Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 11 February 2014
531. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the extent to which his Department continues to monitor the needs of the fishing industry with particular reference to traditional sea-fishing families dependent on the industry; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6867/14]
View answerI consider that the fishing industry itself is best placed to advise me on their needs. It is for this reason that the representative producer organisations in the industry, both fishermen and onshore processors, meet each month with my Department and the Sea Fisheries Protection Authority to make recommendations to me in relation to the quota to be allocated in the coming month for whitefish and some pelagic fisheries.
For non TAC and quota species, management measures applying only to Irish registered vessels fishing within our territorial waters are developed nationally. In the development of such national management measures, I always seek and fully consider any submissions from industry representatives.
New opportunities for the direct involvement of the fishing industry are also a central part of the new CFP Reform which, for the first time, introduces a regionalised approach to fisheries management. We have moved away from the old system of an EU decision making approach centralised in Brussels. The new policy puts fishermen at the core of developing conservation measures for fisheries in which they are involved and also makes specific references to taking account of the needs of our fishermen.
In a practical step in the implementation of this new regionalised approach, I have also hosted the first meeting of the North Western Waters Regional Group of Member States. It is through this group which will work in close association with stakeholders that decisions affecting Ireland's fishermen may be taken in the future and it is vital that we are at the heart of this new decision making process.
The recently established national Discards Implementation Group will ensure that the Irish fishing industry are fully prepared for, and engaged in, the implementation of the discards ban. It will empower fishermen by giving them a key role in the decision making for their fisheries. The work of this group will be central to ensuring that the practical issues around the introduction of a discards ban, as identified by the Irish fishing industry, will be developed into long term sustainable management tools that will safeguard the future of our coastal fishing communities.
From the outset of the Common Fisheries Policy revision process, Ireland’s overarching goal was to ensure a sustainable, profitable and self reliant industry that protects and enhances the social and economic fabric of rural coastal communities dependent on the seafood sector, while balancing these objectives with the need to ensure that fish stocks would be protected for future generations. I strongly believe that the new CFP will achieve that goal.
