Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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141. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the reason that the Government has failed to secure any quota of Atlantic bluefin tuna for the Irish fishing fleet, despite the documented recovery of the species within the Irish exclusive economic zone over recent years. [53099/22]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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As the Deputy will be aware, the available Bluefin Tuna quota is allocated each year to Member States on the basis of relative stability, as established in the late 1990s. At that time, Ireland did not have a track record of commercial fishing for Bluefin Tuna and, accordingly, did not receive a quota allocation.

The only way to obtain a share of the EU quota now would involve changing relative stability within the EU. This would require a majority of Member States to agree under the qualified majority voting system. This means that EU Member States with a national quota would have to give up a share of their allocation to Ireland. Member States with Bluefin Tuna Quota would strongly resist any loss of quota. Any change to relative stability would involve a loss for some other Member States and therefore poses particular challenges in a qualified majority voting context.

Bluefin Tuna is a highly migratory large pelagic species which spawns in the Mediterranean and then migrates over a wide area of the North-East Atlantic to feed. This migration brings some of the fish into the Irish 200 mile zone for part of the year. At the time we see fish in the Irish zone, there are also fish being caught in the international high seas and over a wide area from Spain to Norway. There is no survey from which the abundance in Ireland's 200 mile zone may be determined.

The CFP is reviewed every 10 years and the next review is scheduled to be completed by the end of this year when the European Commission will report to the European Parliament and the Council on the functioning of the CFP. Over the past year, I have consistently made clear the Irish Government’s assessment that substantial changes brought about in fisheries policy, as a result of the adoption of the EU-UK Trade and Co-operation Agreement, require that internally within the EU a comprehensive review of the CFP be carried out that would support changes to deliver a fair and equitable policy.

Earlier this year, I established a national Common Fisheries Policy Review group of relevant stakeholders to examine the issues that arise for Ireland in the context of the CFP Review, to advise me on priorities for the negotiations and to identify strategies most likely to influence the outcome of the review. The Group was chaired by Mr. John Malone, former Secretary General of the Department of Agriculture, and assisted by a steering committee comprising Mr. Micheál Ó Cinneide, former Director of the MI and EPA and Mr. Donal Maguire, former Director in BIM. The Group involved representatives of key stakeholders, including industry representative groups and the environmental NGOs. The CFP Review Group submitted its final report to me on 29th July. The stakeholders have set out a number of recommendations on aspects of the CFP which need to be addressed in order to adapt to the monumental changes of recent years and ensure a sustainable future for the sector.

I have forwarded a copy of the report to the EU Fisheries Commissioner, Virginijus Sinkevicius. I have made clear that I am fully satisfied that this report demonstrates that there is need for legislative changes in the current policy to address the disproportionate impacts of the TCA and in the context of the new environmental challenges we are all facing. I have asked him to review the report's findings and recommendations and consider how these can be taken forward to support a fair and balanced CFP. I have also brought the report to Government for its information.