Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Senator Pádraig Mac Lochlainn made an important point in the context of Brexit, a matter on which we have had some exchanges of views at the committee previously. It is almost an existential challenge for the fishing industry because the consequences will be enormous. The Senator has made reference to the fact that while Irish fishermen catch a proportion of the TAC in Irish waters, fishermen from other countries catch the majority of it. However, it is interesting in the context of Brexit to consider the volume of fishing endeavour undertaken by the industry in what are deemed to be UK territorial waters. The advantage in some respects of the CFP is that where we have a quota, fishermen can chase it in other waters also. Therefore, in that context, there have been swings and roundabouts. The most important issue is the health of fish stocks, not so much where the line is in the Irish Sea or UK territorial waters because a country's quota allocation determines the entitlement to fish at any given time. We have a system which is different from that in the United Kingdom in that the quota is a publicly owned resource allocated on the basis of one's track record annually, whereas it is a privatised resource in the United Kingdom. The most valuable fish stock in Ireland is mackerel. Approximately 60% of our mackerel is caught in UK territorial waters, while 40% of prawns, our second most valuable stock, is caught there. That is a major concern for us.

If the United Kingdom opts for a hard Brexit and pulls up the drawbridge behind it, stating these are their waters and that no one else can fish them, displacement will be a concern. However, it is also impacted on by quota availability because nobody is supposed to fish without an allocation and the danger is that more people will look for a share of the available sustainable fish stocks in a smaller pond. That is the challenge. We have been working extraordinarily hard with like-minded member states that will be equally adversely impacted on. It would not serve our purposes well to engage in a solo run. A shared analysis of what the impact will be for the industry across member states is likely to bring us the best dividend. I have heard the view expressed that we should use the negotiations to revisit the isssue of relative stability and so on. They are issues to be considered in a new CFP. There is a shared analysis among member states, including Spain, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark, Belgium, Sweden and Ireland, which is being fed into the Commission to try to make sure our interests are protected in the negotiations. With regard to relative stability, it is a reasonable position to take that the shares allocated under the CFP will be the legal entitlement of the United Kingdom on leaving. It is not the territorial area but, legally, the United Kingdom's share of the fish stocks. I cannot state definitively what the outcome will be, but our best opportunity to secure a good result for the industry which is part of a pan-European industry alliance that has a similar shared analysis to like-minded member states is by sticking together in the negotiations because if we try to fight individually, we will be picked off. That is what we are trying to do in the negotiations.

Deputy Charlie McConalogue raised the issue of the advice given by ICES. It is the international body that provides scientific advice. No mistake was made in the Department or the Marine Institute in providing advice on mackerel stocks. The issue was the collation and interpretation of the scientific data ICES had available. We subsequently contacted the body. There was a belief at one stage that ICES might correct the quotas mid-year, but that did not happen. The correction has been made this year. While that was disappointing, the industry recognised that this outcome was not unexpected. For example, Killybegs Fishermen's Organisation is the one impacted on most by the reduction, but there was a realisation that, in the context of the scientific advice available, the outcome achieved was not unreasonable.

Deputy Willie Penrose raised the issue of support from other member states at the upcoming Council meeting. Unfortunately, unlike the aforementioned Council meeting on Brexit, at the December Council it tends to be each country for itself to maximise its yield. There may be occasions when a temporary alliance can be formed in dealing with a particular stock, but my initial and only experience, at last year's Council meeting, was that it was a fast moving, dynamic set of negotiations across a range of species and that one made alliances where one could. Sometimes one is standing on one's own, but it is primarily driven by the sustainable management of the resource and then trying to get one's maximum share.

We have to bear in mind the critical importance of things like the Hague Preference, for example, a provision that has enabled us to achieve a higher rate when an overall allocation in a species is going down, thereby recognising the importance of that to us. It is extraordinarily challenging now because, for a number of very important stocks, the science suggests very significant cuts and the impact on employment, both on the high seas and onshore in terms of processing, is significant.

Senator Mac Lochlainn referred to the level of fish processed here. What we have been trying to do in recent years, in a co-ordinated way, through investment in our port facilities, is to encourage foreign vessels that are fishing off the south or west coast of Ireland, for argument's sake, instead of steaming back to the north of Spain, France or wherever, to drop into Castletownbere, Killybegs or Rossaveale and have their catch processed there, where they can also re-fuel and obtain all other necessary provisions. That is an industry that would bring benefit both in terms of onshore processing and the provisioning sector. We have been reasonably successful to date and I am aware, for example, of a significant industry that has built up around Castletownbere on that basis. It is the kind of investment we are putting into facilities in Killybegs, Castletownbere and Dingle, where significant dredging works in the harbour are ongoing at the moment. This gives an opportunity to try to increase processing opportunities and the jobs that go with that to the Republic. I believe it is more cost-efficient for those boats to land and have their catch processed here, and then have it shipped onwards by ferry to wherever the markets are.