Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 13 February 2018
58. Deputy Catherine Connolly asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the extent to which each of the 29 recommendations contained in a report (details supplied) has been implemented; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7115/18]
View answerThe Joint Sub-Committee on Fisheries Report on Promoting Sustainable Rural Coastal and Island Communities (published in 2014) to which the Deputy refers made a number of recommendations which concerned a range of Government policies including natural resources, marine safety and social protection. I intend to address progress on aspects relevant to my remit as Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine.
A number of the recommendations have been superseded by initiatives which have taken place.
In relation to representation structures for the industry for instance, the National Inshore Fisheries Forum (NIFF) and Regional Inshore Fisheries Forums (RIFFs) provide arenas for inshore fishermen to develop proposals on inshore fisheries management, including compliance and data gathering. The NIFF is representative of sea-fishing boats of less than 12m overall length in the fishing fleet. The focus on the NIFF work programme is on fisheries management in the coastal waters within 6 nautical miles. The NIFF is taking the lead in setting priorities for the inshore sector including ongoing work in developing a dedicated strategy.
To date, the twelve NIFF meetings have led to very constructive two-way conversations on issues of mutual concern, industry priorities, emerging policies & initiatives. NIFF members are now included on a number of fisheries consultative structures including the Quota Management Advisory Committee, the Industry Science Fisheries Partnership, the SFPA Consultative Committee, the EMFF Operational Programme Monitoring Committee and BIM/Bord Bia Market Advisory Group. This gives the inshore sector a role in making recommendations on a range of fisheries policy matters including on allocation of Ireland’s quotas, on data collection and scientific research. Perhaps most important of these is that the NIFF now has an input into how funding is utilised including through the Inshore Fisheries Conservation Scheme.
The Sub-Committee’s 2014 report refers to managing the lobster and shrimp fisheries. Changes came into effect in 2014 regarding the management of these fisheries, following on from an extensive consultation process. In more recent times lobster in particular has been a feature of the agenda of the meetings which I have had with the NIFF and I look forward to a discussion with NIFF on the review of the effectiveness of the current conservation measures in 2018. The current V-notching conservation measures have been extended through 2018 to facilitate these discussions.
With regard to the mackerel quota, there has been a change to the way this is allocated. For 2017 and future years, the 87% to 13% share out of the quota between the Refrigerated Sea Water (RSW) pelagic fleet and polyvalent segment of the fleet will remain unchanged. Where Ireland’s quota exceeds 90,000 tonnes, the quota shall be shared on a 80% to 20% basis between the pelagic and polyvalent fleet. A minimum of 2% of the mackerel quota, or 1,000 tonnes, whichever is the greater will be deducted annually for demersal swaps before any share out between segments is undertaken.
There is an open mackerel fishery for vessels under 18 metres in length. An amount of 2.5% of the overall polyvalent Mackerel Quota has been set aside for this fishery and a monthly catch limit is used. This catch limit is recommended each month by the Whitefish Quota Management Advisory Committee which consists of fishing industry representatives. For 2017, under 18m Boats had a catch limit of 5 tonnes per month. In the last number of years much of this quota has remained under-utilised.
Quotas for other species which can be targeted by the inshore fishing sector have set-a-side allocations for smaller sea-fishing boats. Key inshore stocks are not limited by quota arrangements, for instance lobster and crab species which are the mainstay for many small boats.
The sub-committee made a recommendation with regard to “minor fishing infractions”. In November 2014, my Department published a public consultation document in the form of a Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA) of a proposal for a Bill to amend the Sea Fisheries and Maritime Jurisdiction Act 2006 to provide for, inter alia, a system of fixed penalty notices (“on the spot” fines) for minor fisheries offences. This provided the possibility of creating a subset of minor offences which are legally suitable to be dealt with by way of fixed penalty notices.
In summary, the process suggested in the RIA involved giving a person who was alleged to have committed a minor offence an option to pay a fixed payment which would mean that a prosecution would not be taken in the Courts. If the payment was not received within 28 days, the prosecution would be initiated in the courts and on conviction it was expected that a higher fine would be applied.
A number of industry submissions received under the RIA on the implementation of fixed penalty notices raised concerns that these would be used in place of verbal or written warnings. Other comments raised concerns regarding potential inequalities in the application of the system between different Sea Fisheries Protection Authority Port Officers and Naval Service personnel. There were also comments regarding the constitutionality of applying sanctions in the absence of a Court decision and others seeking a fully administrative system. In light of the comments submitted in respect of the above proposal on a fixed penalty system, it was decided not to proceed with the introduction of such a system.
With regard to fishing infrastructure, it is important to say that my Department owns, maintains and directly manages six Fishery Harbour Centres at Killybegs, Ros an Mhíl, An Daingean, Castletownbere, Dunmore East and Howth, under Statute.
In 2018, I have allocated €27.9m to the Fishery Harbour and Coastal Infrastructure Capital Programme. €2m of this is allocated to the Local Authority element of the programme targeting piers, harbours and slipways under their ownership across the 17 Coastal Local Authorities. On 31 January 2018 Local Authorities were invited to submit prioritised lists of projects for consideration. Ultimately, the infrastructure supported will be of great benefit to many rural coastal and island communities.
The remainder of the 2018 Capital programme, €25.9m will be invested in the ongoing development, maintenance and upgrade of the Fishery Harbour Centres. This investment will build on the €92m invested in the Fishery Harbour Centres since 2010 and the €25m invested in the Local Authority infrastructure over the same period.
In December 2016 I commissioned an Independent Review of Aquaculture Licensing. The Report of the Review Group was submitted to me at the end of May 2017. The Review Group carried out a detailed examination of the existing aquaculture licensing process, undertook comprehensive stakeholder consultation and looked at comparative national and international consent systems to determine best practice for managing a complex licensing process in a transparent, environmentally appropriate and legally robust manner.
The Group’s Report is published and available to view on my Department’s website. A total of 30 separate recommendations are contained in the Report.
In that regard I can confirm that my Department is committed to and actively working towards the achievement of 300 licence determinations for 2018 with a further 300 targeted for 2019. This will meet a core objective of the Aquaculture Licensing Review Group. The achievement of 600 determinations over the next two years will effectively eliminate the backlog as an issue.
My Department's €240 million European Maritime and Fisheries Fund Operational Programme is the vehicle for financial supports to the seafood sector up to 2021. The Programme delivers a wide range of supports for aquaculture, fisheries and seafood processing through a suite of 15 Individual schemes which are administered by BIM.
In summary, there are a number of recommendations not relevant to the remit of my Department and I have endeavoured to give the Deputy an update on relevant matters, including policy developments, which have occurred since the report was published. I would like to assure the Deputy that this Government is fully committed to the seafood sector and the coastal communities who are dependent on fisheries and aquaculture.
