Clare Daly (Dublin North, Socialist Party)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

529. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine following the North West Waters Regional Advisory Council meetings in Dublin Castle, which reported on Northern Ireland and Belgian observer programmes for the Irish Sea, if he will outline the level of observer activity in the Irish Fishing fleet, with regard to the amount of observer trips by fishery and as a % of effort; if there is a robust observer regime in place, sufficient to adequately measure stocks, bye-catch and discards, and if he will support fully documented fisheries. [40484/13]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The Marine Institute conducts a scientific observer programme on the Irish fishing fleet as part of the Irish national programme in accordance with the EU Data Collection Framework Regulation. Scientific observers tasked with monitoring landings, discards and by-catches were on board for approximately 1.4% of all Irish fishing activities in 2012. This percentage coverage varies across fisheries. (A summary of the number of days observed in 2012, the most recent year with completed data, in relation to fishing days of the fleet by fishery is provided in the table below.)

Data collected on Irish observer trips are used by ICES to estimate the discard volumes for most of the key commercial species fished by the Irish fleet. Ireland has led the way in a European context by transparently reporting the results of discard monitoring in a ground breaking discards atlas. The recent CFP reform set out a number of key objectives in relation to the elimination of discards. This will require new approaches to the monitoring of catches. The regulation stipulates that “The use of modern, effective technologies should be promoted in the framework of the Union system for control, inspection, and enforcement “and that “Member States shall ensure detailed and accurate documentation of all fishing trips and adequate capacity and means for the purpose of monitoring compliance with the obligation to land all catches, including such means as observers, CCTV and other appropriate tools”. I am fully supportive of implementing appropriate measures to achieve the objectives set out in the CFP reform. The new Common Fisheries Policy reform agreement will bring real and meaningful reform to how EU waters are fished in the future. The agreement is designed to ensure the long term sustainability of fishing in Ireland and throughout EU waters, utilising best scientific advice as a key determinant in setting annual fishing quotas in the future.

Table 1. Summary of Irish discard observer effort, fishing effort and percentage of effort by fishery in 2012 (Source: Marine Institute).