As the Deputy may be aware, our long-standing policy in Ireland is that fishing quotas are a public resource and are managed to ensure that property rights are not granted to individual operators. When a quota allocation is not fished by an individual operator, it is returned to the State for re-distribution to the fleet. This is important to ensure that quotas are not concentrated into the hands of large fishing companies whose owners have the financial means to buy up such rights.
This approach helps to support a fishing fleet based around the Irish coastline. This means that the Irish fishing fleet is made up of various sizes and types of fishing vessels who have retained a strong economic link with our coastal communities and have provided vital employment in these communities, where there are limited alternative economic activities. Any movement towards privatisation of fishing rights would seriously risk fishing vessels losing an economic link with Ireland’s coastal communities and I work closely with the fishing industry to ensure this does not happen.
We manage our whitefish quotas generally on a monthly basis with catch limits being set for each month for each stock. Every month the Quota Management Advisory Committee meets to consult on the management of quotas within National Policy. This meeting involves fishing industry representatives from the catching sectors and processing sectors, my Department, and the Sea Fisheries Protection Authority. The purpose of these meetings is to make recommendations to me for particular stocks and, I follow these recommendations for regimes for particular stocks, subject to the proper management and rational exploitation of our fisheries.
The Committee examines the operation of each fishery, uptake patterns and available quota for the different groups of fishing vessels, including inshore fishing vessels. Discussions on allocations take into account the divergent situation of the fleet and the market, and any weather conditions particularly in respect of the smaller vessels. The Committee also has the possibility of recommending additional catch limits to incentivise the introduction of environmentally friendly fishing gear in particular fisheries or for particular types of vessels.
All vessels under 55 feet in length receive the same catch limit which includes small scale coastal fishers licensed to fish for whitefish. Pelagic stocks of mackerel and herring also have allocations made available, in accordance with Ministerial National policy, supporting smaller vessels. I recently launched a public consultation on a review of the 2012 Herring Management Policy, in relation to the quantity of herring set aside from the southern North-West herring stock for smaller/inshore fishing vessels.
