Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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369. 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, EEZ, in recent years. [60540/22]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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As the Deputy is aware, Ireland does not have a national quota for Bluefin Tuna. The available Bluefin Tuna quota is allocated each year to Member States based on 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. 

A small Bluefin Tuna by-catch quota is available to Ireland, primarily for use in our important Northern Albacore Tuna fishery and Celtic Sea Herring fishery where there can be Bluefin Tuna by-catch.

 In 2018, Ireland was successful, for the first time, in securing an agreement that allowed Ireland to set up a catch-tag-release fishery to contribute to the collection of scientific data for the blue fin tuna stock.  A Catch-Tag-Release science-based fishery for authorised recreational angling vessels has been in place since 2019 and supports the collection of valuable data on the migratory patterns of Bluefin Tuna in Irish waters. This fishery is most beneficial to Ireland as it increases our knowledge of the behaviour and abundance of bluefin tuna in Northwestern waters while also providing a small but valuable tourism benefit to peripheral coastal communities.

 A new Bluefin Tuna management plan was adopted at the recent International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) meeting, which will see an increase for all contracting parties with a share of the Bluefin Tuna Total Allowable Catch, including the EU. Following discussions on this new management plan, the UK now has a quota of 63 tonnes of Bluefin Tuna for 2023-2025.

I wish to assure the Deputy that Ireland made clear to EU Member States and the European Commission at the EU internal meetings during the course of last month's ICCAT meeting that Ireland considers that there is a case for an allocation of part of the increase in the Bluefin Tuna quota to be made available to Ireland for a targeted fishery. Given the much greater prevalence of Bluefin Tuna in Ireland's EEZ than in the UK EEZ, this is a request that we wish to be considered at Council.

I have therefore requested the opening of discussions at EU level to progress our case and I will be making a formal statement to this effect at next week's December Agrifish Council.