Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank Senator O'Donovan. I will go back over the key points raised. In regard to the decommissioning scheme, he questioned why it is so complex. It has to operate within the wider Common Fisheries Policy and adhere to the rules in terms of how decommissioning schemes can happen in any one country. It has to be compliant with that in order to meet state aid rules in regard to making payments. In response to Senator O'Donovan, we also took much of this guidance from the actual sea fisheries task force that I established in terms of advising on. Coming from that, the stakeholders and the fishing representatives themselves recommended that we should do a scheme in order to resize the fleet. Coming out a decommissioning scheme, our national quota stays the same. It does not impact on our national quota but obviously it was in response to an impact on our national quota as a result of Brexit. However, decommissioning in itself does not impact our overall national quota.

It stays the same. Whenever you remove vessels from the fleet it means that the remaining vessels have more fish, in that there is more quota available to each vessel and they are more economically viable as a result. For example, 39 vessels have availed of the scheme and €53 million has been paid out at this point. That has freed up between €25 million and €30 million of quota, which then gets reallocated among other boats that do not avail of decommissioning, so it is a benefit to those boats that remain in the fleet.

A number of other member states across Europe have now also gone and done a decommissioning scheme in response to Brexit but we were the first. That came on the back of the advice to me from the task force which I set up with the fishing representatives as a key part of the process.

I have no doubt global warming is impacting on our seas in the same way it is impacting on land. The impact on the sea is impacting on our weather patterns on land as well. It is no doubt impacting on the migratory patterns of fish as well. I do not think anyone has a full understanding or assessment of what exactly it means. Dr. Kelly would be more of an expert on this, as much as anyone can be expert in it. He might want to come in on this. In response to Senator O'Donovan, it is definitely another reason we should take steps to reduce emissions and try to minimise the global warming that we see.

In regard to the share of the pie that is narrowing, Senator O'Donovan has a long experience with the fishing sector, having represented it in both the Dáil and the Seanad. He was born of and is from a fishing community and he has an understanding of it. He is right that while the percentage shares of fish was set at the start of the Common Fisheries Policy, because of the fact that we are moving away from a situation where there was undoubtedly overfishing in the past, which led to the depletion of stocks, and getting to a stage where we are now only fishing at a yield that is sustainable and that does not deplete stocks, that has meant that annually there has been a shrinking of the total amount of fish being caught. It also means that we are coming back around the other side in that because some fish stocks were closed, we are starting to see them reopen again because we started fishing them sustainably and giving them the space to recover. Last year, for example, the spurdog, which was an important one in the inshore sector, reopened for the first time in ten or 12 years. North west herring moved, which is very important in my part of the world, from being a scientific fish to having a catch again for the first time. By fishing it sustainably ultimately we see better catch in the long term but it has led in recent years to a narrowing of the pie, as such.

In regard to monitoring and control, the large boats, as well as medium and small boats, are subject to the SFPA, but also the European Fisheries Control Agency has jurisdiction across all European waters as well.

Regarding the six-mile inshore limit and the larger vessels coming in fishing sprat, which has been referred to, the previous Minister to me, Deputy Creed, prohibited the large boats coming inside the six-mile zone. That was challenged in the High Court rather than in the European Court. A case was taken to the High Court by fishing boat owners that were affected, who contested it. The High Court found in their favour on a technicality, which means there is no longer a ban inside the six-mile zone and the large boasts can come in. I have restarted the scientific assessment to start the process and to look at that again. I assure Senator O'Donovan that I am looking at that again, but that is the background to it. Does Dr. Kelly want to make a point on patterns of global warming?