Members will be aware from the briefing note provided that the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources is required to submit a draft national eel management plan by 31 December for evaluation and approval by the European Commission. This is required under a Council regulation establishing measures for the recovery of European eel stocks.
By way of background, recent scientific research issued by the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea indicated that European eel fish stocks were so depleted that they were outside safe biological limits. Eels spawn in the Sargasso Sea and migrate randomly to many places from north Africa to northern Norway. Recruitment is at an all time low and has failed to recover. This decline has occurred in spite of a number of measures taken by individual member states to protect the eel's natural habitat and limit exploitation.
The EU regulation is an attempt to achieve recovery of the stock to a sustainable level. The regulation takes the diversity of habitats and fisheries affecting eel populations in river basin districts in the European Union into account. It requires that each member state adopt a national eel management plan, reflecting local conditions. On 27 November 2007 the European Commission issued guidance to member states advising how eel management plans should be prepared. The template which is prescriptive is attached to the briefing document as an appendix. It is expected that the evaluation to be undertaken on behalf of the Commission by an expert group supported by the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea will adhere closely to the guidance. The plan must be delivered to the Commission by the end of this year, for implementation from 1 July 2009 at the latest. The objective of each eel management plan is to reduce anthropogenic mortality so as to achieve a target escapement figure of 40% of the biomass of adult eels. The regulation provides the basis for calculating this. If the plan is not submitted on time, or is found not to be acceptable by the Commission, a mandatory 50% reduction in the fishery is required as an immediate first emergency measure.
The preparation of the national eel management plan by the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources has been supported by a working group of officials comprising scientists and managers from the Marine Institute, the fisheries boards and other agencies responsible for advising the Minister and managing the eel fishery. In the absence of detailed information on recruitment, escapement and the status of stocks, a scientific model was used to project the impact of management actions on the achievement of the escapement target. The efficacy of this model has been endorsed by a number of other member states. We understand it is similar to that used by a number of them.
The Irish eel fishery harvests approximately 100 tonnes per annum. There are 150-200 eel fishermen who operate a maximum of 295 licences, although not all of them are actively fishing. The value of the reported catch is estimated to be between €500,000 and €750,000 per annum. Virtually all of the harvest is exported live to the Continent, although some fish are processed locally. Given the implications of the scientific advice, the absolute necessity to conserve remaining stocks, the obligation to contribute to the recovery of stocks in the shortest time possible and the practicality of managing a fishery in accordance with the regulation, the recommendation of the working group is for a series of management actions. Given the legacy of poor recruitment for the last 20 years, it is anticipated that the stock will continue to decline for at least the same period into the future.
The four main management actions recommended in the draft eel management plan which are aimed at reducing eel mortality and increasing silver eel escapement in Irish waters are the cessation of the commercial eel fishery and closure of the market; mitigation of the impact of hydropower, including a comprehensive silver eel trap and transport plan; the facilitation of upstream migration of juvenile eel at barriers; and the improvement of water quality in eel habitats. The option of reducing rather than ceasing the commercial eel fishery in some districts was considered and decided against for a number of reasons. The required traceability scheme would be uneconomical; the monitoring and enforcement effort would be disproportionate to value of the activity; and the recovery of the eel stock would take up to three times as long.
The adoption of all the measures in the eel management plan provides for the recovery of stocks to historical levels in the shortest time possible, 90 years, which is the equivalent of four eel generations. It should be noted that the achievement of the regulation target by Ireland depends on equivalent EU-wide action being taken. There will be a concerted effort to improve the databases and monitor stocks. An evaluation of the eel stock and management measures will be undertaken every three years until 2018 and every six years thereafter. Every effort will be directed at identifying diversification opportunities for commercial eel fishermen in the absence of resources for a compensation or hardship scheme. For the foreseeable future the management of the eel fishery will focus on conservation rather than catch.
