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

I was delighted to accept the invitation to participate in a debate on fisheries in the Seanad. We are seeing a new era in the seafood sector, and it is not without its challenges.

The introduction of a new Common Fisheries Policy took place on 1 January last. I had the good fortune to be the Presidency of the Fisheries Council during the negotiations and I secured the agreement of both the European Parliament and the Council on an ambitious and forward looking new policy for the period to the end of 2022.

The economic value of fishing to Ireland continues to grow. Landings into Ireland increased from 246,000 tonnes in 2010 to 280,000 tonnes in 2013, an increase of 14%. However, over the same period the value of landings increased by 48%, from €208 million to €308 million. The increasing trend of greater foreign landings into Ireland is a positive development for processing and support activities in our coastal communities. In total, 78,000 tonnes of fish were landed from foreign vessels into our ports in 2013. This development allows Ireland to benefit from the economic dividend that flows from such landings by way of increased economic activity in some of our most isolated coastal communities.

Irish seafood exports amounted to €496 million in 2013. This is a 7% decline on the 2012 export level. However, this followed very strong growth of almost 65% in the value of exports in the 2009 to 2012 period. Seafood exports to non-EU international markets such as Korea, China and Hong Kong continued to grow strongly in 2013, reaching €175 million, which represents a value increase of approximately 7%. Last week, I opened the largest ever Irish pavilion at the China Seafood & Fisheries Expo which is a showcase for the €20 billion Chinese market. Our seafood exports to China have risen by more than 300% since 2011, to reach €18 million last year, and sales are up 56% in the first six months of this year. We are well on our way to establishing a foothold in this huge market. This strong future potential of the seafood industry is identified and acknowledged in the Government’s Food Harvest 2020 national food production plan and in the marine strategy, Harvesting our Ocean Wealth 2020, and is being delivered through Bord Iascaigh Mhara, BIM, and Bord Bia’s strategies.

The over-arching goal of the new Common Fisheries Policy, CFP, is to end over-fishing and to make fishing sustainable – environmentally, economically and socially - thus resulting in a competitive and viable seafood sector for all. I will outline some of the key features of the new CFP.

In respect of regionalisation, the new CFP will, over time, see an end to micro-management from Brussels and will bring the decision-making process closer to the fishing grounds, in particular to national administrations, fishermen and other interest groups.

The big new policy initiative relates to discards and the landing obligation. A key element of the new CFP is the introduction of a phased ban on discards from boats. The ban on discards in pelagic fisheries will come into effect on 1 January 2015 and is already set down in a regional discards plan for our fisheries. At national level, a discards implementation working group, involving the fishing industry and chaired by Dr. Noel Cawley, has been established to facilitate the phasing in of the landing obligation, which will have its challenges. A landing obligation for mixed whitefish will be phased in from 1 January 2016. Current discard rates run at between 40% and 80%, depending on species and fishery. We must face up to the challenge over the next 12 months but I am confident that, with all stakeholders working together, we can deliver the necessary change in fishing practices. It is in everybody's interest in terms of building stocks for the future.

As regards sustainable fisheries and maximum sustainable yield, MSY, the other key element of the new CFP is the setting of fishing levels on the basis of the MSY principle. Its application will be phased in, applying by 2015 where possible and by 2020, at the latest, for all stocks. This will result in more fish being left in the sea to mature and reproduce, leading to increased abundance of fish and, over time, to higher quotas for everybody.

The EU Commission published its proposal for fishing opportunities for 2015 on 28 October. In line with the new CFP, setting total allowable catches, TACs, in accordance with MSY is a challenge in the short term and will have to be implemented in a manner that takes into account the economic impacts on fishermen. Some of the Commission proposals for 2015 are very severe for certain stocks.

Some of the Commission proposals for 2015 are very severe for certain stocks. It has proposed a 64% quota cut for Celtic Sea cod for 2015 and a 41% cut for haddock. It has yet to make its proposal for the Celtic Sea whiting and prawn quotas for 2015. I met the French fisheries Minister on Monday in Brussels and we agreed that we will work closely in the coming weeks in advance of the council meeting on issues of mutual interest, particularly Celtic Sea stocks. On 2 December I intend to lay before the Oireachtas a sustainability impact assessment on the quota proposals and present it to the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine. At council, I will vigorously oppose any cuts which are not fully justified and supported by science and I look forward to a productive discussion to inform our negotiations at the December fisheries council.

I know there are concerns in the House with regard to aquaculture licensing. Irish aquaculture is at a crossroads, with many challenges to overcome to realise its full potential. The global projections for the expansion of aquaculture are very strong. Realising the industry’s full potential is difficult and has proved elusive over many years. The need to eliminate the licensing backlog is one of the key challenges currently facing the industry. The licensing backlog arises primarily from a 2007 European Court of Justice judgment against Ireland for breaches of EU birds and habitats directives. As most aquaculture activity takes place in areas designated as special areas of conservation or special protection areas for birds, it is necessary to gather scientific data over a number of years and then set conservation objectives for the bays. After that, an "appropriate assessment" of the effects of aquaculture activity on these areas is required before any new licences can be issued or any existing licences can be renewed. This process is very resource-intensive and represents a major investment by the State to ensure the continued sustainable development of the aquaculture industry.

My Department, together with the Marine Institute and the National Parks and Wildlife Service, NPWS, has been engaged in a major programme to gather the necessary baseline data appropriate to the conservation objectives of aquaculture sites located within designated "Natura" areas. In 2012, 115 licence determinations were achieved in "non-Natura" areas and in 2013, 137 licence determinations were made primarily in "Natura" sites. Progress is being made as, until 2012, there had been no licensing decisions relating to aquaculture for a number of years. It is likely that licence determinations in 2014 will be significantly less than the previous year, due primarily to the delay in the provision of final appropriate assessments in respect of which there is broad consensus between the Marine Institute and the NPWS on the scientific inputs. This delay reflects the ongoing complexity inherent in the overall process. However, 2015 will see a significant and sustained increase in licence determinations, and in the order of 120 determinations are projected for the first quarter of 2015 alone. It is expected to achieve licence determinations in respect of Donegal Bay, Dungarvan Harbour, Clew Bay, Valentia and Portmagee Channel, Lough Swilly and Galway Bay in the first half of 2015.

An application by Bord Iascaigh Mhara, BIM, for an aquaculture licence for the cultivation of fin fish near Inis Oírr in Galway Bay was received by my Department in 2012. The application and its accompanying environmental impact statement are being considered under the relevant legislation. BIM is also examining the feasibility of sites off the coast of Mayo but no licence application has been received by my Department in this regard. As the Galway Bay application is under active consideration as part of the statutory process, it would not be appropriate to comment further on that application.

My Department owns, maintains and directly manages six fishery harbour centres. This network of harbours is strategically located around our coast to provide state-of-the art facilities and infrastructure for the increasingly mobile and large-scale Irish and EU fishing industry. A total of 237,000 tonnes of fish was landed into the six fishery harbour centres in 2013, representing 85% of all fish landings into Ireland. The value of fish landed into the fishery harbour centres increased from €137 million in 2010 to €227 million in 2013. The fishery harbour centres underpin the Government strategy to further develop a modern offshore fishing fleet and a modern onshore processing industry. From 2011 to 2013, €17.2 million has been invested in developing and maintaining the fishery harbour centres. In March this year, I allocated €11.63 million towards safety, maintenance and new development works in 2014 at the six fishery harbour centres in addition to infrastructural improvement works at north harbour at Cape Clear in west Cork.

Ireland needs to attract a greater proportion of the 1.2 billion tonnes of fish caught in waters around Ireland to be landed and processed here. The development of our fishery harbour centres is a critical part of achieving that objective. The 65% increase in the value of landings into the fishery harbour centres between 2010 and 2013 is a strong indication that the historic and ongoing investment in the six fishery harbour centres is producing dividends. Foreign landings into the six fishery harbour centres in 2013 were up by 25% from 1,040 tonnes in 2010 to 1,305 tonnes in 2013. Continued development and investment in harbour facilities around our coast remains a high priority for me, subject to the availability of Exchequer funds.

There is a wide consensus regarding the enormous potential of the seafood sector to grow sustainably in the years ahead. There are also many challenges that need to be addressed. Much investment will need to happen in the years ahead to equip our processing industry to increasingly add value to commodity products. Investment will be needed in our aquaculture sector to grow output after recent years of stalled production and in our fishing fleet and landing sites to adjust to the discards ban under the new Common Fisheries Policy, CFP. We will need to invest in the science that underpins our industry and meet increasing demands to ensure environmental sustainability. We need to invest in improving our oversight and monitoring of the industry, as we will see the consequences for any failure in these areas.

Earlier this year, I announced that I had secured for our industry €148 million from the new European Maritime and Fisheries Fund. In budget 2015, I announced national co-funding that will bring the total fund available for the new seafood development programme for the period 2014 to 2020 to €241 million. This is a doubling of the investment funds available compared with the previous CFP period. My Department has been working since 2013 on developing the new programme and I would expect to see new support measures being launched from 2015 onwards.

In May I announced a €1 million package of measures for the inshore fishing sector, which has been neglected for far too long. Uptake in the lobster v-notch scheme is improving after I increased in May the grant rate from 55% to 75%. I now expect to see a doubling in the numbers of lobsters v-notched in 2013. I also announced the establishment of the National Inshore Fisheries Forum, based on a network of regional forums to foster industry-led regional and national development of proposals for the sector. The first regional forums have been held and the first National Inshore Fisheries Forum will be held in early December. I hope I have managed to convey a broad perspective on the challenges and opportunities facing our fisheries industries and the progress made to date. I look forward to hearing your views and questions.