Noel Harrington (Cork South West, Fine Gael)
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100. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the licence arrangement agreed that allows a Lithuanian flagged fishing vessel (details supplied) to operate in the Irish economic zone; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40965/15]

Noel Harrington (Cork South West, Fine Gael)
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101. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the International Council for the Exploration of the Seas divisions within which a Lithuanian flagged vessel (details supplied) is entitled to operate; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40966/15]

Noel Harrington (Cork South West, Fine Gael)
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102. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the total allowable catch allocated to Lithuania of all species within the Irish economic zone, in each International Council for the Exploration of the Seas division; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40967/15]

Noel Harrington (Cork South West, Fine Gael)
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103. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if Ireland has agreed quota swaps with Lithuania; the amount of these by species from 2007 to 2015 to date in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40968/15]

Noel Harrington (Cork South West, Fine Gael)
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104. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the number of fishing vessels and their nationality with on-board processing capabilities, currently operating within all pelagic fisheries areas of the in the Irish economic zone; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40969/15]

Noel Harrington (Cork South West, Fine Gael)
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105. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the State's monitoring and enforcement regime for non-EU fishing vessels with on-board processing capabilities, operating in the Irish economic zone; if this monitoring includes the presence of authorised officers on board the fishing vessels; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40970/15]

Noel Harrington (Cork South West, Fine Gael)
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106. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the total allowable catch allocated to all European Union states for all pelagic species within each division outlined by the International Council for the Exploration of the Seas in the Irish economic zone, for each of the years 2010 to 2015 to date, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40971/15]

Noel Harrington (Cork South West, Fine Gael)
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107. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the change in fishing practices by vessels with processing capability that has occurred since the landing obligation was introduced in the pelagic sector in January 2015. [40972/15]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 100 to 107, inclusive, together.

Under the Common Fisheries Policy fishing vessels must be licensed and registered in accordance with Articles 22 and 24 of EU Regulation 1380/2013 and Articles 6 and 7 of EU Regulation 1224/2009. The fishing opportunities available to vessels, including within the Irish Exclusive Fishery Zone (EFZ) for 2015 are set out in TAC and Quota Regulation on a stock by stock basis (Council Regulation (EU) 104/2015 dated 19 January 2015 as amended by Council Regulation 2015/523 of 25 March 2015, Council Regulation 2015/960 of 19^thJune and Council Regulation 2015/1961 of 26 October). In addition to the TACs and quotas set down each year by the Fisheries Council, under the rules of the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP), a Member State may also swap (exchange) quotas with other Member States in a particular year. Details of fishing opportunities available to Member States in EU waters in recent years are available on the Maritime Affairs and Fisheries DG website, using the following link

Lithuania has received a swop for 2015 in respect of Horse Mackerel in ICES area VI, VII, receiving that quota from another Member State, which may be fished in ICES Areas VI and VII which includes Ireland's Exclusive Fisheries Zone. This data is provided on FIDES, the official EU Database of fishing opportunities. The FIDES database shows that Lithuania has a quota of 644 tonnes of Mackerel in ICES Zones VI, VII, VIb, XIb of which 544 tonnes has been caught. Lithuania also has a quota of 5,953 tonnes of Horse Mackerel in IIa, IVa, VI, VIIa-c, VIIe-k, VIIIa, VIIIb, VIIId, VIIIe of which 4,085 tonnes has been caught.

All fishing opportunities set down in the TAC and Quota Regulation each year are determined by the EU Fisheries Council based on the scientific advice provided by the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES). ICES, in providing advice, considers all of the available data including catch and landing data supplied by the Member States and data provided by Member States scientific bodies, in Ireland’s case – the Marine Institute. The collection and transmission of catch and landings data is mandatory. Member States are also responsible for the collection of scientific data in accordance with EU Data Collection provisions.

Under Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013 (the CFP basic regulation), changes to fisheries policy involving access or restriction to fishing opportunities or fishing areas come within the sole competency of the EU. Only the EU Commission may propose changes and any such proposal must be adopted under the co-decision process by the EU Parliament and EU Council. Member States, in consultation with the Commission, Member States affected and stakeholders are permitted to introduce non-discriminatory measures for the conservation and management of fish stocks within the 12 mile zone subject to compliance with policy and procedures set down in CFP Regulation. However, access to the 12 mile zone is set down in the CFP Regulation and may not be changed by an individual Member State.

One of the key elements of the reformed Common Fisheries Policy is the introduction of a phased ban on the discarding of unwanted fish catches. The first part of the landing obligation, the ban on discarding pelagic stocks such as herring and mackerel, came into effect on the 1^stof January 2015. The EU Commission adopted a Delegated Regulation (EU) No 1393/2014 on 20 October 2014 which implements a discard plan for certain pelagic fisheries in north-western waters in line with the recommendation of the North West Waters Member States Group. A Control Experts Group from the North West Waters Regional Group of Member States has been set up and has produced a draft set of recommendations on additional control measures for the pelagic sector in respect of the landing obligation in pelagic fisheries. These draft recommendations have been sent to the Pelagic Advisory Council and the North Western Advisory Council in accordance with article 18 of the CFP basic regulation (EU No 1380/2013) for their observations. When these are received, the draft recommendations will be considered by the NWW Member States Group.

Control of the vessel within Ireland’s Exclusive Fisheries Zone is as a matter for the Irish control authorities who monitor fishing activity of all vessels operating the area.  The Control authorities have on-going information in relation to the vessels operating in the Irish Exclusive Fisheries zone including their activities and characteristics. Under the Sea Fisheries and Maritime Jurisdiction Act, 2006, all operational issues of this nature concerning sea fisheries control are, as a matter of law, exclusively for the Sea Fisheries Protection Authority (SFPA) and the Naval Service. As Minister, I am precluded from getting involved in operational matters including in relation to law enforcement.