Joe McHugh (Donegal, Fine Gael)
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1529. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the way in which negotiations among coastal states and the EU are being progressed in the context of the imminent departure from the EU of the UK with regard to pelagic fishing opportunities for 2020; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33162/20]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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Management arrangements for three migratory species in the North East Atlantic in which Ireland has an interest - Blue Whiting, Atlanto-Scandian Herring and Mackerel - are normally negotiated by means of a Coastal States Framework between parties in whose waters significant concentrations of the fish stock are to be found and who have normally had a track record in the fishery.

The Costal State Consultations for 2021 commenced on 19 October and, due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, are being conducted by video conference. This year, the UK is attending these consultations as a Coastal State for the first time. The European Commission, on behalf of the EU, negotiates with the UK and the other Coastal States.

The European Commission has exclusive competency to negotiate fishery agreements on behalf of the EU Member States. The Commission operates under a mandate set by Council and any agreement is formally adopted by Council. Member States attend the formal Plenary meeting. Regular co-ordination meetings through the Council Working Party are held during the negotiations where the Commission updates the Member States on issues/progress and the Member States set out their positions and respond to issues as they develop. Ireland, as always, is represented at the Coastal State negotiations by officials from my Department with scientific support from the Marine Institute. Industry representatives attend the Plenary meetings and are consulted on an ongoing basis by my Department.

The Coastal States consultation for Blue Whiting concluded on 19 October with an oral agreement for all the Coastal State parties to set the Total Allowable Catch (TAC) for 2021 at 929,292 tonnes, based on the advice from the International Council for the Exploration of the Seas (ICES) and in line with the long-term management strategy for the stock. This represents a cut of 20% in the TAC. The long-term management strategy contains an annual TAC change limitation of +/-20%. Without this limitation, the reduction for 2021 would have been approximately 28%.

The consultations on Atlanto-Scandian Herring concluded on 21 October with an oral agreement on setting the TAC for 2021 at 651,033 tonnes, based on the ICES advice and the long-term management plan for the stock. This represents an increase of 24% on the 2020 advice.

The consultations on Mackerel took place on 26 and 27 October and concluded with parties reaching a consensus on setting the 2021 TAC at 852,284 tonnes, in line with the ICES advice based on the Maximum Sustainable Yield approach. This represents a reduction of 7.57%.

The Coastal State consultations will continue in the coming weeks to finalise the Agreed Records of the consultations.