As the Deputy rightly points out, there is significant, incremental growth in consumer demand for seafood within the EU and indeed worldwide. Demand for fish and fish products will continue to grow and underlines the opportunities and challenges for the Irish catching, aquaculture and processing sector. I am committed to ensuring that policy and strategies for the sector are closely geared towards meeting those opportunities and challenges.
There has been a significant upward growth curve in Irish fish landings and exports, both in volume and value terms over recent years. Landings of whitefish have risen from 35,500 tonnes worth over £39 million in 1993 to over 46,000 tonnes worth over £48 million last year. Ongoing investment support strategies for the sector have been a key contributing factor to this growth. The operational programme for fisheries is providing support for a total investment of £140 million between 1994 and 1999 in the catching, processing and aquaculture sectors. The investment support strategies are designed in particular to improve the efficiency, competitiveness and safety of the fishing fleet backed up by investment support for modernisation and development of the processing sector. The whitefish fleet has received significant grant aid over the last three years, totalling £3.7 million towards the cost of 177 vessel modernisation projects.
The good take-up to date of the available incentives for modernisation of existing whitefish vessels is contributing to the overall objectives for the fleet. Grant aid for the processing sector totalled £5.8 million in the same period, the benefits of which will also contribute to the economic viability of the catching sector as a supplier of the raw material for processing and added value.