Tony Gregory (Dublin Central, Independent)
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Question 476: To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food the measures taken by him to inform stakeholders and to assist them to contribute to the development of the regulations recommended in the European Commission's COM [207] 136 to reduce unwanted by-catches and eliminate discards in fisheries here which was finalised on 28 March 2007. [28446/08]

Tony Gregory (Dublin Central, Independent)
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Question 477: To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food the measures taken by the authorities here to implement the policies contained in COM [207] 136 FINAL of 28 March 2007 on the policy to reduce unwanted by-catches and eliminate discards in fisheries here. [28447/08]

Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 476 and 477 together.

The issue of high levels of discards in commercial sea fisheries is a global problem and is on the agenda of all major international organisations who deal with the development of sustainable sea fisheries and protection of marine ecosystems.

Discarding is usually a feature of mixed fisheries where one species may be the target of fishing activity, but other species may be caught accidentally in the fishing gear. For quota species, a by-catch quota is usually allowed for such contingencies, as long as sufficient quota remains to cover it. However, an unwanted catch that is a quota species but for which the catcher has no quota, or has already exhausted the quota, cannot legally be landed and will usually be discarded. Discarding can also occur for economic reasons, i.e., when smaller, less valuable fish are dumped in favour of larger, more marketable ones (a practice known as high-grading). As such discarding is not usually recorded in logbooks, the true state of a stock cannot accurately be determined, and so it undermines prudent and sustainable management of stocks. Discarding of non-quota species may not undermine the management of stocks per se, but it cannot be justified on conservation grounds.

The discarding issue is already being addressed at a European level through measures regulating fishing gear, such as adjusting net mesh sizes or requiring acoustic devices to be attached to fishing gear. The document COM [207] 136 FINAL of 28 March 2007 referred to was a Commission Communication on the issue of discards in fisheries. Following further work, a Communication on "A policy to reduce unwanted by-catches and eliminate discards in European fisheries" was presented to the Council of Ministers in June 2007. The Council adopted a range of conclusions on the Commission proposal and these will determine the agenda at European level on this issue going forward. A new discard policy which aims to stop the practice of discarding is under preparation and a consultation process has been in progress with all the stakeholders. An effective resolution of the discards issue will likely require a combination of new policy and technical measures.

In parallel with actions at EU level, a number of projects are in progress in Ireland that are aimed at addressing the issue. These include:

The Irish Sea Data Enhancement Project, conceived in 2006 as a joint initiative by the Irish and UK fishermen's organisations and the North Western Waters Regional Advisory Council. The project's aim is to provide improved data on catch and discards by the Irish and UK demersal trawl fleets operating in the Irish Sea, for stock assessment purposes and to investigate alternative management approaches for Irish Sea fisheries. The project is supported by the fisheries administrations and national research laboratories of Ireland, the UK and Northern Ireland.

Ireland is continuing trials with selective gears in its nephrops and whitefish fisheries and with grids in the monkfish fishery. This work will include trials in the Celtic Sea and at Rockall in 2008, which will be aimed specifically at reducing the discarding of cod, haddock and whiting.

A pilot project in the Aran nephrops fishery is due to begin later in 2008. This project will examine the possible development of an adaptive management plan for this fishery using a target-based approach to discard reduction.

Irish scientists have been working with netmaking firms and fishermen in the northwest of the country to develop species- and size-selective gears for the mackerel and horse mackerel fisheries.

Ireland is planning to participate in a project coordinated by Marifish ERA-net that aims at the harmonisation and compilation of discard data. The objective is to develop an integrated view of discard patters in the Irish and Celtic Seas.

National laboratories in Ireland, the UK and Sweden have recently completed an EC funded project which critically appraised a number of pilot projects aimed at reducing discards and identified the principal obstacles that hindered both commercial participation in pilot self-sampling schemes to enhance national discard collection programmes and the adoption of more selective fishing gear despite significant finances being made available through FIFG. A final draft of this report is being prepared by the project partners.

During my recent meetings with the Federation of Irish Fishermen, strong representations were made to me in relation to the need to address the issue. At my meeting on the 18th of June with Commissioner Borg I raised it as a priority both for me, and for the Federation of Irish Fishermen. While the Commissioner advised that finding effective solutions is challenging, he restated his commitment to continue to prioritise the current work programme agreed by the Council in June 2007. I will continue to press for progress on this issue at national, EU and international levels and I am confident that, with the co-operation, collaboration and commitment of all the stakeholders, significant improvements can be achieved in this most sensitive area for the long term sustainability of our industry.