Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats)
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261. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the number of fishermen and fisherwomen who are members of existing producer organisations; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35745/20]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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Article 14 of Regulation 1379/2013 on the Common Organisation of the Market for Fishery and Aquaculture Products (CMO) specifies EU regulatory requirements for recognition of fisheries and aquaculture producer organisations. My Department as competent authority for the CMO in Ireland has a process in place which allows for groups of fisheries or aquauclture producers to apply for recognition as a producer organisation.

In April this year, I introduced revised Recognition Criteria under Article 14 to be satisfied by any group seeking recognition as a seafood Producer Organisation. For a fisheries Producer Organisation one of those criteria requires that a group must have a minimum of 30 members who own an active fishing vessel. Beyond that minimum requirement, membership numbers are a matter for each Producer Organisation. In order to monitor ongoing compliance with the requirements for recognition, my Department intermittantly requests information on membership and also carries out verification checks on a bi-annual basis. The most recent information available to my Department dates from April 2020 and is set out in the table below.