Tom Sheahan (Kerry South, Fine Gael)
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Question 1527: To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food the reason he has closed the area in Cromane Harbour in which fishermen harvest 90% of their seed; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29450/08]

Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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Certain spat falls overlap with or occur in close proximity to Special Areas of Conservation (SACs) and Special Protected Areas (SPAs). It is the environmental issues associated with the Natura 2000 sites that have caused the delayed opening of the mussel seed fishery in Cromane.

In order to comply with the requirements of the Habitats and Birds Directive baseline data for the area must first be collected and then an appropriate assessment carried out on the area based on this data. This process will obviously take some time but, as one of the areas prioritised for this exercise, work has already begun in collecting this data for Cromane.

In the meantime, to facilitate the opening of the affected areas, the Department with BIM and the Marine Institute are working with NPWS of the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government on arrangements to manage fishing including mussel seed harvesting within Natura 2000 sites on an interim basis. Any re-opening of the Mussel seed fisheries in 2008 will be dependent on the EU Commission agreeing to the management/interim approach proposed. I am very aware that the timing of the mussel seed fishery in Cromane requires that it be opened in early October to allow fishermen access to the seed this year. I have asked my officials to use every effort to secure the support of NPWS and DG Environment for an early opening on the basis of assessment work carried out by Bord Iascaigh Mhara and the Marine Institute.