Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 1 July 2015
46. Deputy Thomas Pringle asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine his views on the European Union Commission's proposals to implement the ban on discarding white fish catches from January 2016; the position he plans to take on this; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26051/15]
View answerIreland has been to the forefront for many years in the drive to reduce and eliminate discards in order to prevent waste, to protect young fish, to rebuild and conserve fish stocks and to ensure a sustainable future for the fishing industry. The new Common Fisheries Policy, negotiated to conclusion during Ireland’s Presidency in 2013, provides for a practical and phased discards policy, or landing obligation.
The first part of the landing obligation, the ban on discarding pelagic stocks such as herring and mackerel, came into effect on the 1 January 2015. The landing obligation will be extended to certain whitefish species from the 1 January 2016 and will be fully phased in by the 1 January 2019.
The phasing-in period gives fishermen time to adjust and implement changes that will allow for the avoidance of unwanted catches.
The pelagic discard plan, which came into effect this year, was developed through the regional decision-making process introduced by the new CFP. Ireland worked with fellow Member States in the North Western Waters Group (Belgium, France, the Netherlands, Spain and the UK) on finalising the plan. The Group also worked closely with the Pelagic Advisory Council, involving stakeholders.
The preparation of the Discard Plan for whitefish species was carried out during the period of Ireland’s chairmanship of the North Western Waters Group (January to June 2015). The Member States worked closely with the North Western Waters Advisory Council, representatives of which attended each meeting of the North Western Waters Member States Group since Ireland assumed the Chair.
The ban on discarding, which covers all of the waters around Ireland and the Channel, will apply to the prawn (nephrops) fishery in all waters, the whiting fishery in the Celtic Sea and the haddock fishery in the Irish Sea and in the North West area from the 1 January 2016. The landing obligation will be rolled out to other fisheries in the years leading up to 2019, when it will apply to all stocks.
The Irish industry has been kept fully informed throughout this process through the Discards Implementation Group, chaired by Dr. Noel Cawley. I established this Group to allow the Irish fishing industry to be fully prepared for, and engaged in, the implementation of the discards ban. Agreement on the discard plan for 2016 provides the Discards Implementation Group with a clear blueprint to help prepare the industry for the forthcoming changes.
I am providing funding support to the fishing industry through the new EU Fisheries Operational Programme, which I am currently progressing, for the effective delivery of the new measures. I have made €450,000 available in 2015 to BIM and the MI to undertake a project over the summer period, exploring the potential impact of the landing obligation on commercial fishing activity. This project will follow up on the discard simulation trials conducted last autumn.
