Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 4 December 2012
534. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the position regarding crawfish and the rules and regulations surrounding the catching of same; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [54434/12]
View answerCouncil Regulation (EC) No. 850/98 presently imposes an EU minimum landing size (MLS) for crawfish of 95mm, but was originally enacted as a MLS of 110mm. The EU Regulation was changed with effect from May 2001 to specify the present EU MLS of 95mm. The EU Regulation permits Member States to enact national measures supplementing or going beyond the minimum requirements specified in the EU Regulation, provided they are restricted to the Member State’s own fishing vessels or to persons established in that Member State.
Ireland’s Crawfish (Conservation of Stocks) Regulations 2006 (S.I. 232 of 2006) prohibit the landing, transhipment, retention on board, or sale of crawfish below the national minimum landing size of 110mm. Ireland enacted this higher national MLS in 2001 as it was considered that the lower EU MLS introduced in 2001 offered no conservation protection for the species which was suffering from severe over-fishing. In addition to the national MLS, the Crawfish (Fisheries Management and Conservation) Regulations 2006 (S.I. 233 of 2006) prohibit the fishing for, retention on board or landing of crawfish caught by nets in two specified areas off the coasts of Kerry and Galway.
My Department was notified in December 2010 of a complaint received through the EU PILOT system alleging that Ireland’s national regulations for the management of the crawfish stock were in breach of Council Regulation (EC) No. 850/98, were discriminatory and were anti-competitive. My Department responded in detail to the Commission refuting the allegations made and the Commission closed the PILOT case in December 2011, subject to receipt of a copy of the report of a review I had initiated of the management arrangements for Crawfish and submission to the Commission of any amending national regulations arising.
On 24 May 2011, I announced that I had asked BIM and the Marine Institute to conduct a review of Ireland’s technical conservation measures for crawfish, having regard to the negative and declining state of the crawfish stock, the undesirable by-catch of non-target and possibly protected species from the use of nets by some fishermen in fishing for crawfish, the apparent market preference for smaller crawfish, and the range of technical conservation measures for crawfish used internationally. The Review was conducted in consultation with crawfish fishermen, shellfish buyers and other stakeholders.
On 14 February 2012, I received the report of the Review, together with a more detailed scientific examination of the crawfish stock from the Marine Institute. The Review Report is available on BIM’s website. I will arrange for a copy to be sent to the Deputy. The Review Report made 7 recommendations for the future management of the stock. It concluded that a reduction in the MLS to the EU minimum level of 95mm would lead to a circa 42% reduction in the reproductive potential of the stock and therefore could not be recommended unless this loss of reproductive potential was compensated by the introduction of a maximum landing size of 120mm. This alternative measure would prohibit the landing of crawfish in excess of 120mm to create a reservoir of reproducing adult crawfish. However, the Review identified significant risks in this alternative approach and said it could be recommended only in combination with the introduction of a mechanism to monitor and effectively control and, if necessary, reduce fishing effort on crawfish and then only in areas where it has been demonstrated that there is no discard mortality of crawfish in excess of the maximum landing size. Having considered these recommendations I consider retention of the present MLS of 110mm to be appropriate at this time. In this context, it is worth noting that the Review found that 110mm is in fact the most commonly adopted MLS in Northern Europe.
The Review also emphasised the importance of retaining the crawfish netting prohibitions off Kerry and Galway and recommended that their coverage and the introduction of new closed areas be considered in 2012 in light of new or changed designations for cetaceans under the Habitats Directive. It recommended that regulations governing the closed areas (S.I. 233 of 2006) be updated to enhance enforcement and my Department is presently working on this task. Finally, it recommended the enhancement of monitoring of by-catch of cetaceans and seals in tangle nets in Natura 2000 sites.
