Vol. 426 No. 6
9 Mr. Deasy asked the Minister for the Marine if his attention has been drawn to the concern among trawlermen about the reduction in quotas of certain whitefish such as hake and monk; and the steps, if any, he will take to rectify the problem.
Quotas for the most important whitefish species are set each year in December at the Council of Fisheries Ministers in Brussels, by reference to scientific advice regarding the state of the stocks. At the December 1992 Council, the scientific advice for monk off the west of Ireland was very poor, the stock appearing to be in decline. Consequently, quotas were reduced to bring catches more into line with available fish. In the case of hake, however, I am happy to inform the Deputy that the quota for this species, which is of particular importance to the Irish industry, was in fact increased, not decreased.
Moving back to the question of monk, the industry has made its concerns known to me on this and I fully appreciate the situation in which many fishermen now find themselves. Accordingly, I have asked my Department to carry out a full assessment of the information available on this species to see whether a valid case can be made to have the quotas increased.
In the interim, however, the Department of the Marine has negotiated a series of quota swops with its counterparts in other member states in an effort to obtain additional quotas for both monk and hake. An extra 300 tonnes of hake and 100 tonnes of monk was obtained in this manner earlier this year, and I can inform the Deputy that a swop for a further 180 tonnes of monk has just been agreed with France. This will go some way towards alleviating the very serious difficulties in which some of our fishermen find themselves.
I thank the Minister for his reply. I do not know if he is aware that the global figure for our annual quota is inclined to be clouded by large tonnage of fish which are not commercial. They are not whitefish, they are horse mackerel and blue whiting which is mainly, if not totally, used for fish meal. Will the Minister bear in mind that the fish which provide wealth and jobs are whitefish such as hake, monk and plaice and that the stocks of these fish are being seriously depleted by the type of poaching Spaniards to which we referred earlier? The Minister should not consider a global figure but should be extremely selective so as to take care of the white fish quotas.
I am grateful for the Deputy's point of view and I agree with his sentiments. I will keep what he says in mind when it comes to the crunch.
Is the Minister aware that there are restrictions apart from quotas, to which whitefish fisherman are subjected? I refer to the number of licences issued in respect of whitefish. People in Donegal are not allowed to fish in a certain area off the north west; they must go to the west or south-west. Is the Minister aware of the restriction and is anything being done at EC level to give these fishermen access to their immediate grounds?
If the Deputy would be kind enough to give me details of the cases he had in mind, I will examine them sympathétically.
It is box six.
I am aware of the box the Deputy is speaking about.
