Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 11 February 2014
107. Deputy Luke 'Ming' Flanagan asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the volume of fish stocks that have been caught in Irish territorial waters by Irish-registered fishing boats and non-Irish-registered boats; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6344/14]
View answerI assume the Deputy is referring to the Exclusive Fisheries Zone which extends up to 200 miles off the Irish coast. EU fishing quotas are divided amongst Member States based on ICES Zones and it is based on these units that landing data is compiled. The ICES zones in Ireland's Exclusive Fisheries zone covers areas VI off the northern part of the country and Areas VII which covers the Irish Sea and Celtic Seas. However, significant proportions of ICES Areas VI & VII are not in the Irish 200 mile zone.
The waters around Ireland contain some of the most productive and biologically sensitive fishing grounds in the EU. In 2010, an estimated 1.3 million tonnes of fish were taken by the fishing fleets of EU member states from the waters around Ireland (ICES Sub-areas VI & VII). Ireland landed 259,500 tonnes of these fish or 23% of the international landings. The main fish species caught were mackerel, horse mackerel, boarfish, blue whiting, herring, cod, whiting, haddock, saithe, hake, megrim, anglerfish, plaice, sole and Nephrops (prawns).
The Irish authorities are not responsible for compiling data on landings or the value of landings of fish by non Irish fishing vessels, except those landing into Irish fishing ports. Landing data is the responsibility of the flag Member State. Landing data into Irish ports are available on the Sea Fisheries Protection Authority web site. Landing figures for all Member States are publically available on the Eurostat website at the following link: http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/portal/page/portal/fisheries/data/database.
The Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) is the fisheries policy of the European Union which was first put in place in 1983 and has been subject to reviews every 10 years, most recently last year in 2013. The share Ireland received of the quotas available was determined on a system of relative stability, based on historical fishing patterns in the confines of set management areas. These sharing arrangements have remained in place without change since 1983 reflecting the reality that any increased share for one Member State must be balanced by reductions for another. Under the Hague Agreement of Heads of Governments in 1976, a system of so called "Hague Preferences" was put in place, under which Ireland gets an enhanced share of certain key quotas on which we were traditionally dependant, if the share falls below certain set levels. Over recent years, Ireland has benefited from these increased quotas for stocks such as cod, haddock, sole and plaice from the application of the Hague Preferences.
The newly reformed CFP, brokered by the Irish Presidency and which came into force from the 1st of January 2014, provides for the rebuilding of fish stocks in EU waters supporting quota increases for Irish fishermen through long term management of stocks, reducing and eliminating discards and rebuilding stocks by setting Total Allowable Catches at levels to provide for Maximum Sustainable Yield. The reforms agreed will govern the nature and operation of Irish and EU fisheries for the foreseeable future and are designed to usher in a new era of more economically, environmentally and socially sustainable fishing across EU waters.
