Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)

I thank the Deputy for raising the issue. It will not come as news to him that this has caused me a great deal of concern. Mackerel is the most valuable fish stock for the Irish fishing fleet and prices for it are at an all time high, between €1,400 and €2,000 per tonne. After Scotland, Ireland has the second highest quota of mackerel to catch in the European Union in the waters referred to here. Mackerel, therefor, is the most important fish stock for our industry. The stock we rely upon is being damaged significantly by irresponsible and arguably illegal fishing by two countries, Iceland and the Faroe Islands.

I do not say that lightly. This has been going on for some time. The European Union has tried, with Norway, because there is an arrangement between the EU, Norway, the Faroe Islands and Iceland, to manage this mackerel stock in a sustainable way. This has been one of the great success stories of European fisheries because we have seen the fish stock grow and many people in Ireland have made a living out of catching it, but we are now seeing an ignoring of a sustainable management system for this stock.

It is true to say mackerel stocks in western waters have moved north into Faroese and Icelandic waters. We must negotiate a fair quota settlement with those countries. Unfortunately, however, what has happened is that there has been no sign of a willingness, particularly from the Faroe Islands but also, more recently, from Iceland, to do any sort of a reasonable deal with the European Union and Norway and, as a result, nearly half of the entire mackerel stock is being caught in Icelandic and Faroese waters, despite the fact that combined, they had less than 6% of the agreed quota until recently. Now, both of these countries catch more fish than Ireland, the second largest of the European countries in terms of this stock.

The European Union must show some teeth. Iceland is in the process of looking for EU accession. I hope it is successful in that regard. However, I believe the mackerel issue needs to be resolved to the satisfaction of all the countries concerned, including Iceland, before the fisheries chapter of that accession process opens. We have to come to a conclusion in terms of quota allocation with the Faroe Islands. It seems the view that is being taken politically is that in the absence of an agreement, fishermen should physically catch as much fish as they possibly can until such an agreement is forced on them. Both Iceland and the Faroe Islands are catching more than 150,000 tonnes of this stock, which is way above sustainable levels. Some time ago, I requested at Council of Ministers level that we introduce a mechanism whereby trade sanctions could be imposed against Iceland and the Faroe Islands in relation to fish and fish products. The European Commission and other member states agreed with me. The Commission has come up with a mechanism whereby that can be done. I will push it to use that mechanism to force a much more serious negotiation between the member states and the associated states that are doing so much damage to a valuable stock that we have all worked hard to protect.

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