Jennifer Whitmore (Wicklow, Social Democrats)
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135. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the reason the latest restrictions on sprat fishing were undertaken without consideration of the ICES advice; if he will reconsider it given the recent statement by the Marine Institute stating that, in the absence of any stock data, the ICES advice the precautionary principle should dictate the management of a fishery; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [55039/25]

Timmy Dooley (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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On 30th September, I signed Policy Directive 1 of 2025 to give legal effect to the decision that Minister Heydon and I announced on 22nd July last to place certain restrictions on trawling activity by larger vessels, that is, vessels over 18 metres in length overall, inside the six nautical mile zone and the baselines.

From 1 October 2026, trawling activity, that is, the operating of trawl or seine nets, by fishing vessels over 18 metres in length overall inside the six nautical mile zone and the baselines will be prohibited.

In addition, a catch limit of 2,000 tonnes of sprat will be permitted for vessels over 18 metres in length overall inside the six nautical mile zone and inside the baselines from 11 October 2025 to 30 September 2026 only.

The International Council of the Exploration of the Seas (ICES) considers sprat to be a data limited stock, which means that more detailed data is required in order to form a full understanding of the state of the stock.

The Marine Institute has been actively involved in work on sprat through research, surveys and fisheries catch sampling. From this work they have data and information on the biology, population dynamics and stock structure of sprat around Ireland.

Studies have not to date shown evidence of separate stocks in the Celtic seas, and ICES considers sprat in ICES divisions 6 & 7 to be a single stock. Sprat around the Irish coast are known to perform seasonal migrations between winter feeding and summer spawning grounds.

The last acoustic survey for sprat in the Celtic Sea and the south Irish Sea was conducted by the Marine Institute in October 2024 as part of its annual survey series, ongoing since the early 2000s. The survey results are available on its website. This survey showed no evidence of sprat moving northwards and no collapse in the abundance of the species over the scale of the surveyed area.

At this time, there is no proposal from the European Commission for a Total Allowable Catch, or TAC, and quota management arrangement for fodder fish such as sprat in the waters around Ireland. Ireland will, of course, have regard for a possible TAC and quota regime or other appropriate conservation measures going forward if recommended in the scientific advice to support the sustainable management of sprat.

I am confident that restricting trawling access to the six nautical mile zone to the smaller vessels was the right decision and will help to re-establish links between local fish resources, local fleets and local economies. I am mindful of the opportunity that these measures will provide for our important small-scale fishers and I remain satisfied that this decision helps to deliver on the promise made by this Government to support our crucial inshore fishing sector.