Written answers
Tuesday, 26 September 2023
Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine
Fishing Industry
Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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453. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine to publish the full list, in tabular form, by vessel name, registered owner, vessel size, quota attached to the vessel, tonnage and port of all participants in the fishing boat decommissioning scheme approved through the Brexit adjustment reserve funding; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41512/23]
Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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In March it was announced that 42 vessels had accepted offers made under the Brexit Voluntary Permanent Cessation Scheme. The vessels that accepted offers comprise a mixture of prawn and whitefish trawlers, seine netters, gillnetters, and beam trawl vessels, spread around fishing ports along the coast.
Of the 42 vessels that accepted offers under the Scheme:
- 39 vessels have proceeded with their application.
- 3 vessels have withdrawn their application.
Of the 39 vessels proceeding:
- 30 vessels have been decommissioned.
- 6 currently being dismantled.
- 3 vessels will be decommissioned during October.
As a number of these vessel owners are yet to complete the process and receive all payments, it would not be appropriate at this point to offer any further segmentation, detail or individual vessel characteristics which may result in the identification of individual applicants.
Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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454. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the additional supporting measures that he is considering introducing through the Brexit adjustment reserve fund to assist the Irish fishing, aquaculture and processing industries; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41513/23]
Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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I established the Seafood Sector Task Force in March 2021 to examine the impacts of Brexit/EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement on our fishing sector and coastal communities. The Task Force report of October 2021 made 16 recommendations.
To date, under the Brexit Adjustment Reserve Fund (BAR), I have announced 11 schemes with a total budget allocation of €271.3 million, as follows:
- Temporary Tie-Up 2021 Scheme
- Inshore Fisheries Business Model Adjustment Scheme 2022 and 2023
- Temporary Tie-Up 2022 Scheme
- Brexit Co-operative Transition Scheme
- Brexit Voluntary Decommissioning Scheme
- Brexit Adjustment Local Authority Marine Infrastructure Scheme
- Blue Economy Enterprise Development Scheme
- Seafood Capital Processing Support Scheme
- Inshore Marketing Scheme
- Brexit Sustainable Aquaculture Growth Scheme
- Off Register Capacity Buy Out Scheme
2. Brexit Fish Processor Transition Scheme
3. Brexit Specific Scallop Fleet Transition Support Scheme
4. Brexit Fisheries Cooperative Transition Scheme 2023The Brexit Pelagic Fisheries Support Scheme reflects support to the pelagic sector to compensate for the loss of quota, with a focus exclusively on liquidity supports for RSW and Tier 1 and Tier 2 vessels. I estimate that the cost of the scheme, assuming 100% up-take, will amount to some €25.6 million.
The Brexit Fish Processor Transition Scheme is a liquidity scheme for seafood processors, to compensate for losses due to reduced supply of raw material and additional logistical and administration costs through non-tariff barriers which arose due to the Trade and Cooperation Agreement/Brexit. In line with the Task Force recommendations, payments will be capped at €300,000 per applicant, and I estimate a total budget of €12 million.
The Brexit Specific Scallop Fleet Transition Support Scheme is a liquidity scheme that will be restricted to the seven vessels in the scallop fleet. It will compensate the owners of scallop vessels impacted by the TCA, with payments capped at a maximum of 20 days per vessel. This scheme has a budget of €560,000, or up to €80,000 per vessel.
The Brexit Fisheries Cooperative Transition Scheme 2023 will compensate fisheries cooperatives for losses experienced in 2022. The scheme will compensate for 7.5% of lost revenue in 2022 compared to 2019, up to a cap of €250,000.
Full scheme details will be published once State Aid approval is granted, and as with all BAR schemes, the four new schemes will be administered by an Bord Iascaigh Mhara.
Details of all BAR funded schemes implemented to date are available at bim.ie/fisheries/funding.
Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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455. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine to publish a full list of prawn catch, broken down by port location and vessel, in the State for the past five years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41514/23]
Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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As the Deputy may be aware, the Sea Fisheries Protection Authority (SFPA) is the single legal competent authority responsible for the collection and reporting of fish landings into Ireland.
I have therefore forwarded the Deputy's question on the full list of prawn catch, broken down by port location and vessel, in the State for the past five years, to the SFPA and have asked them to revert directly to the Deputy with the figures requested.
Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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456. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine to publish a full list of fishing vessels in the State, by registered owner, name of vessel and port location, licensed to fish razor clams; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41515/23]
Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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457. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he is satisfied that the current regulations for the fishing of razor clams in Ireland are sustainable; if he has given any consideration to capping the number of boats/registered vessels allowable to fish the species; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41516/23]
Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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458. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he is aware of a proposed 700-tonne limit for the fishing of razor clams in Ireland that is intended to be introduced from 2024; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41517/23]
Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 457 to 458, inclusive, together.
Ireland’s goals for sustainable fisheries, including inshore stocks such as razor clam, are supported through the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP). The CFP provides the framework for the long-term conservation and sustainability of fish stocks around our shores and is designed to ensure the long-term sustainability of fishing in Ireland and throughout EU waters. The Programme for Government – Our Shared Futurereflects this approach by committing to protect marine biodiversity and to secure a sustainable future for the fisheries sector while supporting coastal communities.
There are a number of regulations in place to support the sustainable fishing of razor clam, including:
- Razor Clam (Conservation of Stocks) (North Irish Sea) Regulations 2018 (S.I. 160 of 2018) – These Regulations increase the Minimum Conservation Reference Size for razor clam taken by Irish sea-fishing boats in the north Irish Sea to 125 mm.
- Razor Clams (Conservation of Stocks) (Amendment) Regulations 2015 (S.I. 588 of 2015) – These Regulations reduced the weekly landing limit on razor clams for vessels in the north Irish Sea fishery to 600 kilograms from 1 January 2016.
- Razor Clam (Conservation of Stocks) (North Irish Sea) Regulations 2015 (S.I. 207 of 2015) – These Regulations limit razor clam fishing in the north Irish Sea to certain days of the week.
- Razor Clam (Conservation of Stocks) Regulations 2015 (S.I. 206 of 2015) – These Regulations regulate the razor clam fishery within the internal waters or territorial seas by implementing a number of restrictions and conditions for the fishery, including weighing of landings, reporting of catch and Global Positioning System (GPS) monitoring of vessels.
Sea-fishing boats registered in the polyvalent and specific segments are generally eligible to fish for razor clams. The Register of Sea Fishing Boats is publicly available online at: www.gov.ie/en/organisation-information/5907a-sea-fisheries-administration/. There is currently no consideration being given to introducing a limit on the number of vessels that can fish for razor clam.
Scientific assessments of razor clam are carried out by the Marine Institute. The Marine Institute is the statutory body whose function is inter aliato undertake sea-fisheries research, assess and advise on the sustainable exploitation of the marine fisheries resources in the waters around Ireland and on the impacts of fisheries on the ecosystem.
The Marine Institute has recommended in recent years that total allowable catches (TACs) be introduced to manage outtake from razor clam fisheries in the Irish Sea, with the TACs to be based on defined harvest rates and annual estimates of the biomass of stocks from research surveys. The Inshore Forums have been consulted on these recommendations. I am advised that the Marine Institute carried out razor clam surveys in the north and south Irish Sea earlier this year. My Department expects to receive the Marine Institute’s latest scientific advice for razor clam in the near future.
The Marine Institute regularly reports on trends in the razor clam fishery in the Shellfish Stocks and Fisheries Review, which it publishes annually with Bord Iascaigh Mhara. The Reviewfocuses on non-quota species, such as brown crab, lobster and razor clam, as well as the activity of the shellfish fleet. It can be accessed online, along with other Marine Institute publications, at oar.marine.ie/.
I would encourage fishers to bring suggestions for the management of razor clam, as well as other inshore stocks, to the attention of their local Regional Inshore Fisheries Forum. Information regarding the Forums, including contact details, is available at the Forums' dedicated website: inshoreforums.ie/.
Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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459. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine what engagements he has had with the British government in relation to any plans it may have for development of offshore renewable energy in areas 7G and 7F that will potentially impact Irish fishing waters and the Irish fishing industry; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41518/23]
Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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I am informed by officials from the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications (DECC) that they regularly engage with counterparts in the UK in relation to spatial planning in both jurisdictions’ waters for future offshore renewable energy development. Officials of DECC further advised that on 18thof April 2023 they were informed of four 'minded to' future Project Development Areas (PDAs) in the Celtic Sea within which the Crown Estate would hope to run future leasing rounds to deliver up to 4 GW of floating offshore wind.
Where I am made aware of consultations being held for Offshore Renewable Energy installations in the Celtic Sea, my Department will examine the proposals and provide observations, where necessary, on potential impacts on Irish fishers under the scope of such consultations.
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