the Celtic Sea which only came out on Friday last. The Commission proposal is for a cut of 23% on the 2013 quota which in financial terms would cost the Irish fleet over €10 million. The proposal appears to be based on an extremely narrow interpretation of the ICES advice and does not take into consideration the fact that many member states do not utilise their quotas. This is the second most important fishery to Ireland after mackerel and for the reasons I outlined, I cannot countenance such a drastic and unwarranted cut.

For demersal fleets in the Irish Sea, Celtic Sea and along the west coast, the proposal sees a 34% or €11.6 million reduction in fishing opportunities. This will directly impact at the ports of Clogherhead, Howth, Dunmore East, Kilmore Quay, Dingle, Castletownbere, and Ros an Mhíl, as well as many other smaller ports. For the demersal fleet in the north west, the proposal would result in a 19% or €0.9 million reduction in fishing opportunities. This will directly impact at the ports of Killybegs and, in particular, Greencastle.

In addition to the direct losses to the fleet, income is also lost from the processing sector as a direct result of reduced catches and in a number of ancillary industries, such as net making, chandlery, engineering, refrigeration. Based on a total turnover generated per tonne of fish landed, BIM estimates that the full costs of the proposed quota reductions are in the order of €48 million. This figure rises to over €70 million when taking into consideration the proposal on nephrops around the coast. BIM further estimates, on the basis of the most recent employment surveys of the catching sector, that these reductions could impact between 400 and 500 full and part-time jobs, through reduced incomes, partial lay offs or redundancies.

The proposal does not include the Hague Preferences which are a safety net for the Irish fleet on specific stocks where total allowable catches, TACs, 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 2014 will amount to 1,096 tonnes of fish with a direct value of €2.2 million. BIM estimates that the full value of the Hague quotas in 2014 is €7.6 million with an associated impact on between 100 full and part-time jobs, through reduced incomes, partial lay offs or redundancies.

In all, eight submissions were received during the consultation period. Submissions were received from OCEAN 2012, Birdwatch Ireland, the Irish Wildlife Trust, the Federation of Irish Fishermen, the Irish South and East Fishermen's Organisation, Inland Fisheries Ireland, an Taisce and Coastwatch. I do not intend to summarise the submissions made. They cover a broad spectrum of opinion dealing with the overall policy on setting TACs and quotas as well as dealing with individual stocks. The full content of the submissions received has been copied to the members.

I can concur with the findings of the sea fisheries Sustainability Impact Assessment. I will not support 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. 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. Fishing ports and whole communities all around our coast are dependent on fisheries for their survival. Finally, I thank and acknowledge all those who contributed to the production of this impact assessment, and look forward to the debate on the conclusions.

For those who are listening and reporting on this meeting, it is important to state that the figures I outlined are the consequences of implementing the proposals as they currently stand, but this is a negotiation. There is always a difference between the negotiated outcome at the end of the process and the proposals going into that process. I would appreciate if commentators did not make predictions on the basis of maximising the impact of a headline around some of the numbers that I outlined. We need to take a responsible approach here. I need to rely, as I do, on the Marine Institute. Mr. Paul Connolly is kindly here to give his perspective, from the Marine Institute point of view and as someone who has a deep knowledge of ICES. Of course, if stocks are threatened and if the science recommends that we must ease back our fishing effort and our quota in those stocks, that is something we must consider and, potentially, implement. However, sometimes there is a need for a detailed analysis of the science and a negotiation around that to ensure we are not cutting fishing effort or TACs unnecessarily if the state of the stock does not merit it in terms of our science having undertaken an analysis of the ICES and Commission recommendations. That is my job. We will take a responsible and sustainable approach to fishing, as we have in the past two years, and try to get the best outcome we can for the fishing sector to maximise the commercial return within a sustainable fishery next year.