Johnny Mythen (Wexford, Sinn Fein)
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979. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will reduce the allocation for the sentinel fishery in the Dunmore East box in view of the fact that the stocks have fallen below the specified level according to the Marine Institute and which was agreed under the 2012 management arrangements and fleet statement (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20767/20]

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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The Celtic Sea Herring stock occurs to the south of Ireland. It is prosecuted by two fleets, the main fleet which operates across the Celtic Sea (primarily ICES division 7g) and the sentinel fleet comprising of vessels that are under 17 metres in length overall that operate in the Dunmore box (inshore waters in Dunmore East area).

The ICES advice for 2020 was for zero catch. In 2019, the European Commission submitted a special request to ICES to “provide advice on the minimum level of catches (tonnage) required in a sentinel fishery, which would provide sufficient data for ICES in order to continue providing scientific advice on the state of this stock”. The EU Council adopted a Total Allowable Catch for the stock in line with ICES advice which gives Ireland  750 tonnes quota for 2020 specifically to allow a fisheries-based data collection for this stock.

In 2020, the Department consulted the Marine Institute to advise on the  appropriate arrangements for the data collection based fishery.  The Marine Institute advised that at least 17 samples will be required for the scientific study and that it will ensure that the samples are representative of the spatio-temporal coverage of the fishery. The Marine Institute also recommended that the catch is spread out over a number of weeks. It is also recommended by the Marine Institute that the size composition of the fish meet the same requirements as for a normal commercial fishery in that no more than 10% of the fish should be smaller than the Minimum Conservation Reference Size which is 20 cm for Celtic Sea Herring. Skippers may be asked by the Marine Institute to take observers on board (subject to Covid-19 safety requirements).

Discussions regarding the management arrangements for the 2020 Celtic Sea Herring fishery remain ongoing. For this reason, the management arrangements have not been finalised to date.