Vol. 422 No. 1
7 Mr. Sherlock asked the Minister for the Marine the total value and tonnage of fish dumped during 1990 and 1991; if he has considered any less wasteful way of disposing of this fish; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
The latest figures available for the three year period 1989 to 1991, inclusive, indicate that the following quantities of fish were withdrawn for dumping:—
|
Year |
Quantity Dumped |
Approximate Value |
|
1989 |
1,182 tonnes |
IR£ 380,677 |
|
1990 |
966 tonnes |
IR£ 408,921 |
|
1991 |
901 tonnes |
IR£ 320,841 |
Because of the complex nature of the financial compensation for fish withdrawn from the market, it is only possible to give approximate values.
Fishermen's producers organisations have been urged by my Department to avoid dumping where possible and to dispose of surplus fish through fishmeal or animal feed processing outlets. In 1991 dumped fish accounted for only 9 per cent of fish withdrawn from the market. The vast bulk, 88 per cent, was used for fishmeal, while the remaining 3 per cent was used for animal feed. Available statistics show that the percentage of withdrawn fish disposed of by means of dumping has been reduced in each of the past four years from 23 per cent in 1988 to 9 per cent in 1991.
While I recognise that there has been a decline in the levels of dumping since 1989 would the Minister agree that the figures are still alarming? Would the Minister agree that the figures indicate that there is something fundamentally amiss with our marketing of fish? Would the Minister also agree that fishmeal and animal feed alternatives are not the ideal use to which these valuable fish stocks should be put? Has the Minister any plans to regulate the markets in such a way as to prevent this obscenity occurring every year?
We are dealing with perishable products here. It is the primary function of the producers organisations under EC regulations to align market supply of fish with demand. It is extremely difficult to do that. The intervention system is a safety net which helps fishermen stay in business. I appreciate the Deputy's point. We do not want fish to go for fishmeal or for animal feed. We are making every effort to deal with this problem. There are two fish producers organisations here, the Killybegs Fisherman's Organisation and the Irish Fish Producer's Organisation. The KFO, for obvious geographical reasons, draw their members from Killybegs and Donegal generally. They have a large fishmeal plant in the area. The IFPO, headquartered in Dublin, have members throughout the country, including Donegal. There is one other small fishmeal plant in Galway. If there are ten or 20 tonnes of surplus fish in one part of the country, the fish producers organisations must consider the economics involved and it is more economical to dump the fish than to transport it for fishmeal purposes.
Lest there be any fears that fish is being dumped in the channels or alongside the harbours, I should like to say they are disposed of at sea under the direction of the Department's sea fishery officers.
We would all like to see the day when fish are not being dumped but we are dealing with a perishable product, not with cows and calves which can be put aside until the next day. Fish are killed at sea, not when they land. We are well aware of the concern but I hope my explanation satisfied the Deputy.
I accept the Minister's explanation in so far as it goes. Would the Minister agree that there is something wrong and obscene about his statement that it is more economical for the fish to be dumped than to find some alternative method of marketing? Given that one in three people are living on the poverty line here, surplus fish could be sold cheaply. Does the Minister have any figures of which species of fish have been dumped into the ocean in the past couple of years?
A small amount of mackerel would be dumped and the others, by and large, would be white fish of various descriptions, for instance Saithe/Coley in the region of 12 tonnes, ray/skate in the region of 62 tonnes, mackerel in the region of 74 tonnes, spur dogfish, 108 tonnes and spotted dogfish, 403 tonnes. With regard to finding a market, there is nobody more shrewd than Irish people and if the markets were available for those fish, they would be used. There is obviously a glut of that type of fish at that time of the year and one cannot send a message to the bottom of the sea to the effect that only 200 tonnes are to be taken on a given day. Every effort is being made to reduce the level of dumping. This is not a problem peculiar to Ireland.
Freezing techniques are so sophisticated nowadays that I wonder why we could not freeze the fish. I immediately think of Eastern Europe where there is a real food shortage. With EC co-operation we should try to sell to that market seeing that they do not have the same level of fish production as us. We might be able to resolve the problem in that way. I agree with Deputy Byrne that it is wasteful to dump our wonderful clean fish when there is hunger in Eastern Europe.
These fish are not dumped when there is spare freezing capacity. In referring to countries who would gladly avail of this fish it is no harm to mention to the House that the European Community and the United Nations are assisting in the purchase and supply of canned mackerel to Yugoslavia. At Easter time approximately 13 container loads of fish left the canning plant in my own town and I hope that a further 500 tonnes of fish will go to Yugoslavia. In the past we were often critical of the Community's concentration on the beef mountain. Canning fish is an ideal solution because there is no problem with freezing or storing the product.
We seem to be dwelling over-long on some questions and I am concerned at the way the process has slowed down.
Would the Minister not agree that to dump 9 per cent of the catch at a value of £350,000 is a huge waste?
On the face of it, it appears a huge sum of money, and I would prefer to report to the House that the amount involved was nil but we must consider this figure in terms of the total value of our exports of fish which is worth in the region of £170 million per year.
