Fishing Industry Development

Tuesday, 13 December 2011

Questions (364)

Simon Harris

Question:

374 Deputy Simon Harris asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the current EU fish quotas across all categories that Ireland currently enjoys; if he is seeking to increase these quotas; the progress made on this issue to date; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39616/11]

View answer

Written answers

Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine (Deputy Simon Coveney)

The levels of Total Allowable Catch (TAC) and ultimately the quotas for Ireland in 2012 will be determined at the December Council of Fisheries Ministers being held on December 15th and 16th in Brussels.

A summary of the main 2011 quotas for Irish fishermen are detailed in the table below.

The European Commission proposals for 2012 are based on formal advice received from ICES (the International Council for the Exploration of the Seas), and also on the views of the STECF (the Scientific, Technical and Economic Committee for Fisheries), which gives the Commission its views on the economic and social impacts of the scientific advice. The advice shows that many stocks where Ireland has a quota are not in a healthy biological state and therefore are in need of urgent remedial action. The Commission has proposed cuts of 15% and 25% in many stocks that they deem to be in data poor situations. At the October Fisheries Council in Luxembourg, the Council considered TAC and quota proposals for the Baltic Sea. In that context, and in response to concerns that I and other colleagues expressed about the overall policy being pursued, Commissioner Damanaki gave a commitment to rethink her previously stated policy of applying automatic reductions of 15 or 25% to a swathe of stocks in the absence of full scientific advice. The Commission now appears receptive to looking at the scientific advice on a case by case basis, which is what I have been advocating. She did, however, state that she intends to implement, as a matter of principle, a level of cut to all stocks without full scientific advice, regardless of the indications of available data and advice.

I have consistently stated that wherever the scientific advice indicates a need for a cut in TAC levels I will accept this measure. The Sustainability Impact Assessment on TACs and quotas for 2012, which I presented to the Dáil on 23rd November, agrees with the need to cut the quotas for some of the stocks in 2012, though the level of these cuts is queried in some cases, while in others there is clear scientific data to suggest that a cut is unwarranted. In other cases, the available evidence is that an increase in the TAC can be justified.

There is a high cost from a social and economic perspective when quota cuts are proposed and we have to be satisfied that in every case these cuts are justifiable. Fishing ports and whole communities all around our coast are dependent on fisheries for their very survival.

We need to use all sources of verifiable science when determining our decisions on fishing levels and try to strike the right balance to ensure the health of the fishing resource and the wider ecosystem with the economic and social realities of our network of rural coastal communities. I will be making every effort to ensure, at the Fisheries Council this week, we deliver on these objectives.

Summary of main Irish quotas and total TAC for 2011

Demersal	AREA	Total EU TAC (tonnes)	Ireland’s quotas (tonnes)
Cod	Norwegian waters of I and II	14,127	211
Cod	VIb Vb XII and XIV	78	17
Cod	VIa Vb	180	40
Cod	VIIa	506	333
Cod	VIIb-c,e-k, VIII, IX and X; EC waters of CECAF 34.1.1	4,023	825
Haddock	EC waters of VIb; international waters of XII and XIV	3,748	295
Haddock	EC waters of Vb and VIa	2,005	328
Haddock	VIIb-k, VIII, IX and X; EC waters of CECAF 34.1.1	13,316	2,959
Haddock	VIIa	1,317	570
Whiting	VI; EC waters of Vb; international waters of XII and XIV	323	97
Whiting	VIIa	118	68
Whiting	VIIb, VIIc, VIId, VIIe, VIIf, VIIg, VIIh and VIIk	16,568	5,250
Hake	VI and VII; EC waters of Vb; international waters of XII and XIV	30,900	1,704
Monkfish	VI; EC waters of Vb; international waters of XII and XIV	5,289	529
Monkfish	VII	32,292	2,447
Megrims	VI; EC waters of Vb; international waters of XII and XIV	3,233	419
Megrims	VII	18,300	3,025
Plaice	VI; EC waters of Vb ; international waters of XII and XIV	672	267
Plaice	VIIa	1,627	1,063
Plaice	VIIb and VIIc	76	61
Plaice	VIIf and VIIg	410	200
Plaice	VIIh, VIIj and VIIk	185	81
Common sole	VI; EC waters of Vb ; international waters of XII and XIV	58	46
Common sole	VIIa	390	73
Common sole	VIIb and VIIc	43	36
Common sole	VIIf and VIIg	1,241	39
Common sole	VIIh, VIIj, and VIIk	423	190
Norway lobster	VI; EC waters of Vb	13,681	185
Norway lobster	VII	21,759	8,025
Pollack	VI; EC waters of Vb; international waters of XII and XIV	385	54
Pollack	VII	13,082	999
Saithe	VI; EC waters of Vb; EC and international waters of XII and XIV	9,682	429
Saithe	VII, VIII, IX and X; EC waters of CECAF 34.1.1	3,240	1,500
Other		33,359	2,592
Total		246,636	34,957

Pelagic	AREA	TAC	Ireland
Herring	Vb and VIb; EC waters of VIaN (1)	21,755	3,286
Herring	VIIbc; VIaS (1)	4,471	4,065
Herring	VIIa (1)	5,040	1,312
Herring	VIIg(1), VIIh(1), VIIj(1) and VIIk (1)	13,200	11,407
Herring	EC, Norwegian and international waters of I and II	64,319	5,705
Mackerel	VI, VII, VIIIa, VIIIb, VIIId and VIIIe; EC Vb; nonEC IIa; Int Wat XII and XIV	353,355	68,700
Horse mackerel	EC IIa, IVa, VI, VIIa-c, VIIe-k, VIIIa,b,d,e Int Waters of Vb, XII, XIV	158,787	40,439
Horse mackerel	IVb, IVc, VIId	41,531	1,243
Blue whiting	EC Int Wat I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII, VIIIa, VIIIb, VIIId, VIIIe, XII and XIV	10,042	1,187
Greater silver smelt	EC and international waters of III and IV	1,176	8
Greater silver smelt	EC and international waters of V, VI and VII	4,691	331
Boarfish	(all waters)	33,000	22,227
Albacore	Atlantic Ocean N of 5N	27,917	3,554
Total		739,284	163,464