Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 26 September 2013
213. Deputy Brendan Griffin asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he would allow fishermen to keep cray fish measuring 100 mm instead of the current 110 mm limit as the rest of Europe allows catches of over 90 mm; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40240/13]
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Regulation (EC) No. 850/98 presently imposes an EU minimum landing size (MLS) for crawfish of 95mm, but was originally enacted as a MLS of 110mm.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 a 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 2011, I asked BIM and the Marine Institute to conduct a review of Ireland’s technical conservation measures for crawfish. The Review was conducted in consultation with crawfish fishermen, shellfish buyers and other stakeholders. That Review concluded that a reduction in the national MLS to 95mm would lead to a circa 42% reduction in the reproductive potential of the crawfish stock. A sustainable crawfish fishery could not be maintained in those circumstances.
It is worth noting that the Review found that 110mm is in fact the most commonly adopted MLS in Northern Europe.
