Vol. 516 No. 4
14 Mr. Broughan asked the Minister for the Marine and Natural Resources the plans, if any, he has to compensate east coast fishermen and their families who have lost their income due to the closure of the Irish Sea cod fishery in the interests of conservation. [6113/00]
As I have stated previously in the House, the measures in place to protect the Irish Sea cod stock have been structured to cause the minimum disruption to fishing activity and to retain the maximum range of fishing opportunities possible for east coast vessels. The measures are essential to ensure a viable future for east coast fishermen. They are of short duration and limited impact. In these circumstances the payment of compensation would not be appropriate.
Under the Irish Sea cod recovery plan, measures have been put in place to protect and rebuild the cod stock in the Irish Sea which is in serious decline. The European Council and Commission agreed in December that a recovery plan had to be put in place this year to save the Irish Sea cod stock. The first phase of the recovery plan, involving a closure of the northern part of the Irish Sea from mid-February to the end of April for the cod fishery was introduced by the Commission following detailed negotiations with member states and their fishing industries.
As part of the recovery plan the Commission at first proposed a closure of a large area of the western Irish Sea for prawn fishing for the ten week period. The Irish delegation opposed this closure and worked to keep as much as possible of the prawn grounds open in the interests of our fishermen. A small area of prawn grounds overlaps with the biggest concentration of spawning cod in the Irish Sea. The Commission insisted on closing this particular area for the ten week period.
I accept that some prawn fishermen will have longer steaming times to get to the prawn grounds during this period. However, the bulk of the grounds are still open for prawn fishing. From the end of April all prawn grounds will be fully open for the rest of the year. Fishermen have indicated that the prawn grounds overall are very heavily fished and that prawn catches will in fact probably be better in the areas which are currently closed when the fishery reopens.
This matter was raised on 8 March by my colleagues, Deputies Broughan and Ryan. I understood from the reply at that stage that con sideration was being given to compensating fishermen for loss of income for a lengthy period which had a detrimental effect on fishermen on the east coast. My colleagues were referring particularly to Howth, but it involved other fishermen throughout the east coast area.
I personally responded to Deputy Broughan at an earlier stage. I am not aware of Deputy Ryan's intervention. I indicated clearly that there would not be compensation because, while fishermen have longer steaming times, they are not put out of business. I was surprised to hear of the Green Party making a case for the reopening of this fishery because the fishermen themselves admit that conservation is necessary if their future is to be protected. It is incumbent on me to protect fish stocks so that future generations will have the same opportunities as previous generations. One mistake we made in the past was to allow overfishing. Somebody had to bite the bullet. I am pleased it is being done. It will be beneficial all around.
