Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees
Tuesday, 17 June 2025
Committee on Fisheries and Maritime Affairs
The Business of Seafood Report 2024: Bord Iascaigh Mhara
2:00 am
Conor McGuinness (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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Maidin mhaith gach éinne, fáilte romhaibh go dtí an cruinniú choiste seo.
I have no apologies and no substitutions for this meeting. The clerk to the committee will bring in the witnesses now and I will provide the privilege information required for each meeting once they are in the room. I advise members of the constitutional requirement that members must be physically present within the confines of the Leinster House complex in order to participate in public meetings. I will not permit a member to participate where they are not adhering to that Constitutional requirement. Therefore, a member who attempts to participate from outside the precinct will be asked to leave the meeting. In this regard, I ask any member partaking via Microsoft Teams that, prior to making their contribution to the meeting, they confirm they are on the grounds of the Leinster House campus.
Members are reminded of the long-standing parliamentary practice that they should not criticise or make charges against any person or entity by name, or in such a way as to make him, her or it identifiable or otherwise engage in speech that might be regarded as damaging to the good name of the person or entity. Therefore, if their statements are potentially defamatory in relation to an identifiable person or entity, they will be directed to discontinue their remarks and it is imperative they comply with any such direction.
I do not think we have anyone joining us online at this point.
I will make the following statement, advising on privilege, for the benefit of our witnesses. Witnesses giving evidence from within the parliamentary precincts are protected by absolute privilege in respect of the evidence they give to the committee. This means a witness has a full defence in any defamation action for anything said at a committee meeting. However, witnesses are expected not to abuse this privilege and may be directed to cease giving evidence on an issue at the Chair's direction. Witnesses should follow the direction of the Chair in this regard. They are reminded of the long-standing parliamentary practice to the effect that, as is reasonable, no adverse commentary should be made against an identifiable third person or entity. Witnesses who are to give evidence from a location outside the parliamentary precincts - I do not believe we have any today - are asked to note that they may not benefit from the same level of immunity from legal proceedings as a witness giving evidence from within the parliamentary precincts. They may consider it appropriate to take legal advice on this matter. Privilege against defamation does not apply to publication by witnesses outside of the proceedings held by the committee of any matters arising from the proceedings.
We will proceed to our agenda, the first item of which is engagement with Bord Iascaigh Mhara, BIM, and discussion of The Business of Seafood 2024 report. The committee will hear from the following BIM officials: Ms Caroline Bocquel, chief executive officer; Dr. Emmet Jackson, director of economic and strategic services; and Mr. Richard Donnelly, director of development and innovation services. The witnesses' opening statement has been forwarded to members. I will allow the CEO five minutes to read the opening statement or if she prefers, as it has been circulated, she can give a shorter synopsis. We will then proceed to questions and answers.
I piloted the five-minute slot at our previous meeting. It was a little tight so we might go for ten minutes. I ask members to bear in mind that the ten-minute period I will give each of them has to include time for a response. We will try to do a couple of rounds, if we can at all, but I ask them to keep an eye on the clock and leave time for a response when they make their question or comment.
I call the chief executive. The floor is hers.
Conor McGuinness (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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If Ms Bocquel summarises, it might be better and a more efficient use of time. She can highlight the points she believes are worth highlighting.
Ms Caroline Bocquel:
Certainly. I am quite happy to do that.
I thank the Cathaoirleach and members for the opportunity to present The Business of Seafood 2024 and to reflect on the year just past for Ireland's seafood sector. In 2024, Ireland's seafood economy generated €1.24 billion in GDP, which was a 4% increase on the previous year. The sector sustained more than 16,800 direct and indirect jobs across fishing, aquaculture processing and ancillary services. This highlights the critical role that seafood plays in sustaining livelihoods and communities all along our coastline.
However, the sector continues to operate under significant pressure from inflation, fuel costs, labour shortages and quota constraint, as well as mounting spatial competition at sea. The fishing industry remains heavily reliant on two species, namely, mackerel and nephrops or Dublin Bay prawns. In 2024, these accounted for almost half the total value of landings by Irish vessels. Our aquaculture sector delivered strong growth in 2024 with a 25% increase in value, which was driven by a 51% rebound in salmon production. This is a very welcome development and reflects well on the capacity of producers to recover after a difficult 2023. However, it highlights how dependent overall aquaculture performance is on salmon as a species.
Our processing sector is undergoing significant transformation. Although the most recent data, which is from 2023 rather than 2024, shows a modest 3% decline in value, this masks an unprecedented wave of capital reinvestment backed by more than €37 million in Brexit adjustment reserve, BAR, funding and further national investment through the seafood development programme in 2024.
Our retail sales of seafood increased by 3% in 2024, reaching €333 million, with 93% of households throughout the country purchasing seafood. However, the long-term trend shows a slight softening in this customer uptake, with growing demand for convenience, value and quality assurance.
Looking ahead, there are significant pressures on the sector but there are also opportunities, including growing global demand for high-quality seafood, the momentum around innovation and strong foundations in processing and export. Our role in BIM is to help the sector build resilience and competitiveness. We are the State agency responsible for developing the Irish seafood industry.
Our aim is to ensure the sector is equipped to lead through innovations, sustainability and value creation in order that Ireland is recognised internationally for producing healthy, safe and responsibly sourced seafood.
Conor McGuinness (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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I thank the chief executive officer. I ask members to indicate if they wish to speak. I have Senator Boyhan and Deputies Whitmore and Mac Lochlainn, in that order. I call Senator Boyhan, who has ten minutes.
Victor Boyhan (Independent)
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I thank the witnesses. I want to thank them for the quality of the BIM report. It is great to have it online, but I request more hard copies for those coming to the meeting. It is an excellent production. This morning three people stopped me to ask where I got it. I said it came in the post from somebody and that I am on the committee. The production, the way it is done and the infographics in the report make it very easy reading and very important for policymakers and people who support the industry. I salute the graphics, design, and content people and I ask the witnesses to pass that on. It is really helpful and we are selling a story, after all.
The report states: "Quota allocations for 2025 rose by 3% in volume but fell 2% in value a reflection of changing stock conditions and market prices." Can the witnesses explain that? These are very interesting figures. On one hand it suggests we have made some improvements on the quota, specifically a 3% rise in volume. However, it fell 2% in value. Can the witnesses give a concise commentary on that?
Ms Caroline Bocquel:
I thank the Senator. I will do a quick summary and then pass to my colleague, Dr. Jackson, to give a little more detail.
The volume increase is because we had a significant increase in the volume of blue whiting, which is a very low-value species. Although the volume has gone up, the value has gone down. It is the mix of species that makes that up. The two main species that have the highest value are mackerel and nephrops, which are Dublin Bay prawns. They are the ones we are really focused on in terms of value. The volume may go up, but it is important to look at the value of the species.
Victor Boyhan (Independent)
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That is perfect. That is enough for me at the moment. There are a few takeaways from this report which I thought jumped out and I want to share. A total of €423 million was invested in the sector, with €190 million coming from private investment. I presume the rest of that comes from the Government or EU funding. I ask the witnesses to detail the make-up of the rest of that investment.
Victor Boyhan (Independent)
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Regarding the BAR fund that we are all familiar with, has all of that dried up now?
Victor Boyhan (Independent)
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I raised the following question at the previous committee, which dealt with fisheries and agriculture together. Is there now a concise breakdown of BAR fund spending? There were some issues around it. There was the limited extension period. It went over that. I live in Dún Laoghaire, near the harbour, and I know there was infrastructural money drawn down. It was a very broad angle and there were a lot of aspects to BAR. Do we now have a conclusive audit or spreadsheet about how the BAR money was used by BIM in its sector?
Ms Caroline Bocquel:
BIM was responsible for the administration of just under €180 million worth of expenditure. It is worth seeing that in context. That expenditure went into the sector over an 18-month period. It was a tremendous amount of funds to be made available into the system. Almost €50 million of that was to develop the sector. The remaining €130 million was part of the decommissioning of vessels scheme, which was a very difficult scheme but a necessary one to readjust and rebalance the fleet, and various liquidity schemes. The really important one was the development funding of €50 million that went in. An amount of €30 million went to the processors, to modernise their sector.
We now have what we believe is one of the most modern seafood processing sectors in Europe. Some funding went to aquaculture and then other funding went to local communities under an enterprise scheme to locate the blue economy right around the coast.
Victor Boyhan (Independent)
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However, in terms of an ask by the committee, what if we wanted to see a spreadsheet giving a complete account of that huge amount? I think Ms Bocquel said €180 million.
Victor Boyhan (Independent)
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Where could we see how that money was apportioned? I am not interested in the value-for-money aspect, though that is important. I would like to see where has that gone and where is it now to analyse the benefits of it and see whether it has been wisely used or apportioned to aid the sector. I would be very interested, and if BIM could facilitate the committee in accessing that information, we could look at it again. We need to see where that major investment has gone and how we are going to reap the fruits of all that. It is critical. I welcome all that and am not criticising it, but we should see stewardship and accountability on the amount Ms Bocquel's organisation was charged with administering. Would that be possible?
Victor Boyhan (Independent)
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It is so we can look at it and learn from it.
Victor Boyhan (Independent)
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There is always a learning in these things. I would really appreciate it if that could be facilitated.
Victor Boyhan (Independent)
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I will move on then. Ms Bocquel mentioned importance of the processing sector. She said the sector remains crucial, generated €947 million in turnover and supports more than 3,200 jobs. That is good news. Clearly BIM has identified in this report the critical importance of the processing sector. Is there anything Ms Bocquel wishes to bring to our attention that needs additional attention? What are her chief concerns about the processing sector?
Ms Caroline Bocquel:
The processing sector has undergone an enormous journey of transformation over the past two years. A huge number of processors have very modern equipment and machinery. They are able to access very high-value niche markets that we are able to service. We have identified new markets with Bord Bia in Japan, for example. We have a much better ability to reach exactly the market demands in the formats required by those markets. The key going forward is we continue to provide that level of grant aid into the system to enable them to continue to grow at this rate. There is no doubt the level of funding that went into the processing sector over 18 months would, under the previous funding instrument, have been more than the entire programme. Approximately ten years' funding went in within about 18 months. We are seeing huge benefits from that. There is no doubt that the more funding that can be provided to the sector the more economic benefit it can generate for both local communities and the sector as a whole.
Victor Boyhan (Independent)
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It is therefore an area BIM is keeping a strong focus on.
Ms Caroline Bocquel:
That is one area. We are doing a huge amount across our programmes to try to ensure those processors can access the markets they want to. We have a very significant business intelligence service where we are providing information to our clients on pricing. We are specifically looking at how they are buying fish, ensuring they are doing so in the right way and using every tool available to them. For example, in the business of seafood you will see there was a 25% increase in the value of imports to the country but only a 1% increase in the cost of those imports. Therefore, that is extremely efficient buying on the part of those processors. This is an area we are very focused on.
Victor Boyhan (Independent)
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That is great. Thanks a lot. Ms Bocquel highlighted in her introduction and in the report the very strong dependence on mackerel and Dublin Bay prawns. Clearly diversification is always a challenge, but when you have a market, you respond to that. On diversification and adding species, what is BIM doing on those challenges? It is relying very heavily on those two species. That is great as long as the demand is there and the price is there, which is critically important, but what are the challenges with that and what is BIM doing to address them?
Ms Caroline Bocquel:
We are working on a number of initiatives with the pelagic sector in particular on mackerel. One of the things we are doing is looking at how we treat what we would have called "waste". Of course we do not call it "waste" anymore. It is a coproduct. Up to 65% of the fish would not have been for human consumption.
We are trialling some groundbreaking technology in Killybegs at the moment to be able to valorise that and to extract as much value as we possibly can out of it. Similarly, on the whitefish side, we have been working with the Foyle co-op on a quality programme again to make sure we are getting the highest price possible for every single component of this raw material which is so valuable. We are working with the sector to extract as much value as possible and to ensure we are using the entire fish. That is really important for those two species in particular to extract as much value as we possibly can.
Jennifer Whitmore (Wicklow, Social Democrats)
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I thank the witnesses for coming in and for their presentation. I have a couple of questions. I had a quick read of the documents and I was surprised. I had a quick flick through both this document and the Turning the Tide strategy and I was surprised that the inshore fishery was not really explicitly mentioned. I do not think it was mentioned at all in the Turning the Tide strategy, which was BIM's five-year vision from 2021 or 2022. That identified all the different challenges the industry would face. Even within this document, inshore is mentioned specifically only once and only as an aside. Considering the number of vessels in the inshore fishery and the importance of that fishery to coastal communities, I was just surprised to see that there was not more of a focus in BIM's strategies or its documentation on that. I know it is developing a specific inshore strategy but the last one ended in 2023. Could the witnesses give an update on where that is? Looking at the more holistic documents, why is the inshore sector not specifically looked at and discussed and the challenges faced by it looked into?
Ms Caroline Bocquel:
At the time when we developed our corporate strategy, there was not, as the Deputy said, a strategy for the inshore sector itself. None of the other subsectors had its own strategy, so we referenced that but a lot of the work that would have been carried out through the inshore sector would have been represented really in its own strategy which we were helping it to implement. As we embark on a new strategy process this year, certainly it will be front and centre in our own strategy document because it is very important to ensure that it gets that level of visibility. Within the business of seafood, though, it is important to see the value of the sector. As we look at the fishery landings, lobster, at €13 million, is our number three species. We have crab, our number two species, at €20 million. These are all inshore species so certainly it would feature throughout all the work of BIM. We have been involved heavily with a working group on brown crab, for example. The recommendations are with the Minister for consideration to really try to ensure we are supporting that sector. They are a group whom I meet very regularly and they certainly have a range of challenges, but under the Brexit adjustment reserve we have the opportunity to do a very important survey. We have not historically had a very good picture of the fleet. As was said, we have something like 1,500 active vessels in the fleet but we do not have very much visibility of the fleet, and part of that is because the regulations do not require them to carry vessel monitoring software and, in some cases, they do not have to report their landings below a certain level so it has been hard to get that visibility. However, under the Brexit adjustment reserve, we had the opportunity to take survey and to compensate people for that, so we have a fantastic picture now of the inshore fleet and we will use that over the coming months to develop a strategy with the sector that deals with those very issues the Deputy has spoken of.
Jennifer Whitmore (Wicklow, Social Democrats)
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Has that census been completed?
Ms Caroline Bocquel:
Indeed it has and we are taking our first look at it in detail next week. Once we do that, we will invite the inshore in to discuss that with us so we can work with them to determine going forward what needs to be done. We have some thoughts as to how we can help develop that sector. We see some of the challenges that exist in terms of spatial pressures and opportunities for the sector and we really want to sit down and have those discussions with them but very much on the foundations of good solid data that tells us exactly what the sector is like, the logistics and exactly how the project is moving around and goes into some of the nuances, which are extremely important when we are dealing with the coastal communities.
Jennifer Whitmore (Wicklow, Social Democrats)
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When does Ms Bocquel think the strategy will be published? It was meant to be published last year.
Jennifer Whitmore (Wicklow, Social Democrats)
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I know the Department had to go through the census process, which takes time, but for the sector not to have any sort of focused strategy for two years, particularly when it is struggling, is concerning. Is there even an interim plan to ensure its challenges are met? Are there any novel species of brown crab or other species such as spider crab? Has there been any discussion about that?
Ms Caroline Bocquel:
We have been looking at lots of novel species. We are also looking at underutilised species, which I will come to in a moment because there are opportunities in that regard. It is important to say that does not mean we are not offering any services to the inshore sector. I meet them every quarter. We go through challenges it might have, operational issues and bigger strategic points. It is also worth noting in the existing seafood development programme that for the first time last year, the Minister decided quite wisely that he wanted a bespoke fund just for the inshore sector rather than having it as part of the wider sustainable fishery sector. Under the previous EMFAF programme, which ran for seven years, the inshore fleet received €830,000 of investment. In the first call we issued last year, we had sent out letters of offer for €1.2 million. This is all funding designed to add value to the sector. It is ensuring it can modernise and helping it move to added value such as live holding units, seafood trucks and direct sales, all of which the sector wants and will form part of the strategy. We are already funding and providing those supports daily.
Jennifer Whitmore (Wicklow, Social Democrats)
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In the data, of the pelagic species, sprat is indicated with a 400% increase in total landings. It has a value of €5 million. There is quite a discussion at the moment about the sprat fishery and calls for controls on size limits for boats or a total moratorium. Does Ms Bocquel have any concerns about sustainability when she see a species like sprat and the increase in catch, particularly as it is a non-quota species and there is no associated TAC?
Ms Caroline Bocquel:
At the heart of everything we do is sustainability. It has to be. If we do not produce seafood sustainably, there will be no seafood for future generations. On specific species, those are policy matters for the Minister and the Department. We implement whatever decisions they take in that respect. We work within the parameters set for us. We are focused on ensuring we responsibly harvest our seafood and that there is a balanced ecosystem. We rely heavily on the Marine Institute. We work with it quite a lot and the Department receives scientific advice from it.
Jennifer Whitmore (Wicklow, Social Democrats)
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Is the Marine Institute is not looking at sprat specifically?
Jennifer Whitmore (Wicklow, Social Democrats)
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Bord Iascaigh Mhara is the eyes on the ground in a lot of instances for species that do not come under the Marine Institute's quota and stock assessments. Its role is to ensure sustainable future fisheries and to advise. I assume it advises the Minister as well. This is a red flag to me. Has BIM not said there could be an issue? This is a species where there is no control or monitoring and there has been a large increase in landings. Does Ms Bocquel not see that as part of BIM's role?
Ms Caroline Bocquel:
Of course, sustainability is really important to us.
The Deputy is right in that we have eyes nearest the ground. We have 20 coastal officers who work with the sector day in, day out. Our role is to try to balance environmental sustainability with economic sustainability. The Deputy is absolutely right that when we see things are not in line, we act. We generally do not provide advice but we provide data to the Department, in addition to analytics to go with it. That is certainly something we do and if we are asked, we will continue to do so. If we see something that we believe simply does not make sense, of course we will examine it. This matter has become an issue in recent months and is one we are all beginning to pay significantly more attention to in order to ensure we retain the balance between environmental sustainability and economic sustainability.
Jennifer Whitmore (Wicklow, Social Democrats)
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Has that specific issue being raised with the Department?
Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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I thank Ms Bocquel and her officials for being here today.
I just want to get a sense of the benchmarking. Are the findings of The Business of Seafood report benchmarked against those of other EU states and Nordic coastal states?
Ms Caroline Bocquel:
No, we do not generally benchmark ourselves in that sense. This report is an economic report on the Irish seafood sector, so it examines all aspects of the seafood economy in Ireland. With regard to other states, we consider imports and exports but that is as far as we go. We do not benchmark ourselves against other states.
Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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Does Ms Bocquel agree it is important to examine the importance of the Nordic and EU states to reflect accurately how we are performing by comparison with others?
Ms Caroline Bocquel:
We absolutely do so in terms of the technical advancements they are making. For example, we have taken a group of processors to the Faroe Islands. We have been to Norway and Iceland to examine some of the most modern technology being deployed there, with the absolute ambition of funding, through the seafood development programme, processors to replicate the technologies in Ireland to ensure we are capturing in the global markets.
We certainly consider benchmarking from a technology perspective. We believe we have what is among the most modern seafood-processing sectors in the world and we want to maintain and grow it. We are certainly very cognisant of what is happening technically in the countries in question. We go on several field trips to visit various plants to see all the technology.
Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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Would it shock Ms Bocquel if I said to her I have been advised that although the Faroe Islands have a population that is just 1% of the population of this State, its aquaculture industry is bigger than ours?
Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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Our population is equivalent to that of Norway. Would the size of its seafood industry by comparison with ours shock Ms Bocquel?
Ms Caroline Bocquel:
BIM's role is really to develop the sector. It is our role to help operators to optimise the licence capacity that exists in this country, so we are very much focused on the aquaculture side. We are very much focused on trying to help operators to lower their operating costs. For example, we have a feed barge with renewable energy, which is very important. We are examining survivability. We have had a multiyear programme involving a bubble curtain, which is effectively a perforated bar around a salmon pen that blows bubbles when invasive species come along. That has proven to be enormously effective and has saved millions of euro in stock. It is something that the producers are-----
Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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With respect, my question concerns the fact that we have some of the richest waters in the world surrounding us. The potential for the seafood industry is absolutely immense but we are not meeting our potential by comparison with other countries in the EU and Nordic states. From the information I have, I have learned BIM does not do benchmarking in its report. Therefore, if I knew very little about seafood and read the report, I would take the view that it presented a quite healthy scenario for Ireland but this is not what I hear when I talk to the processors and fishermen.
As committee members will know, last week Sinn Féin published the result of a survey. We had almost 300 participants in that survey and some of the headline figures just do not reflect what is in this report. Nine out of ten participants were clear there had been a significant decline in the industry over the past ten years. Not one single participant said that the industry had significantly grown in the last ten years. That is their sense on the ground. A very painful outcome was that nine out of ten said they would not encourage their children to continue with the tradition of fishing. Therefore, we have a sector that does not feel the numbers that are in this document. Regarding the processors, does Ms Bocquel accept there has been a decline in the processing industry in this State?
Ms Caroline Bocquel:
I will speak to some of those matters. On the benchmarking, it is worth noting that all EU member states report the data under the data collection framework. That does something similar to the benchmarking exercise the Deputy speaks of and obviously we are part of that nationally so that benchmarking does happen.
Regarding the decline in industry growth, there is absolutely no doubt that Brexit was catastrophic for the industry. There is no question about that. There has been simply no upside to Brexit for the seafood sector. We know we lost enormous amounts of mackerel and Dublin bay prawns, our two main species, and it has created huge difficulties for the sector that are permanent adjustments that have to be made, which are very difficult for the sector. That has reduced the growth of the sector somewhat over that period.
Notwithstanding that there was a 3% decrease in 2023 because of those investments that were being made as a result of the Brexit adjustment reserve fund, the current value of the processing sector is at a record high. It has dropped a bit, by 3%, but it is just about at a record high. Once those significant investments of €30 million that were made in the capital side under the BAR fund start to take effect, which we would expect to start to see this year, we will expect that sector to grow again.
Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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My understanding of the BAR fund is that the processing industry felt it would require approximately €12 million from the fund and in correspondence from the Minister to people in the sector it says that Bord Iascaigh Mhara felt €7 million would be sufficient. There is a view that this was not handled well in the Brexit transition scheme. I would like to get Ms Bocquel's sense of this. I know Bord Iascaigh Mhara has been in dialogue on this. What is the perspective on that? Was €7 million sufficient? Would €12 million have been sufficient? What is her view on that?
Ms Caroline Bocquel:
The €7 million was sufficient. It was very unfortunate for some processors who applied under the scheme who were not eligible under the criteria. It was a very difficult experience for them and it was very unwelcome. We worked with the sector throughout, from very early days after the scheme right up until when it closed, to try to ensure that aid and support went to as many processors as possible. Some 37 processors received significant support of just under €7 million in total under that scheme. Had the applicants exceeded the €7 million, there was a mechanism to deal with that, which would have been to provide some funds on a prorated basis. There was no question of denying people grant aid because of the budget. They just simply were not eligible unfortunately.
Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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The next question I have is on the number of vessels. Is Bord Iascaigh Mhara tracking the numbers and capacity of fishing vessels in the fleets compared to, say, ten years ago? Ms Bocquel did say the impact of Brexit was catastrophic. It is just that if people did not understand the industry, they would read that report in a particular way.
It is a well-presented report – there is no doubt about it. I appreciate the witnesses were working off the available data that the industry is puzzled about in terms of landings. They will say, for example, in respect of pelagic that mackerel was doing better, in aquaculture that salmon was performing stronger and the performance of one species can give an impression that the overall sector is doing well. I wish to get a sense of vessels. Does BIM track all of that information compared with ten years ago?
Dr. Emmet Jackson:
As Ms Bocquel mentioned, as part of the daily collection framework in the reporting to the EU, we report on vessel numbers. The current programme goes back to 2008 and previously it went back to 2002. We are not responsible for a complete register - that is with our parent Department - but we do track those. Currently, as the Deputy is probably well aware, 88% of the fleet is made up of vessels under 12 m, and about 66% of those are active. We keep a very close eye on the vessel numbers.
Pat Gallagher (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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I welcome the witnesses. Like my colleagues, I refer to the presentation. It is very readable, rather than all of it being scripted. Others could possibly learn from this.
I look at the €1.4 billion turnover. Unfortunately, I am around long enough to remember when we thought it was an historic day when BIM was in Ballsbridge - a long time ago before it transferred to Dún Laoghaire - when it had a turnover of €100 million. This is ten times or 14 times more. By the same token, however, there possibly were many more people in the rural areas of Donegal employed because all of the fish at that time were coming into the Irish ports and pelagic species into Killybegs. I remember well that factories were buzzing throughout all of the winter period and not just with mackerel, because mackerel came much later. Mackerel only came in the mid-seventies. Prior to that, mackerel were seen to be the scavengers of the sea and they were going straight to fishmeal. I was involved at the time of the Olympics in Munich, when we shipped out samples of mackerel to Europe. We flew them out and they came back immediately, saying they want as much as they can get, and we were getting it. They were all being either filleted or round frozen, the same as the herrings. That is just looking back on those years. There are fewer people now, possibly with a much higher volume and in higher value employment now than they were in those days. It sustained small farmers who were working the farm at the appropriate time of year and were then available to work in the fish factories at a later stage. That is to give some background.
I think all of us would like to have seen all the Brexit adjustment reserve spent here - more than €7 million at the time - but the witnesses gave an answer in respect of those not complying with the regulations that were laid down by Europe. I think the regulations should have been less severe. At the time, all of Europe realised that we, more than any other European maritime state, suffered more as a result of Brexit, which was referenced. We were here last week with the Minister. We were told at the time that Brexit would continue until 2038. The Minister said the UK industry is saying they are not happy with it. If I was in that industry, I would say the same thing. Looking at facts and speaking with the head rather than the heart, we were badly affected as a result of that, and the board has no control over that. Something else it has no control over is TACs and quotas, and that is the basis of all of the processing. I am being parochial here but when I look to Killybegs, what efforts have been made by the board to assist those in Killybegs who are suffering as a result of the drastic reduction in the quotas, particularly of mackerel?
Look at the landings into Killybegs by Irish vessels. They are worth €87 million in terms of value and there is €20 million in terms of value coming into Killybegs of non-Irish landings. Unfortunately, all of those are not going for processing, I presume. The witnesses might clarify if they are going for fishmeal and we are just a dumping ground. It is good to have them for fishmeal because they have to survive as well, but €20 million, which is 62,500 tonnes, is coming in from non-Irish landings as against 113,000 tonnes, a little over twice that, coming in from Irish vessels. We also know that a lot of our vessels land where it is more convenient and more economic to land. We would like to think all of them would come back into Killybegs or into Ireland but unfortunately it does not happen that way. If there are to be foreign landings into Killybegs, I would like to think those are landings that would be landing fish that could be processed for human consumption. I know it is not an issue for the witnesses here as they do not have the responsibility over the Sea-Fisheries Protection Authority, SFPA, but there are serious issues there. It was heartbreaking to see earlier in the year when there was blue whiting going directly to fishmeal and it could have gone for human consumption. If it goes through the due processes and the weighing on the pier then it is too late at that stage and stocks of quality fish are lost. No one can give a good explanation for that. We will be asking the body responsible for that. I am only saying it by way of reference to it. It does have serious implications. My question is what is BIM doing to assist the processing sector in Killybegs that has been affected as a result of this? There was a short window of opportunity to apply for-----
Conor McGuinness (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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Deputy, I am sorry to interrupt but I remind you to leave some time for the witnesses to respond to the questions.
Pat Gallagher (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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I will just finish up now. With regard to the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund, there was short window open from June 2024 to October 2024. When do the witnesses expect another opportunity from the European fund?
Ms Caroline Bocquel:
I thank the Deputy. I will respond to those two questions in terms of what efforts are being made to support the sector. I will ask my colleague, Mr. Donnelly, to briefly respond to that because we are providing a wide range of services, while noting also the cyclical nature of the sector. As the Deputy said, many years ago there would have been other species caught and now it is mackerel. It is our job in BIM to ensure that we are keeping abreast of that and finding those opportunities for the sector. Mr. Donnelly will speak briefly to some of the projects.
Mr. Richard Donnelly:
The Deputy alluded to the mackerel in the past and how it was not valued. This is one of the primary things we are trying to do, which is to maximise the value on the return. We have a number of initiatives. The first thing is linking in with other agencies. We are working very closely with Teagasc and the BIA Innovator Campus in Athenry, and Ms Bocquel mentioned earlier the access to co-product utilisation, to maximise the value of all the fish that is landed, and not necessarily have it going to fishmeal, as the Deputy mentioned a couple of times. We want to get as much return as possible. An example of this is for the first time ever we were able to get mackerel fillets to a standard and export them to the standard that Japan required. The exports went out in 2024, the first time that Ireland has directly exported mackerel fillets. This is due to the new technology investments in some of the Killybegs processors up there. We have also developed with market visits to see state-of-the-art technologies. We have already been to Finland to see a company called SuperGround. There is investment in technology there that has been brought back to Killybegs to maximise all the heads, the tails and the other parts of the fish. It is a primary concern to try to maximise everything that is landed.
Ms Caroline Bocquel:
To respond to the Deputy's question on the grant aid, we did open it in June 2024 and we closed it in October 2024. The reason we close the vast majority - not all - of our schemes at the end of October is to ensure we can process the claims, request the funding from our own parent Department, and make those payments by the end of December. Like all State agencies we are bound by the fiscal year.
Nonetheless, even within that short window, we had a significant amount of interest in that scheme. More than €3 million in grants was awarded to the processing sector during that first period. That is almost double what would have been awarded in a typical year under the previous programme. This is the sort of appetite we are expecting. As Mr. Donnelly said, through our visits, field trips and looking at innovations, we are actively encouraging processors to apply for these grants. We want them to modernise and to do so as quickly as possible. The window will open again in July this year and will close in October. I have been talking to industry. Some of the representative bodies would like us to look at doing it much earlier in the year in 2026, which is not a difficulty. We can certainly do that. We are looking at a first quarter opening in 2026 to ensure it fits with the time of year when processors have the time and capacity to do their grant application, with our assistance, at a time that suits them. We are certainly open to moving that window and will do so for next year.
Pat Gallagher (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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Can I ask one question before we-----
Conor McGuinness (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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The Deputy will have an opportunity to come back.
Manus Boyle (Fine Gael)
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I thank the witnesses for coming in. It is great to have them. We will get an insight into the industry by asking questions as the months go on.
Ms Bocquel was with me in the room at the Niall Mór centre. The Minister of State, Deputy Dooley, was also there. The sheer frustration from processors that day was very bad, as she will recall. From what I hear on the ground, even when they applied for a grant there was not a hope of getting it. The time was closed. They were told to apply and then the two months were up. To be honest, there did not seem to be a fair playing field for processors.
Ms Caroline Bocquel:
I will respond to that. It is a fact that not a single person who has applied for grant aid, either under the BAR or EMFAF, who is eligible, has not received grant aid. Nobody has been denied grant aid through budgetary constraints. They have not been denied it for any reason, if they are eligible. They need to be eligible and we work with them to make sure that is the case. We work with clients all year round to try to prepare them for the grant process. These are significant grants. The current price of processing equipment means that to operate at the global level our processors either are operating at, or have the ambition to operate at, they are looking at a minimum of €500,000 for a piece of equipment. There is a significant amount of governance around that.
Our officers are out with clients helping them to prepare long in advance of when they want to apply for a grant so that when they do, it is relatively straightforward. We have just launched a new grant aid system. Our new programmes have been running on it for the past three months. It has been much simplified. It is much easier and can be done from a mobile phone. Our previous system was a little older and harder to engage with. That has certainly simplified the process. We took the opportunity, when moving to a new system, to simplify the systems as much as we possibly could. We have to balance ensuring a very simple and easy to use system with the rigorous governance required of us as a State agency.
We are working with clients throughout the country in all of the sectors, including fisheries, processing and aquaculture, to ensure that as many people as possible can avail of grant aid. That is borne out by the sort of appetite we are seeing. We are seeing unprecedented levels of applications for grant aid across every single programme we operate.
Manus Boyle (Fine Gael)
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The reason BIM is seeing that is people are just hanging on by their fingernails. They are trying to cut costs at all levels. The only way to do that is to mechanise. That day at the Niall Mór centre, I found sheer frustration in the room about how long it took. Hopefully, as Ms Bocquel said, the new grant scheme application now being done on a mobile phone means it will be much simpler but from talking and listening to people in the room that day, it was very frustrating that the process was going on and on and they were trying to get answers.
Ms Caroline Bocquel:
It was. There is always a difficulty, which we try to streamline as much as we can, when moving from one funding programme to another. As the Brexit adjustment reserve funding ceased, the new EMFAF funding, which is a completely different funding stream, commenced. At that time, we were closing an unprecedentedly large scheme, ensuring the State would be able to draw down those funds from Brussels and we would meet all our audit requirements, while at the same time writing, developing and launching new schemes.
There was a six month period when we were developing those schemes. They are all done now and will flow on an annual basis. Certainly, we will be able to provide, and are providing, details to the industry on exactly when those grant application windows will be.
Manus Boyle (Fine Gael)
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On the EMFAF funding, what kind of a pot have we got to deal with that? The Brexit funding is closed now. It is gone. What is the new funding source?
Ms Caroline Bocquel:
The total national fund is €238 million. Of that, 65% is earmarked for external grant aid to industry. Part of what our Department is focused on is ensuring that as much of that allocation as possible translates into the annual budgetary allocation. Despite having received a commitment for an allocation, there is still work to be done to ensure that comes into our annual budgetary cycle. All we, in BIM, have visibility on is the budget that we have. We are working towards the budget for next year. We are expecting that we will have something in the region of €5 million available. In the context that it was previously €1.5 million a year, this is a significant uplift and we expect it to be fully subscribed. There is a lot of ambition in the sector. There are a lot of good financial foundations in these companies. As part of the process, we make sure that the companies are able to execute this funding and it is going to deliver economic benefit to them. We are expecting a €5 million allocation in that fund for 2026.
Manus Boyle (Fine Gael)
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The report is very good and very well laid out. We were very lucky this year that the mackerel price went sky high. If the price had stayed where it was, as normal, the report would have been very different reading. If that changes, we are in real bother. Has BIM any plans there?
Ms Caroline Bocquel:
We absolutely do. The Senator is right. We are very reliant on three species, namely, mackerel, nephrops and salmon. If there is any change in price or quota, that is very challenging for the sector, for sure. As Mr. Donnelly said, what we are trying to do is make sure we are adding value to all the species. Traditionally, the pelagic species landed in Killybegs would have been treated as a commodity. They would have been landed, frozen and shipped. In order to maintain those margins and to access those higher margins we must add value to that. As Mr. Donnelly said, there are extremely high-value markets in Japan which Bord Bia has opened for us. Through one supplier we are now supplying those markets. There is an enormous opportunity for the sector to add more value and to adapt the business model by accessing those higher value markets. It will provide a level of price insulation from just the commodity market. Additionally, looking at how we treat what we would have known as waste; the co-product, which is extremely valuable and all of the processors in Killybegs are engaged in that project at the moment and are very interested in adopting it.
Manus Boyle (Fine Gael)
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That is one for the future. Everybody knows what is happening with the mackerel quotas. Blue whiting seems to be the next in line. Is there any plans to get that up and going? The factories are getting their own markets. It seems it is going to take us over that wee hump.
Mr. Richard Donnelly:
Yes, the blue whiting market tends to be quite volatile. It is very driven by the demand from the salmon industry for conversion into fishmeal but it has a lot of other benefits if it is processed in a different way. It can be dried out and made into powders and hydrolases. We are working very closely with the likes of Teagasc. We are also working with companies on the ground to see what other high end-value additives we can use blue whiting for, in particular. The blue whiting price has been relatively strong due to that strong demand from the fishmeal sector. Human consumption is another market for the blue whiting.
That requires handling. The product has to be brought into the factories in a very good condition. There is a market for that right out to China and other Asian markets. Blue whiting is related to cod, so it can be used in whitefish products such as surimi and other things like that. We are working very actively to pursue those higher end markets.
Manus Boyle (Fine Gael)
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Finally, on the blue whiting, Deputy Gallagher mentioned the SFPA there. It is annoying that if you come in with blue whiting and are turned away, you have to go to fishmeal. I always thought BIM stood for quality and stuff. Could BIM not intercede here and say the monitoring has to be done in the factories rather than going through this machine that is turning our fish into mush? Does BIM have any say in this moving forward?
Ms Caroline Bocquel:
No, unfortunately we do not have any jurisdiction on control matters. However, we try to have discussions and see if solutions can be offered. We have found the control authorities are quite reasonable when we discuss it with them. It really is a matter for them and it is very much embedded in legislation they are implementing.
Michael Cahill (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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I welcome the CEO of BIM and her colleagues. The importance of the seafood sector and indeed the aquaculture sector cannot be emphasised strongly enough. I live near the fishing village of Cromane in County Kerry. Fishing for wild salmon was the norm once upon a time. They have moved on to mussels. We used to export mussels to France, Holland, etc. They were the third-largest in Ireland at one stage. Today it is predominantly oysters. It has been very successful and it is great to see young families earning a good living, being able to afford to build or buy a house and not having to emigrate, obviously. We have many very successful seafood businesses in Kerry. We have Quinlan's in Cahersiveen down at Reenard Point. There is Daly's in Cahersiveen, Browne's in Dingle, Ó Cathain Iasc Teoranta - Dingle Seafood, Star Seafood in Kenmare and Glenbeigh Shellfish in my parish, which I had better not forget. It is great to see these companies that started off small develop and be supported. It is hugely important and we must support and invest in the industry going forward.
Later I will raise the issue of the huge delays in the processing of aquaculture licences. These are causing problems. These companies want to develop and they cannot. It is costing jobs and that is the bottom line. The officials may have nothing to say on this but I will pose the question as it is close to my heart. Do they have any views on pair trawling? Do they think it may be damaging the industry?
Ms Caroline Bocquel:
I thank the Deputy. All the companies he has namechecked are clients of ours and we provide a lot of support to them. It is not just in grant aid, which is obviously of huge importance, but in helping them develop their business and develop their succession planning. We held a conference on that in the first quarter of this year and it was very well attended. The vast majority of our seafood companies are owned by families. Many are moving into the second or even third generation and we are working with them to ensure they stay locally held within families, ideally within their local communities, and that we help them grow those businesses. That is an area where we provide a huge amount of support to those companies, because they are also navigating a global market and competing with imports. They are dealing with their local restaurants that have lots of other avenues to source fish and oysters from.
That is a huge focus of what we are doing.
As regards the licensing, we provide a lot of support to clients on the ground. We have a whole team of aquaculture officers who help clients to prepare their licences, mark their sites and help prepare them for that process. Obviously, we are not granting those licences, but we are certainly doing everything we can to ensure the process is as timely as possible.
As regards pair trawling, which has become quite topical recently, all our fishing practices in Ireland are regulated by the European Commission and bounded on sustainability, so many of the practices that may be seen in other jurisdictions outside of Europe are not the same practices we have here. They are very sustainable. We have a whole team that works on fisheries conservation and it is constantly looking at not only how to reduce the energy costs of fishing but also how to ensure we are causing as little damage as possible to the seabed and not catching species that are not targeted to be caught, whether it is bycatch or species we do not have a quota for. We are very cognisant that the sustainability of everything to do with the sector is really at the cornerstone of what we do in BIM. We operate sustainable practices throughout our whole fishing sector and it is an area on which we are very focused.
Conor McGuinness (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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Senator Blaney, the floor is yours.
Niall Blaney (Fianna Fail)
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I thank the BIM team for its presentation. I have just one question and it relates to private investment versus public support. I suppose the witnesses would agree that traditionally there was a massive scale of private investment in the fishing sector versus a low level of public support by way of capital grant aid, and I mean that exclusive of the piers, harbours and centres or the sectoral investment. Now, post Brexit, there is a feeling that the funding model will not work, for obvious reasons. Has the Department any plans to make that up? Something will have to happen to make it up; otherwise that same investment in the sector will not be there, and that will be a sad day for the Irish fishing fleet and the sector.
Ms Caroline Bocquel:
There is the funding that is provided by BIM, which comes through our parent Department and the Minister. That is the seafood development fund, which is very significant. It is one of the most generous development funds. Most grants are offered at 50% grant rate, which is one of the most generous grant aids in the entire public sector. However, there is also another tool that some of our companies are now availing of and it is very powerful. It is the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund, which is the State's funding arm, really, through the National Treasury Management Agency. It has a team that is focused on food and very focused on marine and providing very good loans or taking equity in companies to really help them to scale up rapidly. It has made some very significant investments over the last two years and is actively looking for investments at the moment and speaking to quite a few of our larger companies to see how it can help to get that scale at pace. The grant aid will never do that. The grant aid will seed it but it will not help them to grow at the speed they need to grow. The Ireland Strategic Investment Fund is very interested in stepping in and providing that sort of support for companies, and we work with it very closely.
Niall Blaney (Fianna Fail)
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The obvious difficulty there is that fund has to be repaid. That is different from a grant because there is less money available now to invest in the sector. That is the piece I am referring to because there has been that much loss post Brexit. Has the Department any plans to make that up?
Ms Caroline Bocquel:
I do not know. I am afraid the Senator would have to speak to the Department about that. Certainly, we operate the grant schemes within the confines of what has been approved by the monitoring committee, which many stakeholders and lots of representative bodies from the sector sit on, as well as the European Commission and the Department.
We take those plans as determined by them. It is our role to implement them as efficiently as possible.
Conor McGuinness (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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I have a number of questions. Before we go into another round of questions, I propose to ask them now.
I thank Ms Bocquel for coming to the committee. It is timely with the publication of the report. That said, we were planning as a committee to speak to Bord Iascaigh Mhara early on in any case. The report is comprehensive, clear and easy to navigate. Similar to what other members said, I wonder how reflective it is of sentiment in the industry, particularly in sea fisheries around the coast. It speaks about confidence in the sector. The figures presented, which I do not doubt, show some growth, but I think all of our conversations and the survey Deputy Mac Lochlainn spoke about illustrate a despair and despondency in the seafood sector, particularly within the fishing industry. I am trying to tally the report speaking of a confidence in the sector with the reality we face every day as public representatives speaking to people active in the sector. I note the discussion around succession planning and sustainability of the industry, yet nine out of ten people active in sea fisheries say they do not want their children to enter the industry after them because they do not see a future. What is the chief executive's opinion on the fact that there appears, according to the statistics presented, to be a confidence in the industry yet we hear a different story of despondency and despair?
Ms Caroline Bocquel:
The report overall in showing that level of growth masks some of the subtleties in the sector, which we referenced in the narrative in the report. There is no doubt our processors, for example, are experiencing record highs. Some 70% of our processors are dealing with multispecies. They are heavily reliant on imports. They are buying extremely efficiently. They are accessing international markets and actively accessing European markets successfully with some of the most innovative seafood in the world.
On the other hand, we know the other end of the processing sector, the pelagic sector, is having to look at adapting its business model because it will not have the volume. The scientific evidence appears to be heading in the direction that they will struggle to have the volume to have a commodity-led business and moving towards value-added, as Mr. Donnelly spoke about. The whitefish sector is also very challenged at the moment. The scientific advice is not looking fantastic for next year. It is likely that the sector may have to suffer yet more pain, which is extremely unwelcome after the pain it has already suffered on top of Brexit. Our job in BIM is to try to extract as much value as possible. In the whitefish sector, we are working on adding as much value as we possibly can to its catch, ensuring it is sustainably caught. A bit like Deputy Whitmore mentioned earlier with the inshore fleet, we are working to ensure we grow domestic demand for seafood, ensuring inshore seafood is enjoyed in local communities.
The aquaculture sector had a good year in 2024 but it too is cyclical. The aquaculture sector will increase and decrease depending on a number of factors such as stocking rates, whether a fish is at sea and how it has weathered nature and storms, jellyfish or harmful algal blooms. We provide a huge amount of work programme support to mitigate as many of those variables as possible. We are trying to improve the survivability of all species in aquaculture. I spoke about salmon but oysters are also very important to the sector. We are working on ensuring we have good water quality for oysters working across other agencies.
I would not be as utterly despondent. There are good opportunities. There is unprecedented global demand for seafood and it will double by 2050.
Our processors are now becoming extremely adept at their buying, importing, transformation and exportation.
Conor McGuinness (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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I am referring specifically to imports. Ireland owns one eighth of the EU's fishing grounds – they are part of our sovereign territory – yet we have less than 6% of the fishing quota. I understand this is not because BIM ordained it so but it is the reality we are operating in. Processors here are experiencing growth but have to import fish. I assume they are importing in part from other European states, so a processor in Ireland could be processing fish caught in Irish waters but not by an Irish boat. As a society, and as a political body here, we have to call that out as not right. I take Ms Bocquel's point, however.
I want to raise aquaculture with Ms Bocquel. I realise others have already raised the issue of the slow pace of licensing. I am very concerned about the impact of water quality and would be interested in hearing what engagement BIM has with the EPA and Uisce Éireann with regard to that.
Also mentioned already has been the need to promote Irish shellfish domestically. We have a fantastic product. Deputy Cahill mentioned some of the producers in his area. I come from An Rinn in west Waterford. In Dungarvan Bay, we produce oysters that are exported all over the world. We have a really high-quality product. It would be fantastic if we could see growth in this sector to cater to an increasing domestic market. I will be interested in hearing Ms Bocquel's opinions on that. I will allow her to respond and then ask a further question.
Ms Caroline Bocquel:
On imports, it is worth stating that over 70% of all fish consumed in Europe is imported by Europe, so imports are very much a part of the seafood economy in Europe. Obviously we want to land and process as much Irish fish as possible. Every Irish fish landed is in huge demand and is prized by our processors and bought very quickly. While we do not have any control over the volume caught, because quota is a policy matter and is set by the European Commission, our role is very much to ensure the fish landed are of the highest possible quality and can achieve the highest price, and that the processors who are supplementing the catch with imports, which they must do, are doing so as efficiently as possible. For example, the number one fish we eat in Ireland is salmon; we love salmon. Ireland is the only salmon-growing country in the EU and all of its salmon is organic, but only a portion of the salmon we eat is organic. Therefore, the conventional salmon we all eat and enjoy has to be imported because we do not grow it. Similarly, we do not grow our second most favourite species, prawns. We have Dublin Bay prawns but do not grow warm-water prawns. There is a lot of import and export trade in seafood right across the world, and the vast majority of our organic salmon is exported.
We do not necessarily see imports as bad; what we want to do is ensure we are getting the highest possible price for the Irish seafood landed and that, through our fisheries conservation programme, we are maximising the opportunity to catch the species we have the quota for without catching the species we are not allowed to catch and in respect of which we are limited by by-catch measures. It is a question of ensuring that we optimise every kilo of quota we have.
On Irish shellfish, I could not agree with the Deputy more. We would love to see many more Irish people eating shellfish. We are reviewing a programme of ours called Taste the Atlantic. In this regard, we have worked with 22 processors and aquaculture producers around the coast. The programme was originally conceived of as a sort of a social licence project such that local communities would understand the benefits aquaculture brought to their economies, but what we have found over time is that, for many of the companies, the Taste the Atlantic aspect has become larger than their shellfish production because there is such great demand for the fantastic product the farmers are producing. We are seeking to grow that. What we are seeking to do now, particularly with the inshore sector, is bring all concerned together.
We have lots of ideas as to how we can bring them together with a lot of the synergies that can come from being together and on how we can promote them locally in local communities to local restaurants. Bord Bia is working closely with us on that promotion.
Conor McGuinness (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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We have a little bit of extra time available so I propose we go for another round of questions. Will Deputies indicate if they have questions? I know Deputies Mac Lochlainn and Gallagher and Senator Boyle have already done so. We will take five minutes each. I remind members that this includes both the question and the response. Members should be fair to our witnesses and give them time to respond.
Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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I have spoken about the deep concern of those in the industry but there is a sense, with a dedicated Minister for fisheries and a dedicated Oireachtas committee, that there is a chance for a reset. I will be fair; Bord Iascaigh Mhara can only deal with the framework in which it operates. As Deputy Gallagher said, the quota and total available catch and science are all things that are out of its control and it can only operate within the parameters. I suggest there may be a need for dialogue and engagement between Bord Iascaigh Mhara and industry representatives to look at the data and analyse it in more detail. Feedback I get is around the loss of quota, landings and so on. I have dealt with some of that already so I do not really want to go in to it anymore. I will just suggest there is probably a need for more dialogue there to fill up the gaps.
I have three questions. I ask the witnesses to take them sequentially. The first is around the issue of the bottom mussel industry. It is a tragic story. The Rising Tide report was published a number of years ago and, at that stage, it was 20,000 tonnes per annum. It was up there as one of the best and most important species we had. The industry was worth €35 million in 2006 according to the BIM report and it was seen as a key sector but it has collapsed. It is down to something like 3,000 tonnes. I would like to get a sense of BIM's view on that and also around the issue of mussel seed. There was none in 2023 and 2024. What is the current state of play? What is BIM's plan around that? It is a really tragic story.
The second thing is around the number of active fishing vessels. Dr. Jackson may be able to come back in on that. Over this ten-year period, what has it reduced by? What is the level of vessels above 12 m now? How many active fishing vessels above 12 m, excluding aquaculture, are there?
In the past there was a labour force analysis of the Irish fishing fleet in previous reports comparing the income in the fishing and seafood industry with the overall average incomes across the board. What is the current state of play? How do the income levels of the typical worker in the sector compare with those in the rest of society and industry?
Ms Caroline Bocquel:
On the Deputy's first point about the need for dialogue with the representative bodies, I meet with all of them on a quarterly basis with the team. In fact, I meet them more frequently with that. I tend to meet them at least once a month. I agree with him that more dialogue is good. We will do as much as we possibly can. I would never turn down an opportunity to have a meeting and invite people to meet, either in their premises or in ours, on a frequent basis. I am happy to have as much engagement as the industry wishes to have.
Regarding the bottom mussels sector, I agree with the Deputy. It is a tragic story. He has characterised it correctly. The sector has had a very difficult few years. In the past two years, there has been no seed available. This has been unprecedented. We are surveying in the Irish Sea at the moment and we are using new technology to help collect seed.
The technology looks very promising. It seems to be working well. We have trained more of our staff to be able to do the seed surveys to ensure that we have no down time and are as efficient as we possibly can be. If there is seed there, we will find it, but it is difficult. It has not proven possible to import seed because seed from other jurisdictions comes with invasive species attached that we do not necessarily realise until they have been embedded. It is very difficult. If we do not have the seed, we will have a difficult year. There is no doubt about that. We await the results of that survey with optimism and hope. We will continue to work closely with those operators, which very much need us to find the seed this year.
I will move to Dr. Jackson to answer the question on the fishing vessels.
Dr. Emmet Jackson:
On the activity, for over 12 m, we are currently looking at around 230 once we remove the 100 aquaculture. That is also removing the 39 vessels that applied to the voluntary cessation scheme. Most of those are active. Compared with the under-12s, about 66% of the fleet are active, but the majority of the over-12s are.
To the Deputy’s second point on the income for those, along with the Business of Seafood, we also produce more in-depth analysis. We produce an annual fisheries report. This is due out in September. We are currently closing off those data with the EU. Last year, average income for fishing was around €32,000 but, obviously, there is huge variation within the industry, and that compares with the national average of €41,000.
Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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I ask that BIM also look at the subsidy, particularly for inshore and islands fishermen, that is, the area of subsidy compared with farmers in terms of the Common Agricultural Policy. Perhaps that is something BIM could look at too, if the witnesses do not mind me saying.
Pat Gallagher (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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It was rightly said that we are the only EU country producing salmon at the moment. However, we have to acknowledge that we learned a lot from Norway and Scotland over the years. We can develop this sector. We are not curtailed by TACs or quotas, and we have ideal conditions around our coast to do that. The big hindrance is the fact that we have to go through too many hoops from the date of an application. A one-stop shop would be the answer to that. Over the years, we have found that people walked away and said they could invest in it but did not because it is much too difficult. It is not within the board’s control but it is important we have that. What efforts is the board making to assist salmon farming companies? I think of one in particular that has difficulties now because of the disease some months ago. Is the board still continuing to finance or assist companies going abroad on trade missions?
I believe the day will come when the boarfish quota will be up again. I think it is not known by too many people because there are no great quantities. I think we had 6 million last year. We have 80% of the boarfish total allowable catch. I was involved in that time in the European Union, because some of our vessels had concentrated on landing boarfish and we had good historical catches. It is a very small fish. Is there an opportunity for developing opportunities for human consumption?
Ms Caroline Bocquel:
Regarding the salmon companies, I am keenly aware of the company the Deputy is speaking of. I have been working very closely in trying to support it. One of the things we are proposing as part of our estimates campaign for next year is that we look at an insurance scheme across the sector.
The challenge that the aquaculture sector has, and particularly the finfish sector, is that with one bad storm or one bad invasion of jellyfish, three years of production can be wiped out. That is unfortunately what we saw recently. We would like to see now some support in relation to an insurance scheme that can help to provide a buffer for those companies. This is something that we are working closely on with the support of the Department to see if that can be delivered for the sector in 2026. We would be very keen on that. Certainly if there are any companies that are suffering loss we spend quite a bit of time with them trying to understand how we can support them. There will have been companies that came quite close to the brink over the past few years that we worked with and helped to put them back on the right track. We provide whatever supports we possibly can.
On the question of financing trade missions, the marketing piece is obviously with Bord Bia and it does those overseas trade missions. Through Mr. Donnelly's team we are bringing groups to different international destinations every couple of months to look at practices. We brought fishermen up to Scotland, for example, to see the way very high-quality catch was treated and how we can replicate that. Through the Foyle Co-op now all of the vessels in the co-op are participating in that high-quality scheme. Similarly, as I mentioned earlier, we are looking overseas at various technologies.
We are very keen to learn, as the Deputy said in the past, and we learned a lot from Norway and from Scotland. We are very keen to learn from our international neighbours. We have very good connections and relationships with them to be able to provide the industry with the access they need. We get very good uptake on that. I will turn to Dr. Jackson on the boarfish question.
Manus Boyle (Fine Gael)
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On the question of boarfish, down on the pier I am hearing from skippers all the time that there is a vast quantity of boarfish out there. They are mixing in with herring and mackerel. Is there something that could be done there so that we could try to move it on? There seems to be a vast quantity of them out there. That is something we could really tap into.
I agree with Deputy Mac Lochlainn on the tax for the fishermen. It is in the programme for Government on the ten-point plan. That is bound to help moving forward. At the end of the day we need our fishermen to be looked after or we are going to have nobody.
My last question is on what BIM can do for the small fisherman who is doing his lobsters and his pots out there on a blustery day and for the small fish factory. BIM can give grant funding and stuff like that but is there anything else that could be done for these people? They are the heart and soul of the coastal communities and we cannot afford to lose anybody else. There needs to be something done and to take an in-depth look to see what these people give for their communities and what they are doing. It is just something we really need to look at.
Ms Caroline Bocquel:
I agree absolutely with the Senator. I will respond on the two latter points and then I will turn to Mr. Donnelly on the boarfish. On the tax for the fishermen the Senator is absolutely right that this was in the programme for Government. It was also in our labour force study before that. This work is ongoing with Indecon at the moment. We are very keen to conclude that report. They are consulting with industry at the moment.
With regard to the smaller fishers, we believe there is a lot of scope for this area. One of the things that we have been talking about recently is the opportunity to involve our inshore fishermen in what we call fishermen science. We are aware of the increased spatial pressure, the inevitable arrival of offshore renewable energy, the marine protected areas at some point, as well as nature restoration. While these provide a lot of pressure for the sector they also provides economic opportunity. We would like to do, and we have been discussing this with the Marine Institute, a very small fishermen science course in one of our national fishery colleges whereby we can bring inshore fishermen in and teach them how to measure and monitor, things I am sure they already know, but to do so in a way that is going to be of scientific benefit and that will be consistent and, through the EMFAF, be able to make a contribution to them towards that.
That will both help Ireland in terms of our just transition and our nature restoration targets and help see the opportunities that come with marine protected areas for the sector. We think there are opportunities exactly as the Senator said. We have moved the V-notching scheme, as he will be aware, up to 100% funding. That has had an enormously positive impact. I have spoken to some of the lobster fishermen, who said it was of huge benefit to them. We are looking at lots of programmes that can help to ensure that all these fishers stay within their costal communities doing the jobs they want to do and ensuring that this is there for the next generation.
I will ask Mr. Donnelly to speak on boarfish.
Mr. Richard Donnelly:
BIM has been working on boarfish for a very long time. We have produced fillets, we have sent them out to China and we have had very good market reception on that. We have seen an uptake in the technology to do that more efficiently. If the fish is there, we have new technologies to handle it in a better way and there are very good market prospects for that. It is ongoing work and we are doing it in tandem with Teagasc to look at other aspects such as powderising that and using it as a food additive. There is quite a bit of work going on in that area.
Conor McGuinness (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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I have a number of questions myself. I will give them to you all at the beginning and if you could answer them sequentially, I would be grateful.
The first relates to infrastructure and, although not a core function of BIM, it is something on which it no doubt engages. I am on record as saying to the Minister that his Department's local authority ports and harbours funding scheme is dysfunctional, not adequate and not fit for purpose precisely because local authorities cannot access the funding they need to carry out works that are required. I am thinking in particular of dredging for smaller harbours where, because of the preparatory work, the licensing and the foreshore licence and because the environmental impact is not redeemable, they cannot apply for that money. That is often more expensive than the dredging itself. Has BIM conducted any analysis or study on the impact of this on the inshore sector? I am thinking of a particular harbour, Cé Heilbhic in west Waterford, which has a small inshore fleet operating out of it - or should do but boats are prevented from leaving and entering port at low water for much of the year because of a buildup of sand and silt. There are other ports and harbours in a very similar predicament all around the coast.
On the same theme of infrastructure, the State, as you know, operates a number of fishery centres, including in Dunmore East and Dingle, and is responsible for funding capital works. There is a very ambitious scheme for Dunmore East; however, it has not been funded. My colleague David Cullinane, in response to a parliamentary question, has found that Dunmore East is the second lowest recipient of funding over the last 20 years in terms of capital. Dunmore East is the main fisheries harbour in the south-east coast. We can see it from the species where there have been decreases. They are species like John Dory and monkfish that are particularly important on the south-east coast. As Dunmore East is a Brexit access harbour as well, there are a huge number of factors here that would illustrate to me the strategic importance of Dunmore East. Has BIM a role to play in advocating with the Department that funding would be made available here? Has there been any engagement with the harbourmaster and the fishing industry operating out of Dunmore East?
Allied to this question of infrastructure, I understand that BIM has responsibility for ice plants. What is the strategy, the plan, for ice plants? Is the one in Howth operational? What is the plan for the ice plant in Dunmore East? I had a question about water quality that was not answered, so you might come back on that, if you do not mind.
As regards diversification, I do not believe that the FLAG fund, which, as I understand it, is administered by BIM, is hitting the right notes in providing economic diversification in coastal communities. I am thinking of the likes of lobster hatcheries, for example, on the south coast that could support those inshore boats with the pots and create a level of employment in tourism, in the hatchery itself, on those coasts.
This has been done quite successfully on the south coast of England. Is that a model we could look at here? The razor clam fishery has decreased by 17%. Concerns have been raised especially on the east coast in the vicinity of Clogherhead about the impact of potential or alleged illegal fishing in that area. Does BIM have any comment on that? Has it looked into it or is it apprised of those concerns?
Mr. Richard Donnelly:
On that, BIM is a member of the molluscan shellfish steering committee. We input to that. Uisce Éireann is a participant in that and has been attending all those meetings. It is an active part of BIM's work on all the shellfish-growing bays in Ireland to be working with Uisce Éireann and to be alerting it to the challenges. I am certainly aware of the challenges in Dungarvan as well.
Ms Caroline Bocquel:
I have met the EPA with a senior team to ensure it understood the importance of ensuring shellfish waters were priority investments and that they were classified as priority areas. Unless they are qualified as priority areas, it is very difficult to get Uisce Éireann to invest in them because it is working through the priority areas as set by the EPA. We have had good engagement with it and with the Marine Institute. We believe we are on the right course in terms of its understanding of the importance, collectively, of ensuring the water quality in those areas is dealt with. It has taken some time to get that moving in the right direction but over the last six weeks or so we are making significant progress. We will be keeping a very close eye on that because without good quality water, the whole sector will be declassified, which would be completely unacceptable, so that is an area we are very focused on.
The impact of infrastructure and dredging in smaller harbours on the sector is not an area we have looked at, but we will. I absolutely understand the importance of that, so it is something I will take back and have a discussion internally on. On Dunmore East and Dingle, I speak with Deirdre Lane quite a lot on a number of issues. We have very good relationships with all the ports around the country. I take the Cathaoirleach's point that there is a good opportunity there. As we are working forward in our strategy with the inshore sector, there is an opportunity to look at some of those inshore species and the tourism aspects that are also set out in the programme for Government in the context of opportunities for marine tourism. Looking at it in that context, there is opportunity there, so that is a very good point I will also take back.
On the ice plants, Howth is operational at the moment. Over the past decade or so, we have had a reduction in the need for ice plants because the vast majority of vessels have been grant-aided to have onboard icemaking equipment. The vast majority of vessels not capable of taking onboard equipment were decommissioned under the voluntary decommissioning scheme in 2023, so just a handful of boats are reliant on the ice plants. However, they are very important infrastructure because they are needed as a contingency for boats when their ice equipment breaks down. In Howth, we had an ice plant that was extremely energy-intensive. It was built at time when there were hundreds of boats using it and no onboard ice equipment. We have moved to mobile units that can generate ice much more energy- and cost-efficiently. We have a contingency plan in place in case we do not have adequate ice whereby we can bring in ice from one of the other ice plants, and we are working with the local representative body and our facilities engineer to see how we can automate that delivery of ice to make it a little easier for people who are using it. Dunmore East is one of our very high-producing areas for ice. It is certainly extremely viable and productive, as are some of the plants on the south coast.
On the question about FLAG funding, the priorities for FLAG funding are set by the FLAG boards, which are set up under community local-led development legislation that is set by Europe.
What we do in BIM is facilitate them to develop their own strategies, and then they implement them. We really just act as administrator. They will determine what the priorities are in their areas.
Let me refer to the opportunities that will come regarding nature restoration and some of the funds that are starting to become available. If we have inshore fishermen doing fisherman science it will naturally lead to restorative fisheries that would restore nature in some of the areas, and perhaps hatcheries. The tourism that might go with this could well be examined.
Conor McGuinness (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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Before we wrap up this part of the meeting, I have a comment on the razor clam fishery and the associated issues. Does Ms Bocquel envisage a role for BIM?
Conor McGuinness (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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We will now wrap up this part of the meeting. I thank Ms Bocquel for engaging and attending. We will definitely invite her again. Her fisheries report will be out in September. After it is published, it might be worthwhile having a conversation again. We could specifically consider the sea fisheries aspect, having regard to that part of the operation that takes place at sea rather than just processing and aquaculture. I thank everyone for attending and the members for their co-operation.