Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The Minister mentioned the reopening of the compensation scheme for people who lost pots during the storms in January. Does the Minister have an indication as to whether the take up on the revised scheme is any larger? Is he willing to reconsider the requirement to have a receipt for the original lobster pot, which was not required for the shrimp pot and in my view was the major inhibitor for people taking up the scheme? My understanding is that the number of applications for the scheme is very small.

I welcome what the Minister has done and I recognise his commitment to do something for the inshore fishermen. I particularly welcome the idea of setting up the forums, because one of the major obstacles was the lack of a representative body, that we, the public representatives could meet.

The Minister did not refer to all of the recommendation. There is a recommendation on the mackerel quota that there would be a more equitable distribution of the mackerel in the event of extra quota becoming available.

The second issue is a long burner but we must start on this long and tedious route, that is recommendation No. 14. It recommends that we would look for a national 12-mile limit and that the small boats would not be confined to remaining within the six-mile limit.

It also recommends that the fishing limit for smaller boats be extended from six miles to 12 miles. The proposed arrangement to protect the inshore fisheries industry would apply across the European Union and thus requires the agreement of all member states. It provides that all EU vessels under a certain size could fish within the 12-mile limit, subject to the normal rules, while larger boats would be prohibited from doing so.
Recommendation 18 relates to producer groups and assisting people to sell collectively. Recommendation 21 relates to the regulations to be introduced for lobsters. It had been proposed to change the size of lobster that could be caught.
Recommendation 26 proposes the establishment of a new body, perhaps with the title "Comhairle na Mara", which would have responsibility not only for fishing but related areas such as the marine, leisure activities and so on. As in the case of Comhairle na Tuaithe, the new entity would invite all the players to the table. As such, it would be slightly different from the forum to which the Minister referred as I understand it would be a fisherman's forum. The new body would consider how, in line with the Department's document Harnessing our Ocean Wealth, the sea could be exploited for communities in a sustainable manner. As with Comhairle na Tuaithe, Comhairle na Mara would bring together statutory, voluntary and industry groups to try to advance this objective.
I have had discussions on seaweed with officials in the Department. As the Minister is probably aware, there is a major tussle taking place in counties Mayo and Galway about whether the rights to collect seaweed should remain where they have always resided, albeit on a de facto basis as I accept that many people did not bother acquiring harvesting licences. All those in the area who own the land believe they also own the seaweed and nobody has disabused them of that belief. Some of them clearly own the seaweed because this is explicitly stated on their folios.
I have copies of folios submitted to the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government which state clearly that the owners have appurtenant rights to the seaweed. The Department has indicated it will revert to me with the legal advice it receives on the issue of appurtenant rights. Most people, particularly those with the types of folios I described, believed they owned the seaweed and were rather shocked to learn that, in the dead of night, as it were, a State agency, Údarás na Gaeltachta, applied for a licence to harvest 40,000 tonnes of seaweed. If this application is granted, it would effectively cede ownership of the seaweed and allow Údarás na Gaeltachta to sell it to whomever is willing to buy it at the right price. Has the Minister had discussions with the Minister of State at the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Jan O'Sullivan, who is, I understand, responsible for this issue? This case has the potential to cause serious harm to the industry by removing harvesting rights from small local operators and placing them in the hands of a large multinational company that bought Iasc Mara Teoranta. This company could seek to outsource harvesting rights to outsiders who could replace the excellent traditional industry that has been carried out in a sustainable manner for the past 50 years. The local harvesters have not caused any environmental damage because they are very careful in harvesting.