Martin Ferris (Kerry, Sinn Fein)
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222. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if all fish species caught between the baseline and shore, under the Maritime Jurisdiction Act 1959 and the Straight Baseline Order 1959, constitute part of EU quotas; if he has sought to gain any percentage quota of bluefin tuna or any other tuna species; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35348/16]

Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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The Common Fisheries Policy of the European Union covers the conservation of marine biological resources and the management of fisheries and fleets exploiting such resources. Fisheries are managed by the setting of a Total Allowable Catch (TAC) for particular stocks in Union waters. Union waters are those waters under the sovereignty or jurisdiction of the Member States of the EU. Quotas are those proportions of the TAC allocated to a Member State. Consequently, all fish in Union waters wherever they are, managed under a TAC, are allocated to Member States as quota and are part of the totality of quotas in the EU.

With regard to the second part of the Deputy’s question concerning tuna species, Ireland does not have a dedicated bluefin tuna quota as we had no track record for fishing this species when quotas were established. Ireland does have access to a small bycatch quota of 39 tonnes – shared with other Member States – for use in our albacore tuna and pelagic fisheries. Itis extremely unlikely that Ireland could obtain a dedicated bluefin quota as it would involve reducing the share of the Total Allowable Catch of those EU Member States that do have quota and for whom bluefin is an important commercial fishery .

Ireland does have a substantial and valuable quota for albacore tuna. In 2016, Ireland’s quota was 2,510 tonnes which is nearly 10% of the total EU Total Allowable Catch and is worth over €5 million directly to our catching sector.

TAC’s for both bluefin and albacore tuna are set by ICCAT (the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas) at its annual meeting, which take place this week in Portugal. My Department is represented at this meeting. For 2017 quotas, my priority is to work with other Member States to make the case for a small increase in our albacore tuna quota taking account of the scientific advice.