Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats)
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740. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine his plans to ensure that inshore fishers are eligible for the tie-up scheme. [57389/21]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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In March 2021, in response to the negative outcome of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement for our fisheries sector and coastal communities dependent on fishing, I established a Seafood Sector Task Force comprised of representatives from our fisheries, aquaculture and seafood processing sectors, coastal communities and various State bodies with a role in the socio-economic development of coastal communities.

The remit of the Task Force was to examine the implications arising from the TCA for our fisheries sector and coastal communities and to recommend mitigating measures that could be taken to provide supports for development and restructuring to ensure a profitable and sustainable fishing fleet and to identify opportunities for jobs and economic activity in coastal communities dependent on fishing.

On 9th June, I received the Interim Report of the Task which recommended the implementation of a temporary fleet tie-up scheme for certain segments of the fishing fleet, to mitigate the loss of income in 2021 for these fleets arising from the TCA quota reductions.

Following State Aid approval from the European Commission, I launched a Brexit Temporary Fleet Tie-up Scheme in September 2021. As recommended by the Task Force, the scheme is open to whitefish vessels in the Polyvalent and Beam Trawl segments of the fishing fleet and provides aid to vessels opting to tie-up for a calendar month during the October to December period, thereby freeing up quota for vessels that remain fishing. Vessels excluded by the UK from the Rockall squid fishery are eligible for an additional month of tie-up. The scheme is proposed for funding under the EU Brexit Adjustment Reserve.

The Scheme is designed to assist those vessels impacted by loss of quota arising from the TCA. Many inshore vessels do not fish quota species and so are not impacted by the TCA quota reductions. For the inshore vessels that are directly impacted by the TCA quota reductions the Scheme recognises that inshore fishing vessels under 10 metres in length are not required by law to record their catch in EU logbooks and accommodates this by instead allowing these vessels to demonstrate that they meet the EU rules concerning 120 days fishing activity through a combination of a self-declaration and the records of their landings recorded on the Sales Notes System maintained by the Sea-Fisheries Protection Authority.