Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 21 April 2021
2471. Deputy Pádraig Mac Lochlainn asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the steps he is taking to secure a tuna quota for Ireland in view of the fact that some EU partners are seeking an expansion to their existing tuna quotas; the tonnage of tuna caught within Ireland’s EEZ waters; the countries fishing for same; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18677/21]
View answer2533. Deputy Pádraig Mac Lochlainn asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if the migration research on Atlantic bluefin tuna being conducted by the Marine Institute over recent years can be utilised by his Department to make the case for a reasonable share of the EU quota and TAC of this species to be allocated to the Irish fleet. [20011/21]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 2471 and 2533 together.
Ireland has a quota for Northern Albacore Tuna but does not have a national quota for Bluefin Tuna. A small Bluefin Tuna by-catch quota is available to Ireland, primarily for use in our important Northern Albacore Tuna fishery and Celtic Sea Herring fishery where there can be Bluefin Tuna by-catch. This by-catch quota is also available to other Member States which do not have a national quota for Bluefin Tuna.
The landings of Bluefin Tuna taken from the Irish EEZ are very small in relation to the total Bluefin Tuna landings, with the majority in the North East Atlantic coming from the Bay of Biscay area. The fisheries statistics on Bluefin Tuna do not specify catches on the basis of EEZ details. However, the Marine Institute has analysed the most recent publically available dataset on Bluefin Tuna catches and estimate that the landings taken from the Irish EEZ over the period 2015 to 2018 are as follows:-
|
Year |
Tonnes |
|
2015 |
37.8 |
|
2016 |
30.8 |
|
2017 |
3.0 |
|
2018 |
31.8 |
The average annual EU quota for the East Atlantic and Mediterranean, the management area for the stock, over this period was 12,470 tonnes.
The EU Member States with a national Bluefin Tuna quota are Cyprus, Greece, Spain, France, Croatia, Italy, Malta and Portugal. Under the EU/UK Trade and Co-operation Agreement, a share of the EU's Bluefin Tuna quota (0.25%) has been transferred to the UK.
Bluefin tuna is a highly migratory large pelagic species which spawns in the Mediterranean and then migrates over a wide area of the North East Atlantic to feed. This migration brings some of the fish into the Irish 200 miles zone for part of the year. At the time we see fish in the Irish zone, there are also fish being caught in the international high seas and over a wide area from Spain to Norway. There is no survey from which the abundance in Ireland's 200 miles zone may be determined.
In order to develop a deeper understanding of the movements of Bluefin Tuna in the waters around Ireland, the Marine Institute (MI) has developed a program to satellite tag Bluefin Tuna. Under the continuing research programme, the MI and partners, including Stanford University USA, University of Acadia Canada, Trinity College Dublin and the International Convention on the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT), plan to apply up to 30 satellite tags and 10 accelerometer tags to Bluefin Tuna in 2021.
In 2018, Ireland was successful, for the first time, in securing agreement that allowed countries without a commercial quota to set up a catch-tag-release fishery to contribute to the collection of scientific data. A Catch-Tag-Release science-based fishery for authorised recreational angling vessels has been in place in Ireland since 2019 and supports the collection of valuable data on the migratory patterns of Bluefin Tuna in Irish waters. This data will supplement the ongoing research that is being undertaken by the Marine Institute.
The available Bluefin Tuna quota is allocated each year to Member States on the basis of relative stability as established in the late 1990s. At that time, Ireland did not have a track record of commercial fishing for Bluefin Tuna and, accordingly, did not receive a quota allocation.
The EU percentage share of the international TAC is set down and there is no likelihood that an international country will concede any share to the EU. The only way to obtain a share of the EU quota now would involve changing relative stability within the EU and would require a majority of Member States to agree under the qualified majority voting system. This means that EU Member States with a national quota would have to give up a share of their allocation to Ireland. Any change to relative stability would involve a loss for some other Member States and therefore poses particular challenges in a qualified majority voting context.
The CFP is reviewed every 10 years and the next review is scheduled to be completed by 31 December 2022 when the European Commission will report to the European Parliament and the Council on the functioning of the CFP. The review is expected to be detailed and comprehensive. At EU level, it is expected that all stakeholders will have an opportunity to engage actively in the review work including the fishing industry, eNGOs and Member States.
I have previously stated that I am committed to doing all possible through the review of the CFP to secure additional quota where possible for Irish fishers. I will consider how Ireland will prepare for and participate actively and effectively in the review, including the interaction with stakeholders to prepare Ireland's case and identify priorities.
