Dr. Cecil Beamish:

I thank the Chairman and members for the invitation to meet the committee today to discuss the western waters multi-annual plan. As the Chairman said, I am accompanied by my colleagues, Ms Josephine Kelly and Ms Carol Forest from the sea-fisheries policy and management division of the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine.

I will make a short presentation to give a general background of the multi-annual plan and also to outline the content of the plan, the consultation we have had with stakeholders and the issues of concern that we have identified in the plan.

The aim of multi-annual plans, which were a feature of the reformed Common Fisheries Policy, is to restore and maintain fish stocks at sustainable levels while ensuring the social and economic viability for fishermen operating in the region covered by the plan. In this case, the region is known as the western waters, which covers 48,000 fishermen, 18,000 fishing vessels and about 400,000 tonnes of fish quota. A multi-annual plan for the Baltic Sea has already been adopted and political agreement has been secured at EU level between the co-legislators, the Council of Ministers and the European Parliament on a North Sea multi-annual plan. The western waters multi-annual plan includes the seas around Ireland. These are known as ICES sub-areas 6 and 7, and they contain some of the most productive and biologically sensitive areas in EU waters.

The current Common Fisheries Policy has been in place since 1 January 2014 and will remain in place until the next review of the Common Fisheries Policy which is scheduled for completion by 2022. The overarching goal of the Common Fisheries Policy is to ensure that fisheries are environmentally sustainable in the long term and deliver economic, social and employment benefits. The Common Fisheries Policy, CFP, provides the framework for the long-term sustainability of fish stocks around our shores and a long-term approach to fisheries management and sustainability.

A significant policy change in the current CFP is the introduction of the landing obligation which is also commonly known as the discards ban. Ireland has fully supported this objective in the Common Fisheries Policy in order to rebuild the fish stocks on which our industry and coastal communities are dependent. However, there are concerns regarding the implementation of this plan that remain to be addressed. In particular, there is a serious concern that fishing vessels may have to stop fishing early on a target stock because there is no quota available for unavoidable by-catch. This is known as choking in the target fishery. Intensive work is progressing in close consultation with the fishing industry and other stakeholders on finding appropriate means to help address these matters. All available options must be utilised to avoid such choke situations.

One of the other key objectives of the reform of the Common Fisheries Policy was to have all fish stocks maintained at a level known as at FMSY, which is the fishing mortality maximum sustainable yield, and to restore stocks to a high level by 2020. Again, Ireland is fully supportive of this objective, but as it is currently applied, which involves fixing the stocks by reaching a fixed point, and given that we have a multiplicity of mixed fisheries there is a danger of this system being overly rigid in the setting of total allowable catches, TACs. The multi-annual plan we are discussing partially addresses this rigidity by introducing ranges of FMSY that are assessed by scientists as precautionary. The introduction of ranges is particularly important for stocks such as haddock in the Celtic Sea which often see large increases or decreases in abundance from year to year. Utilising a range in achieving the maximum sustainable yield decreases the possibility of setting the TAC either too high or too low. The multi-annual plan provides for the use of ranges for all of the main target stocks that drive fisheries and are the main targets for fishing vessels operating in the western waters.

The multi-annual plan concerns the fishing fleets of Ireland, Belgium, Germany, France, Spain, Portugal and the United Kingdom. It covers a broad area - from Scotland down to Madeira and the Azores. Ireland does not have any fishing interests in the Bay of Biscay or in the Madeira-Azores area and, accordingly, our total focus is with the stocks in areas 6 and 7, which extend from the north of Scotland to the northern coast of France. The multi-annual plan covers commercial fisheries targeting 37 demersal stocks, of which 26 are in areas 6 and 7 and of interest to us. It covers all of the whitefish and prawn stocks that are subject to TACs and quotas on which our fleets are dependent.

I will now outline what is included in the plan in a little more detail. In relation to the fishing mortality maximum sustainable yield rule for managing fish stocks, the multi-annual plans are an essential step in achieving the maximum sustainable yield in all stocks by the target set in the Common Fisheries Policy of 2020. The multi-annual plan introduces new flexibilities by using the fishing mortality maximum sustainable yield range. Those ranges will allow greater room for manoeuvre when setting total allowable catches and quotas, rather than at present where the TACs are set in relation to a single FMSY point. This is a more pragmatic approach to managing mixed fisheries, while it is consistent with the broader MSY objective in the Common Fisheries Policy.

Article 1 of the plan includes a list of stocks which, although not specifically so named, can be considered to be the target stocks. These target stocks will be fished within the FMSY ranges. Until now, the International Council for the Exploration of the Seas, ICES, which is the international scientific body, would have given advice according to the FMSY point estimate - a single point - and therefore recommend a particular TAC. Stocks not listed in the plan are considered by-catch stocks and are to be fished according to the precautionary approach as set down by ICES for the relevant stocks. For some of those stocks, this will result in a change in the basis of the advice and this change may imply less restrictive limits on fishing pressure. This approach can provide flexibilities also in a mixed fisheries context where more than one species is caught at the same time.

The upper end of the FMSY range may be used, subject to three conditions set down in Article 4.5 of the plan. We believe the most relevant of these conditions are those designed to reduce discards in mixed fisheries and to limit TAC variation by +/-20%. That should support improved economic performance by our industry and yield stability of the fishery.

Another important element in the multi-annual plan is that it supports the introduction of technical measures for selective fishing based on the recommendations of the regional member states' groups, following consultation with the advisory councils. This is a very welcome measure. There are provisions already in place in the Common Fisheries Policy, CFP, regulation that allow for the introduction of technical measures but these are only in the context of a discards plan to support practical measures, reducing unwanted catches and in particular reduced catches of juvenile fish.

This provision in the plan extends the opportunity for technical measures, for example, more selective nets, escape mechanisms and limitations on fishing areas to protect juvenile fish, across fishing activities and gives a strong role to the advisory councils of industry to suggest or give guidance on measures for their fisheries.

In terms of the timeline so far, since the Commission proposal was published on 23 March of this year, we have thoroughly examined the details of the plan in consultation with the Marine Institute, our scientific advisers, and Bord Iaiscaigh Mhara, BIM. We have endeavoured to keep our stakeholders fully informed and allow ample opportunity to hear their views. The proposal was first presented by the Commission and discussed at the Council's working party on internal fisheries policy on 28 March. Prior to that, we contacted all stakeholders for their initial observations. The proposal was next presented at the Agriculture and Fisheries Council of Ministers on 16 April and that was followed by an exchange of views by Ministers. The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Deputy Creed, expressed his support for the plan but also made clear that he was engaged in ongoing consultation with stakeholders and that process would inform Ireland's position as the technical examination of the proposal continued.

At the most recent departmental sea fisheries liaison group meeting with the industry on 18 April, the proposal was discussed in detail. At that meeting the Marine Institute gave a presentation on the content of the proposal and the potential issues. As a follow-up to its presentation, the Marine Institute provided the industry with an overview of the list of stocks covered in Article 1 and considered as target stocks. The material was sent to industry representatives to inform further consideration and it formed the basis for our position in the ongoing Council discussions.

I will now move on to our concerns with the proposed plan. The first relates to the list of stocks under Article 1. It is unclear to us why some stocks were included and others were not. A technical meeting to discuss the list of stocks took place in Brussels on Friday 18 May and was attended by Department officials and the Marine Institute. One major concern regarding stocks is the inclusion of sea-bass within the list of stocks. As members are aware, there are currently no commercial catches of sea-bass permitted in the waters around Ireland and we believe it should not be included in this proposal as it is not a TAC and quota species. We also do not think deep-sea stocks should be included in the plan, along with certain other stocks caught as by-catches.

We have also requested information on the timeline for ICES to provide FMSY ranges and the frequency for updating them. Finally, we have queried the inclusion of recreational fisheries within the scope of the plan. We are of the view at the moment that there is a gap in our knowledge concerning the impact of recreational fisheries on commercial stocks and that gap would not support their inclusion in the scope of the plan at this stage.

As it stands, the proposal remains on the agenda of the Council's working party. The process is moving along at a very steady pace and the Presidency of the Council has advised that it is planning to secure a Council general approach by mid-June. It is unclear at this stage when negotiations with the European Parliament will commence but it is unlikely to be until the autumn at the earliest. We are committed to keeping all relevant stakeholders informed and will discuss with them the issues that arise and in particular those that impact directly on the fishing operations of the Irish industry. I hope this presentation has been of assistance to the committee. I am happy to answer any questions the committee may have.