Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats)
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137. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the way that the current distribution of the mackerel allocation aligns with the State’s obligations under article 17 of the Common Fisheries Policy; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26970/22]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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I am fully satisfied that the obligations set down in Article 17 of Regulation 1380/2013 are being met. 

Management arrangements for the Mackerel fishery, have been set and developed over many years since the commencement of the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) and the introduction of quotas.  Mackerel is managed on an annual/seasonal basis with catch limits set based on allocation regimes developed over many years and related to historical catch records. Amendments to the mackerel policy in 2010 and 2017 were introduced following a full review and public consultation. It should be noted that the 2017 policy is subject to legal challenge in the Courts. 

Consultation on the management of quotas within National Policy is carried out each month at the Quota Management Advisory Committee (QMAC) meeting involving fishing industry representatives from the catching and processing sectors, the Department and the Sea Fisheries Protection Authority (SFPA). The QMAC examines in detail the operation of each fishery, available quota and uptake patterns for the different metiers of fishing vessels. Detailed discussions are held taking account of the situation of the fleet and the market. Any issues relating to the management of the Mackerel quota allocation to the relevant fisheries as set down in National Policy,  are discussed by the QMAC and recommendations are brought to my attention to inform my decision.

As recommended by the QMAC, National Policy for Quota Balancing has been put in place to support the landing obligation for both demersal and pelagic stocks including Mackerel. Quota balancing, where a ‘balancing adjustment’ is made from a future allocation of a fishing opportunity, is a conservation measure that aids industry in matching available quota to actual catch to support the effective operation of the landing obligation (discards ban).

As the Deputy will be aware, in Ireland, fishing quotas, including the Mackerel quota, are a public resource. It is worth noting that within the EU, most quota systems have been privatised for their main commercial stocks. In Ireland, allocations are not owned by the vessel and when an allocation is not fished it is returned to the State for redistribution to the fleet. This  policy helps to support an Irish-owned and operated fleet with operations based in Ireland. If the fleet were not Irish owned, there would likely be a rapid concentration of ownership in a small number of international companies which are not likely to operate from Ireland and may not have any commercial links with Ireland. The result of this long-standing policy is that the Irish fishing fleet that have retained a strong economic link with our coastal communities.