Seanad debates
Thursday, 18 September 2014
Adjournment Matters
Fisheries Protection
2:00 pm
Tom Shehan (Fine Gael)
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I welcome the Minister of State and compliment him on the fact that he has taken to his portfolio like the proverbial a duck to water. Speaking to colleagues and others, it is widely recognised that he is the most helpful and the most approachable and I thank him for that.
The issue I raise is of national importance and relates to the whole fishing industry. It affects Dingle, Killybegs, Castletownbere, Rossaveal and Dunmore East and relates to the new process of weighing fish. The EU directive on the weighing of fish states that the fish will be weighed on the boat, on the pier or in the factory. We have spoken many times about Ireland and its participation in the EU but the practice here currently is to do all three. The fish, including herring and mackerel, the season for which opened two weeks ago tomorrow, are being weighed on the boat, dry weighed on the pier and weighed in the factory.
Approximately two years ago, the Fine Gael-Labour Party Government brought in administrative sanctions, fines and penalties for indiscretions in the fishing industry. For the life of me, I cannot understand why they are not being implemented. A sledge hammer is being used to crack a nut here. Obviously, as in any industry, there is always a rogue or a couple of rogues but what is happening now is that the whole industry is being virtually shut down as a result of more red tape and bureaucracy. There are an additional 12 conditions.
The factories in which the fish is processed must put in cameras. I was trying to think of a comparable workplace, other than here where we are constantly looking into cameras, but I do not know of any other workplace in which there are cameras. It is not as if the Sea-Fisheries Protection Authority is short of staff. It has 100 inspectors and we are talking about five places in the country which must be inspected.
A compromise is needed here. We are two weeks into the herring and mackerel season. I spoke to a factory owner in Killybegs during the week and he informed me that he lost a boat during the week and a turnover of €3 million. That boat, laden with fish, went to Scotland so those fish did not land in Ireland. The men and women were not working in the factory and the factory was effectively closed. It does not make sense. The fish are gone, the fish processors are closed and the fish processing workers will be gone.
As I said, two years ago, administrative sanctions were brought in by the Minister, Deputy Coveney, to deal with rogues in the fishing industry and that is why they should be implemented. Why not tie up someone's boat following an infringement and remove that person's licence following another infringement rather than tarnish everyone in the fishing industry as a rogue out to fiddle the system? Rather than concentrate our focus on the Irish fishing industry, with which I have no issue, a compromise could be reached here. We should focus more on the Faroese and the Icelandics who have taken 1 million tonnes of mackerel and herring in the past five years and not hammer our own little industry. The factory workers will not have work and the factories will close.
The resolution lies with the 100 inspectors in the Sea-Fisheries Protection Authority. There should be random weighing checks and random checks in the factories with one weighing process, which is sought in the EU directive, and not three different weighing processes. Anyone found to be breaking the law should be dealt with by the courts. That is what should be done. A resolution could be found very quickly. As I said, we are two weeks into the herring and mackerel season.
Tom Hayes (Tipperary South, Fine Gael)
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I thank Senator Sheahan for raising this issue. All matters relating to the operational enforcement of sea fisheries law are, by statute, matters appropriate to the Sea-Fisheries Protection Authority. SFPA is the independent law enforcement agency of the State for sea fisheries law.
As Minister of State, I do not have responsibility in regard to the issues raised by the Senator. Responsibility in these matters rests with SFPA, which has a challenging job to do. Its statutory responsibility is to enforce EU and national law under the Common Fisheries Policy. It also has responsibility to provide a level playing field for everybody in this industry. If one boat or two or six boats are overfishing deliberately, it is not a victimless crime. It has an impact on others who are law abiding and who are catching in accordance with the quotas allocated to them.
The market situation for pelagic fish is currently challenging, as Russia has banned the importation of pelagic fish and Russia has been an important market for mackerel, in particular. If illegally caught fish are being placed on the market, it displaces and reduces prices for those operators, the majority of our industry, who are abiding by the rules set down. In my view, it is in the interest of the industry as a whole to have strong and fair arrangements in place that give confidence that the rules apply across the board and that all operators are abiding by the quota allocations made available to them.
The Sea-Fisheries Protection Authority has sent me a report on the issues that have given rise to the current situation, the actions taken and the current state of consultation between SFPA and the industry. Arrangements for the monitoring and control of fisheries is set down in the EU Control Regulation 1224/09. Article 60(2) of the Council regulation requires that weighing of fisheries products shall be carried out on landing prior to the fisheries products being held in storage, transported or sold. SFPA has allowed a derogation from the EU regulations and permitted the weighing of pelagic fish post-transport in every plant since 2012, based on assurances that proper systems and procedures that accurately recorded catches were in place in these plants.
However, there have been substantial indications that fish have been landed in weights that exceed those recorded by the weighing systems in factories. These indications have arisen through the routine course of SFPA's work and as a result of joint inspections with other organisations, including the National Standards Authority of Ireland.
SFPA has set out some of the issues that gave rise to concerns. These include a high level of divergence between spot checks by SFPA and the official factory weight, even taking account of some divergence relating to water content; a trend of individual trucks recording substantially more fish when subject to SFPA official control compared to instances when not subject to such controls; and one instance of a simple on-off switch on the belt weigher in a factory which had the effect of allowing the belt to transit fish without being recorded on the meter. If used in this way, fish would not be weighed or recorded.
The permits which allow in-factory weighing have lapsed due to SFPA's overall lack of confidence in the operation of the weighing systems. SFPA has entered into discussions with both catchers and processors to implement systems and procedures that will restore confidence in the weighing systems in factories.
The authority has set out to the factories certain requirements necessary before permits can be granted, thus allowing the renewal of in-factory weighing. These requirements include provisions to give assurances that weigh belts in the factories are recording when moving. They include confirmation of product flows into and out of plants and checks involving weighing of a sample of landings on the pier side as a means of validating factory weighing.
Several pelagic fish factories have in recent days applied for permits under the new requirements, albeit generally qualified by statements around non-acceptance of some of the requirements described by the Sea-Fisheries Protection Authority. These applications are being considered by the SFPA.
While the representative bodies for the pelagic industry have acknowledged the need for change, they are not yet willing to support the SFPA requirement for a continuous remote monitoring facility to increase assurances of accurate recording. Furthermore, the industry is not yet willing to provide stock movement records at the level of detail set out in the SFPA request. Catchers have indicated they are not willing to move to recognise the validity of weighing at landing, even as a component cross-checking arrangement of an overall system of supporting factory permits.
I understand and appreciate that the new arrangements sought by the Sea-Fisheries Protection Authority for the effective control of pelagic fisheries involve some changes in practices. However, in the long run it will be in the interests of the industry as a whole to commit to strengthened controls that give all catchers and processors assurances that there is a level playing field across the industry. I encourage the industry to continue its dialogue with the Sea-Fisheries Protection Authority. The SFPA is considering existing applications for in-factory weighing permits and is awaiting further applications from the remainder of the factories. If there are additional technical issues to be sorted out, the authority has assured me that it remains available for further discussion with industry representatives.
2:10 pm
Tom Shehan (Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister of State for his comprehensive reply. The easy way to secure a level playing pitch, a term the Minister of State used on several occasions, would be to tackle those who are impinging on the fishing industry, namely, the fishermen from the Faroe Islands and Iceland who are fishing just outside our waters and to whom quotas do not apply. As I stated, they have taken 1 million tonnes of fish in the past five years.
To return to the issue, on-pier weighing requires the fish to be weighed dry. This practice is not supported by the catchers or processors as it compromises the quality of the fish. To ensure weighing results are accurate, fish will have to be weighed dry on the pier because one cannot weigh a tanker that is half full of sea water. The quality of fish that have been weighed in this manner is compromised when it arrives at the processing plant. This issue must be borne in mind.
As I stated, I do not raise or flag problems without proposing a resolution. The solution in this case is to implement the administrative fines, sanctions and penalties the Minister introduced two years ago. While I do not propose to name individuals, the Sea-Fisheries Protection Authority has identified a number of cases involving indiscretions or breaches of the law. Those found to be breaking the law should be prosecuted.
Tom Hayes (Tipperary South, Fine Gael)
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I thank Senator Sheahan for his contribution. He has a great knowledge of the issue and I will relay his comments to officials in the Department. Securing a resolution will require that we take a balanced approach for the sake of the fishing industry.