Tom Sheahan (Kerry South, Fine Gael)
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Question 66: To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he has quantified the social and economic implications of the proposed cuts in quota and total allowable catch prior to the December 2008 Council of Fisheries Ministers meeting; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44092/08]

Trevor Sargent (Dublin North, Green Party)
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The very poor state of many whitefish stocks targeted by the Irish fishing fleet is clearly reflected in the decreases in annual total allowable catch, TAC, and quota allocations that Ireland receives, and in the landings of the fishing fleet over the past decade. The levels of TAC and, ultimately, the quotas for Ireland are determined each year at the December Fisheries Council following negotiations with member states and the EU Commission. The process for 2009 has already begun in earnest with the publication of the Commission's proposals which will be subject of detailed and protracted discussions over the coming weeks. This Commission proposal sets out cuts in many of the stocks of economic importance to our fleet and also envisages other measures which will adversely impact on our fishing industry, including a proposed closure for the whitefish fleet off the north west.

However, not all stocks are subject to decreases in TACs with the mackerel TAC going up by 33%——

Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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How will the Minister of State allocate that?

Trevor Sargent (Dublin North, Green Party)
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——from 456,000 tonnes in 2008 to 605,000 tonnes in 2009. This will result in the net Irish quota, after deductions for the payback for undeclared Scottish landings, going from approximately 45,000 tonnes to 62,000 tonnes. However, this TAC increase remains to be formally agreed and must be protected against any proposal that a part would be transferred to Norway in the EU negotiations with Norway which are currently ongoing.

This hugely significant increase is the reward for Irish fishermen adopting tough responsible fishing practices for this stock. In value terms, using an estimated price per tonne of €1,200, this results in an increase of over €20 million to the pelagic fishing sector in 2009, from €54 million to €74.4 million.

Notwithstanding the good news on mackerel, I am concerned with the level of cuts proposed for the whitefish stocks, the proposed closure in the north west as well as other measures proposed and their socio-economic impact on fishermen and fishing communities. I can assure the Deputy I am actively engaged, as are our officials, in delivering the best possible deal for Ireland and there will be many long days and late nights in the upcoming negotiations before a settlement is reached on the final package of measures.

Additional information not given on the floor of the House.

The reality is, however, that we will experience cuts in some stocks though the actual level of these cuts has yet to be determined. In that regard I expect that the downwards rebalancing of our whitefish fleet fishing capacity as a result of the current decommissioning scheme, which is permanently removing fishing vessels from the whitefish fleet, will help offset quota reductions. The objective of the current decommissioning scheme is to deliver an efficient, effective and viable fishing fleet capable of supporting a vibrant coastal community into the future.

This economic lift comes from the redistribution of the whitefish and prawn catch previously taken by the vessels being decommissioned which is currently estimated at some €22 million. This will, over the next five years result in up to €110 million in additional catching opportunities for those boats that remain.

Decommissioning was primarily intended to benefit the owners and skippers who remain in the fleet rather than those who leave and I am confident they will see the benefit of this policy.

Tom Sheahan (Kerry South, Fine Gael)
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We shall do something about the overtime claims as regards those long days and nights the Minister of State refers to. We shall get the overtime sheets for him.

Trevor Sargent (Dublin North, Green Party)
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That will not be necessary.

Tom Sheahan (Kerry South, Fine Gael)
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For a long time, I was wondering whether the Minister of State was going to answer the question. He was just getting to it when the Acting Chairman intervened. At last week's Joint Committee on Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, it was stated, as regards box 6A and the total ban on whitefish fishing — cod, haddock etc. — that there was inadequate scientific evidence. When the Minister of State goes to Europe, will he be fighting this proposal? In the event, on what grounds will he be fighting? We have had part decommissioning which I understood to mean fewer boats and more fish for each boat. If we are to close fisheries such as this, will there be another round of decommissioning?

The fishermen in the Celtic Sea, in the south and south-east coast, close the fishery for cod and white fish during the spawning season. Why has this not been tried in box 6, rather than having a full blanket ban on it? If box 6A is closed, I imagine that those who are fishing whitefish in that area will then move to the Celtic Sea, and that will be fished out. No measures have been put in place to save this fishery. All of a sudden it has been decided to close it. This has been tried before in different fisheries. Funnily enough, either on legal grounds or whatever, when these matters were taken to court, the Minister was defeated in different fisheries.

We know of the consequences for the Lisbon treaty because of the way fishermen had been treated. However, as regards the consequences of this, I should have preferred if more proactive measures had been introduced over a number of years rather than a full blanket ban.

Charlie O'Connor (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)
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There is now only time for a response from the Minister of State.

Trevor Sargent (Dublin North, Green Party)
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I shall do my best. I wanted to respond to Deputy Sheahan as the Department and the Minister of State, Deputy Tony Killeen, have been in constant contact with the Federation of Irish Fishermen as regards working on a joint proposal to the Commission, because we are, as the Deputy said, concerned. I gave a fuller answer in this regard in an Adjournment debate, but we are conscious of the adverse impact on our fleet of the proposed closure in the north-west area. I believe the Commission has not undertaken normal consultation with the industry either through the regional advisory councils or by way of socio-economic evaluation. Therefore we need to work closely with the industry so that we may suggest other measures to help protect these stocks, while having reduced impact on the fleet. For example, we are looking at a revision of the areas of Celtic Sea cod that would reduce Ireland's quota in areas off the south and west coast and give us quota elsewhere where we do not fish. That is where the Commission is, unfortunately, at variance with us because of the new totally allowable catch and quotas for skate and ray, for example, which we are only allowed to fish as a by-catch. We have important directed fisheries for this stock and we do not see the scientific justification for such revision or for reduced catch and also a cut in the total allowable catch and quota around our coast. We do not see the scientific advice which supports this cut as many of the stocks are in good order.

The global discard situation, which is quite scandalous in terms of the amount of fish that is essentially wasted — some 20 million tonnes per year——

P J Sheehan (Cork South West, Fine Gael)
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What good is consultation there?

Trevor Sargent (Dublin North, Green Party)
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——seems to be driving much of the panic, I would say, within the Commission to carry out measures that will not be helpful, as the Deputy rightly said. We have a job to do and I hope that, between the federation and Members on all sides of the House, we can go, united, to the Commission.

Tom Sheahan (Kerry South, Fine Gael)
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We look forward to that.

Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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I did not hear what the Minister of State had to say about the mackerel quota.

Trevor Sargent (Dublin North, Green Party)
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The mackerel quota is up.

Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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We did not hear how the Minister of State will distribute it.

Trevor Sargent (Dublin North, Green Party)
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I do not believe the Acting Chairman would allow me to go into that in some detail. However——

P J Sheehan (Cork South West, Fine Gael)
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Will we get anything in Castletownbere?

Trevor Sargent (Dublin North, Green Party)
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——it is an example of adopting a tough stance and getting a benefit.