Holly Cairns (Cork South-West, Social Democrats)
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598. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine how often a census is undertaken of the Irish fishing fleet; and to provide a breakdown of the current fleet, by boat size. [15254/25]

Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael)
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In accordance with section 3 of the Fisheries (Amendment) Act 2003, the Register of Sea Fishing Boats is maintained by the Registrar General for Sea Fishing Boats and is publicly available online at: gov.ie - Sea Fisheries Administration (www.gov.ie). The register is updated every two weeks. In addition, the EU Commission publishes annual fleet reports including Ireland which are also available online at: .

These reports typically identify the number of vessels in a variety of lengths similar to the information sought by the Deputy.

Please see below breakdown by size of the vessels registered as of 26th March 2025. These figures can vary from day to day.

Holly Cairns (Cork South-West, Social Democrats)
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599. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine whether it is his intention to reexamine the proportion of the mackerel and herring quota allocated to small fishers and inshore fishers; whether he has met with representatives of small fishers and inshore fishers on the issue of the quota since taking office; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15255/25]

Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael)
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In Ireland, fishing quota, including pelagic stocks such as Mackerel and Herring, is a public resource and is managed to provide for proper management, conservation and rational exploitation of the State’s fishing quotas.  It is managed as a public good that ensures that property rights are not granted to individual operators. This is seen as a critical policy in order to ensure that quotas are not concentrated into the hands of large fishing companies whose owners have the financial resources to buy up such rights. In Ireland, any movement towards privatisation and concentration of rights into the hands of large companies would seriously risk fishing vessels losing an economic link with Ireland’s coastal communities and undermining the socio-economic importance of the fishing industry in the coastal communities dependent on fishing.

The result of this long-standing policy is that the Irish fishing fleet involves a balanced spread of sizes and types of fishing vessels who have retained a strong economic link with our coastal communities and have delivered economic activity including vital employment in these communities, where there are very limited alternative economic activities.

The arrangements have been set and developed over many years since the commencement of the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) and the introduction of quotas.

Any amendments or changes to the overarching policy on management arrangements are determined by the Minister following detailed analysis and full consultation with stakeholders, in particular the fishing industry.

A limited review of the 2012 Herring Management Policy, which involved a full public consultation, was carried out in 2023.  Following this limited review, the then Minister approved a modification to the 2012 Policy which provides for a set quantity of North West Herring quota (350 tonnes) to be made available for vessels less than 20 metres in length overall, without track record, of which 95% will be allocated to vessels less than 15 metres in length overall, where Ireland's quota for for this stock in the Total Allowable Catch and Quota Regulation is less than 7,000 tonnes.

The Mackerel policy was last amended in July 2017 after intensive review and public consultation.   It should be noted that the 2017 policy is subject to a legal challenge in the Courts.  

In order to consider any review of the Mackerel or Herring policies, I must be satisfied that there is satisfactory evidence of changed circumstances to justify a policy review.  If I consider there is a case for review of any aspect of a policy, it will require due process, involving an assessment of all issues arising, including a full public consultation. 

Unfortunately, the situation is that if there is an increase in the Mackerel or Herring quota allocation for any group of vessels, it must be taken from other groups within the fleet.

There are a number of opportunities for vessels to target Mackerel and Herring stocks which are open only to smaller 'inshore' fishing vessels.  For example, an allocation of 400 tonnes for a fishery for smaller vessels (under 15 metres) fishing for Mackerel by Hook and Line was set down in Policy in 2010.

In February, Minister of State with responsibility for Fisheries, Timmy Dooley TD, met with representatives of the seafood sector, including representatives of the inshore sector - the National Inshore Fishermen's Association (NIFA), the Irish Islands Marine Resource Organisation (IIMRO) and the National Inshore Fisheries Forum (NIFF).  The Minister of State asked the representative groups to highlight the priority issues for their members and he will examine these issues in his ongoing engagement with industry stakeholders.