Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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Under the Common Fisheries Policy, the landing obligation – which prohibits the wasteful practice of discarding of fish at sea - is being phased in over a 4 year period. The first phase, concerning pelagic stocks, came into effect on 1 January 2015.  The landing obligation was extended to certain demersal stocks (whitefish and prawns) from 1 January 2016 and will be fully phased in for all quota species by 1 January 2019.

The phasing process is agreed by Member States in a particular area in consultation with the relevant Advisory Councils which consist of industry and NGO stakeholders.  For North Western Waters the Member States involved are Ireland, Belgium, France, the Netherlands, the UK and Spain.

195 Irish vessels are currently obliged to land some species depending on where they fish and the type of gear they use. In order to assist skippers with the rollout, my Department and the marine agencies have actively engaged with industry including hosting information workshops.

In Ireland, quotas are a public resource and are managed by the Minister to ensure that property rights are not granted to individual operators. In 2016 some individual operators exceeding their quota allocations; however I was able, in consultation with Industry representatives, to secure quota swaps with other Member States to keep most stocks within permitted limits. 

In December 2016 I sought to introduce a voluntary quota balancing system for the RSW Pelagic Segment Mackerel Fishery, but to date full agreement has not been reached with relevant Producer Organisations.    

My Department is also working to introduce a new quota balancing system.  This will initially involve consultation with Industry representatives prior to full public consultation. The proposed arrangements are intended to operate as a pilot scheme initially in relation to pelagic stocks with a view to further development and amendment as experience informs.