Dr. Susan Steele:

I thank the joint committee for the invitation. I will begin by addressing the late submission of our annual report for 2015. In the past the SFPA has been cited as the reason for our failure to meet the statutory deadline for the submission of annual reports. We have taken this matter seriously and are committed to, and have demonstrated, an improvement in our performance in areas under our control in meeting annual report submission deadlines

With regard to the work of the SFPA, Ireland is surrounded by the richest fishing grounds in Europe. The SFPA acts as the guardian of these marine resources around Ireland. To this end, we maintain an inspectorate, with 61 sea fishery protection officers operating from seven regional port offices up to 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Our primary statutory role is as the regulatory agency for Irish sea fishing and seafood production. Our strategy aims for an industry built on compliance with fair, effective and independent regulation. We aim to have systems that give robust confidence in Ireland’s reputation worldwide as a source of high-quality fishery products and systems ensuring sustainability in order that there will be fishing for our children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

I refer to the highlights in the 2015 report, of which we have circulated a hard copy. With regard to sea fishery conservation work, 2015 saw the introduction of the most significant element of the reformed Common Fisheries Policy, CFP - the landing obligation. The first phase of the introduction of this very significant regulation to reduce and eliminate unwanted discarding of fish at sea included measures to be applied in pelagic fisheries. Since 2015 implementation of these regulations has advanced to include other fisheries, including the requirement to land fish from demersal fisheries. The application of the regulations presents a very real challenge to regulators and the industry.

We work closely with the Naval Service and the Air Corps which carry out all inspections at sea, as well as the national fishery monitoring centre under a service level agreement with us. In 2015 the SFPA was responsible for 2,500 direct fisheries conservation inspections, of which 1,000 were carried out at sea by the Naval Service under the service level agreement. The 1,500 inspections carried out by the SFPA were generally of landings by fishing vessels in ports, including 150 at sea-inshore fisheries inspections. This area of inspection activity has been well supported by our consultative committee in order that illegal and unlicensed operators are not let compete with legitimate inshore fishermen. The inspection programme generated 35 legal case files related to apparent infringements of the CFP. The SFPA attributed points for serious infringements to seven fishing vessels in 2015. The points legislation was subsequently challenged in the courts and following direction, it was revised.

It can be difficult to measure how good a job a regulator is doing as inspection statistics only tell part of the story. For the first time the authority included examples of the types of case we bring to court and the issues associated with these cases in the annual report for 2015. We refer the committee to two fisheries-related cases, in particular. In the first the apparent high-grading of fish by a large-scale pelagic freezer vessel operating within the Irish EZ was detected in 2013 after an SFPA-Naval Service investigation. The operator was brought to court and convicted in 2015. High-grading occurs where a fisher illegally selects the most valuable fish by size, discards the rest overboard and records only the fish kept on board. The case illustrated the importance of carrying out controls on fishing vessels that fish in Irish waters but never land in Irish ports and how equipment could be used to grade fish illegally on an industrial scale.

The second case involved close co-operation between the authority and Legal Metrology Ireland, NSAI, to detect and prosecute an apparent case of tampering with approved weighing equipment at a pelagic processing factory. The court found the defendant guilty earlier this year. The case followed the discovery of a switch on the wall that could be used to interfere with the proper operation of weighing equipment, with the potential for undeclared fish to be caught, processed and sold. The evasion of fishery management rules has a direct consequence for all who are dependent on the sea for their livelihoods.

With regard to seafood safety work, as an official agency of the Food Safety Authority of Ireland, we are responsible for the control of the food safety systems for all seafood from production by fishermen or farmers throughout the production chain as far as but not including retail. We maintain Ireland’s shellfish classification system which classifies production areas according to water quality in line with European food regulations and has ramifications for how shellfish may be placed on the market. We also validate labelling and traceability systems, including DNA checks of fish species.

During 2015 the SFPA carried out 1,700 seafood safety inspections, with 1,600 shellfish production samples. By way of example of this work, fishing vessels were found to be harvesting razor clams outside a classified production area and as a result were producing shellfish with a potential risk to public health. Traceability checks conducted by the authority confirmed that some of the shellfish harvested had been exported. The export market closed access to Irish shellfish on a precautionary basis. Thankfully, the importing authorities were persuaded by the effectiveness of the control systems in place in Ireland and reopened the market shortly afterwards. However, this incident illustrates how irresponsible operators can damage the reputation of the entire Irish industry and put public health at risk.

Seafood can be traded freely within the European Union when produced from SFPA approved establishments. Seafood consignments exported outside the European Union generally must be certified as being compliant with the standards of the importing third country. We are responsible for providing health certificates detailing origin and traceability for every consignment of fish and fish products manufactured, processed or packaged in Ireland for export to an increasing number of third countries. During 2015 the SFPA issued 6,100 export certificates, involving 50,000 tonnes of seafood exported to 35 countries outside the European Uknion. An example of our work in this area is the export of live crabs to China where the importing authorities had concerns about specific criteria for imported crabs. The authority, with the assistance of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, engaged directly with the Chinese authorities. Taking into account the wider picture of food exports to China, we temporarily suspended certification of crabs exported to China. Following sustained dialogue with the Chinese authorities, the matter was resolved earlier this year.

In 2015 the SFPA commenced access to the European Maritime Fisheries Fund, EMFF. It will fund the development of systems that support Ireland in meeting its CFP responsibilities.

The implications of Brexit in fisheries will be both unique and profound. As regulator, the SFPA is concerned about the prospect of significant additional demands related to possible Brexit outcomes. It is not possible at this time to calculate the size of the burden that will emerge, but we are sure that to support the trade of fish and fishery products from Ireland in a post-Brexit world additional resources will be required. The key issues are fishing access rights, fishing opportunity rights and the trading of fish and fishery products.

Our annual report for 2015 informs on specific changes to our scallop control systems. The changes arose from our attempt to meet the requirements of EU control systems for the protection of public health. While Ireland is happy that its systems protect public health, the Commission is taking infringement proceedings against it in this matter.

Under the CFP, we also play a substantial coastal state role in the case of non-Irish registered vessels operating in waters under the control of the Irish jurisdiction. More than 80% of the wild fish taken from Irish waters are taken by vessels from other member states. The SFPA is proud to announce to the committee that we will shortly put in place a coastal state unit. The unit will focus on fishing vessels that fish in Irish waters but which rarely, if ever, land in Irish ports to ensure they will operate on the same level playing field as Irish fishing vessels.

I thank members for their time and look forward to their questions.