EU Fisheries Council No. 1342/2008 established a long term plan for cod stocks in a number of regions including in the north west of Scotland and Ireland (ICES Area 6a) and the Irish Sea (ICES Area 7a). The purpose of the recovery plan was to achieve sustainable exploitation of cod stocks on the basis of maximum sustainable yield. The Plan set down rules for the setting of Total Allowable Catches (TACs) and rules for setting fishing effort limits.
The EU Commission proposal for the North Sea Management Plan has been under consideration by the Council and European Parliament since 2016, including the issue of repealing Council Regulation 1342/2008. A political agreement on the repeal of Council Regulation 1342/2008 has now been agreed which will discontinue the effort regime. The rules on setting total allowable catch limits (TACs) are being simplified under multi –annual plans being adopted for regions, including the Western Waters Management Plan which is being negotiated by the Council and EU Parliament at present and covers ICES Areas 6a and 7.
Technical Measure requirements will continue to apply as set out in EC Regulation 850/98 and as amended by EU regulation 812 of 2015. These include additional measures put in place to help protect cod, whiting and haddock in the north west (Area 6a).
In the context of the repeal of the EU Regulation, the introduction of any replacement fishing effort scheme would be a matter for national consideration and could only be justified for the purposes of protecting, conserving or allowing the sustainable exploitation of the cod stocks in Areas 6a or 7a. As these are shared fishing stocks at EU level, I would have concerns about the case for introducing such national measures applicable only to Irish vessels. In the context of the cod stock in Area 6a, there is a zero quota and only by-catches of 1.5% of the total catch may be retained on board and landed. The by-catch in the Irish fishing fleet in terms of both landings and discards, is I understand small, but the Marine Institute advise that there is a high by-catch of cod in the fleets of other Member States. As advised, the EU Commission has published proposals for a Multi- Annual Plan for Western Waters which include both Area 6a and 7a stocks. This plan is being negotiated within the Council and European Parliament over the coming months and the aim of the plan is to contribute to achieving fishing at sustainable levels. The measures introduced under this plan will apply to all Member States operating in these areas.
