Ms Sinéad McSherry:

Without the specifics of where you are going, what we do is important for our industry and it relates to the fact that in the context of many of these new designations there is a lack of information regarding fishing and where it happens, in the eyes of some. I am not speaking to any specific MPA proposal but it is important that anyone proposing to designate an area understands the impact that may have on traditional fishing grounds. It may affect be a spawning ground. There may be a misconception out there that all fish move. Nephrops do not move and scallops do not move. They live in the soft sediment. If you put something down on top of them or you designate an area, they are not going to swim off and go somewhere else.

The information that is provided on fishing activity will be key to making any of those decisions but those designations have to be considered in the context of the national marine planning framework. As the Deputy will know and as I said in my introductory remarks, it is very much specified that impact on fishing should be avoided, minimised or mitigated. Co-existence is key. The interests of the seafood sector, which has been fishing for much longer than many of these new concepts have been around, have to be taken into account. Equally, the information that informs that is much better when it comes to larger fishing vessels off the coast. The data gaps relate to near shore, for the inshore vessels, and that is proving to be challenging. We are working with them and the Marine Institute to try to look at better ways to present that data.