Michael Healy-Rae
Question:1058. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine his views on an issue (details supplied) regarding fishing; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10315/16]
View answerTuesday, 17 May 2016
Questions (1058)
Written answers
Fisheries in the EU, as is the case with agriculture, are governed by a common policy – the CFP or Common Fisheries Policy. The overall framework for a new CFP was agreed by the European Commission, European Parliament and the Council of Ministers in 2013. The Review of the Policy had commenced in 2009 and was the subject of active consultation and debate over the 2009 to 2013 period. The Policy is thereby set and the arrangements for the setting of Quotas, the management of fisheries, the introduction of the phased implementation of the landing obligation and the responsibilities of Member States are all set out within the settled Framework of the new CFP. The proposal suggested by the Deputy on behalf of one group of fishermen must be considered in this context.
The Demersal Discard Plan to apply for 2016 was unanimously agreed by all Member States of the North Western Waters Group and submitted to the EU Commission in May 2016. It has since been evaluated by the Scientific, Technical, Economic Committee for Fisheries (STECF) and approved by both the European Parliament and the full Council of Ministers. The Member State Group worked in close consultation with the industry body, North Western Waters Advisory Council, representatives of which attended each meeting of the North Western Waters Group at Director and Technical level since January 2016.
The Landing Obligation for demersal species is due to come into effect from 1 January 2016 and will apply to all TAC species by 2019. This period of phasing in was a key plank in the negotiations of the new CFP Reform and was pushed strongly by Ireland to avoid a “big bang” and to allow time to adjust behaviour. The North Western Waters Advisory Council (NWWAC) advised that they also wanted to avoid a “big bang” in 2016 or 2019. In line with this, the Member States are committed to a progressive and incremental introduction of the landing obligation over the period 1 January 2016 to 1 January 2019. The landing obligation will be phased-in for other fisheries in the years leading up to 2019, when it will apply to all stocks.
Only certain demersal stocks will be subject to the landing obligation in 2016. For Ireland the stocks affected this year are Nephrops (Prawns) in Area VII, Whiting in the Celtic Sea, and Haddock in the Irish Sea and West of Scotland.
The purpose of the landing obligation is to gradually phase out the dumping of perfectly good fish at sea and to end the catching and discarding of juvenile fish. If discarding can be gradually reduced and ended it will rapidly allow stocks to rebuild so that there will be higher quotas of commercial fish available to Irish fishermen, thereby underpinning their future.
The proposal from the Deputy is not a matter of national policy choice for Ireland and would not be in keeping with the legal requirements set out in the Landing Obligation and the wider Common Fisheries Policy. The new CFP continues to rely upon clear Quota outtake limits for Member States and imposes clear legal obligations for Member States to respect those quota limits. National legislation continues to require vessel licence holders to respect the appropriate quota limitations applicable to their vessel.
I would like to also note that at the December Fisheries Council in Brussels, which determined the TACs for 2016, the values of whitefish and prawn quotas available in 2016 were increased for the third consecutive year. Stocks which were coming under the Landing Obligation in 2016 were granted additional quota uplift for 2016, to reflect the changed policy in respect of those Stocks. The overall 8% increase in quota for prawns, which would otherwise have been subject to a 2% decrease in line with the scientific advice, includes a 10% quota uplift to support the introduction of the discards ban. Similarly the 26% increase in Celtic Sea whiting includes quota uplift as does the 40% increase in the Irish Sea Haddock Quota.
Finally, earlier this year, we launched new funding schemes to support the implementation of the landing obligation. Those schemes provide for a €241 million investment in the seafood sector and are co-funded by the EU. Support for the implementation of the new CFP and the landing obligation is an important part of this investment programme.