Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the degree to which conservation measures already adopted in the context of the common fisheries policy or otherwise have improved fish stocks in traditional Irish fishing waters; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7381/13]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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The seas around Ireland (ICES Sub Areas VII and VI) are among the most productive and biologically sensitive areas in EU waters. Most of the fisheries resource within the area comes under the remit of the EUs Common Fisheries Policy (CFP). In June 2012, the European Commission reported that fish stocks in European waters are improving (EC COM(2012) 278 final). The proportion of overfished stocks in the Atlantic declined from around 90% of all stocks between 2005-2009 to 47% in 2012. Several stocks in the west of Scotland, Irish Sea and Celtic sea have suffered from being over fished in the past and remain at relatively low levels (i.e. Cod in Divisions VIa and VIIa, Sole in Division VIIa, Whiting in Divisions VIa and VIIa). Scientific advice is that exploitation rates of these depleted stocks appears to remain high in most cases despite significant reductions in fishing effort over the last decade (EC COM(2012) 278.

The Marine Institute has given a workable definition to sustainable fisheries ie when a fishery can be ‘conducted over the long term at an acceptable level of biological and economic productivity, without leading to ecological changes that exclude options for future generations’. Optimum levels of biological and economic productivity are in part management decisions, but though considerable progress has been made in recent years in terms of addressing sustainability issues it is clear that for many stocks there is still room for further improvement. The European Union and Member States have committed themselves to reach the objectives of fishing at MSY by 2015 where possible.

Reform of the CFP itself which is currently under discussion at EU level will help to address many of the key long term fisheries sustainability issues. The advancement of this reform agenda has been prioritised by the Irish EU Presidency. Current proposals for CFP reform encompass a range of innovative proposals for measures to eliminate the practice of discards, achieving appropriate maximum long term sustainable yields (MSYs) and the introduction of effective fair transparent regionalisation mechanisms. It is my belief that the introduction and implementation of these necessary and timely reforms (which must be adopted under co-decision jointly by the EU Fisheries Council and the EU Parliament) will support the ongoing development of a sustainable and thriving Irish and European fishing industry for the future.