Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

We are also working with the European Commission and other member states to establish an anti-discards policy over the next three to four years, which I think will be very effective, along with a series of other policies on sustainability.

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On 31 July a new national integrated marine plan, Harnessing Our Ocean Wealth, was launched by the Taoiseach and myself. The plan sets targets for 2020 and 2030 for each marine sector and outlines 39 actions to be taken to facilitate this development. I expect Harnessing Our Ocean Wealth to act as the framework to be referenced with regard to development in each marine sector in the same way that Food Harvest 2020 is seen as the driver and is referenced with regard to development in the food industry. I also expect it to complement and augment the measures that will flow from the reformed Common Fisheries Policy, which is currently being reviewed and may be completed over the course of the Irish Presidency of the European Union, which commences in January 2013.

Harnessing Our Ocean Wealth sets out the roadmap for the Government's vision, high-level goals and integrated actions across policy, governance and business to enable our marine potential to be fully realised. My overarching goal for the new CFP is the development of a sustainable, profitable and self-reliant industry that protects and enhances the social and economic fabric of rural coastal communities dependent on the seafood sector, while balancing these objectives with the need to deliver a sustainable and eco-centred fisheries landscape for future generations. In the current economic climate, we need a policy that both simplifies and reduces the administrative burden while at the same time strengthening and supporting the industry's capacity to maximise employment in coastal communities dependent on fishing. In particular, I will be pursuing initiatives that will deliver and sustain jobs in coastal communities rather than those that promote a concentration of wealth and delivery of excessive profits for a few big international businesses. I support a system that maintains strong economic links between national quotas and the traditional fishing communities that these quotas were allocated to assist.

To my mind, the objectives I have set for the new CFP and the national ocean wealth initiative are compatible, and they will both contribute significantly to harnessing to a greater extent the economic and social benefits of our marine economy. To that end, I will continue to work with all stakeholders, both nationally and internationally, to deliver on the common goals which are in Ireland's best interests.

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