Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 17 November 2020
884. Deputy Pádraig Mac Lochlainn asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the legislative basis for the bottom grown mussel consultative forum and joint management of the bottom grown mussel natural resource following the Supreme Court judgment of 27 October 2016 (details supplied). [36432/20]
View answerI assume that the Deputy is referring to the all-island basis for management of the mussel seed fishery in conjunction with the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs in Northern Ireland and the cross-border Loughs Agency. The context for this has been the long-standing voisinage arrangements which provide for reciprocal fishing access to waters in the area from the baselines out to six nautical miles around the coast of the State and Northern Ireland.
Irish sea-fishing boats are authorised to fish for mussel seed within the exclusive fishery limits of the State under s. 13 of the Sea-Fisheries and Maritime Jurisdiction Act 2006. Persons on board vessels owned and operated in Northern Ireland are permitted to fish for mussel seed in the waters within 0 to 6 nautical miles of the baseline under s. 10(2) of that Act, as amended by the Sea-Fisheries (Amendment) Act 2019. I am advised that these provisions form the legislative basis for the regulation and management of this natural resource in accordance with the requirements of Article 10 of the Constitution and the judgment of the Supreme Court in Barlow & Ors -v- Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine & Ors [2017] I.R. 440. As Minister, I retain decision-making powers under this legal framework.
The Bottom Grown Mussel Consultative Forum is a consultative body that was established pursuant to a recommendation of the 2008 expert group report The Rising Tide. While the Forum may make recommendations on matters affecting the bottom grown mussel sector, including concerning the mussel seed fishery, the Forum is not a decision-making body.
