I thank the Chairman and committee for inviting me to appear before the committee. In the handout members have received, I will start from the title, the fisheries resource. If they wish to refer to that page, I will follow through. There are five issues I wish to touch on: the state of the fisheries resource and a quick snapshot; the fishing opportunities for 2009, picking up on some of the points Mr. Gerard O'Flynn has made; some key issues for science and industry; the importance of research in our fisheries resources; and the overriding importance of working with industry.
In terms of the Marine Institute and its work, we produce a stock book every year which essentially answers two questions: how healthy are the fish stocks around our coast and how many fish can be removed from those stocks. Essentially this is the scientific advice and it dictates the fishing opportunities for the following year. It is a compendium of our scientific work over the year. At this time of the year we spend much time discussing each stock with industry and Government officials and positioning ourselves in terms of the negotiations for next year.
The next page deals with the status of the fisheries resource — a snapshot. I would not have the time to go through all the stocks. However, I have picked out some of the key stocks that will drive fishing opportunities for 2009. For the west of Scotland, the scientific advice for cod, whiting and haddock is zero catches. In the Irish Sea cod is in a very severe state of depletion. In the Celtic Sea area we are concerned about the cod stock but we are not as worried about the cod stock in the Celtic Sea as we are about the Irish Sea and west of Scotland. There is some good news here. The science has assessed the mackerel stock where there is a 30% increase this year. A very important point is the prawns, the nephrops. These are really important stocks to the Irish fleet. The science is good on these stocks. We think they are exploited sustainably, yet the Commission is reducing the quota by 15%. We are working very hard and making a case with Government officials to put to the Commission to try to keep the prawn stocks at status quo.
The next set of tables lists the details of the science — the red and green column in the middle — and the fisheries opportunities for 2009, shown in the final column. I do not ask members to read them all but that is the information we have to hand. I wish to pick up on some of the key points that we will work on between now and Christmas. The next page deals with sharks, skates and rays. This is a very important point because for spurdog, the advice is for zero catch. We are working hard to build a case on the sharks, skates and rays that some fishing should be allowed. For instance, for skates and rays would it be feasible to have a separate quota in the Irish Sea or have the whole quota over the entire waters around Ireland? We are working with industry on this to come up with a proposal to send to the Commission.
On the next slide, on demersal stocks, I would pick out haddock, which is an important stock for the fisheries on the south coast and in the Irish Sea. There is a new proposal from the Commission to set up a new area in the Irish Sea. We are working on whether this would be beneficial for Ireland in the long term in the context of fishing opportunities or whether it would be a hindrance. That is the type of analysis we are doing with the scientific data to see how Ireland Inc. would come off in terms of these Commission proposals.
The next slide gives more detail on the stocks. The next page deals with the prawn stock. Members will see that a 15% cut is proposed for area 7 for the prawn stock. It is a really important fishery to the Irish fleet and again we are devoting a good deal of time with Government officials to building a case to have a status quo total allowable catch, TAC, for next year.
I would like to step back and talk about some of the key issues facing science and the fishing industry. I will read through the bullet points. It is important we improve the data that scientists use in stock assessments. To do that we need to work closely with industry. We need to reduce discarding, fishing pressure on many stocks and the impact of fishing on sensitive areas. We need to look at closed areas, the possibility of increased mesh sizes and use the knowledge fishermen have to bring it into the science process. This has been a failure of the scientific process and it is where we need to work much more closely with industry.
The reform agenda, the Common Fisheries Policy, is up for review. That process starts next year and is due to be completed in 2012. We need to be ready for these reforms and have our ideas together.
Another important point is climate change. We must work hard in terms of research to determine the impacts of climate change on fisheries.
On the next page, the fourth area I want to deal with is research. Research is vitally important in terms of developing the scientific advice. The national development plan programme of the Marine Institute has invested considerably in fisheries research programmes. A total of 24.4% of the funding in 2007 went to fisheries, seafood processing, aquaculture and seaweed projects.
It is important that we get the research done that advances our scientific assessments to allow us give better advice that will ensure fishermen are a part of that scientific advice, they understand the advice, the scientists understand the fishermen and there is much more engagement between the two. We have not done as well as we should in engaging with fishermen in the past.
The next page deals with functional ingredients. This is what I would call very long-term research. Noel Cawley of the Cawley Group said this is one of the most important areas of research for Ireland in terms of the seafood industry. It examines compounds we take from the marine that can be used to enhance food products. I am thinking of Benecol and reducing cholesterol. There could be other compounds in sea creatures that we can examine and introduce into seafood processing that will increase the value of the food and make it a much more healthy option. It is long-term but very important research.
I wish to refer briefly to working with industry. During the fuel crisis the Minister set up the Irish Fisheries Science Research Partnership after that long meeting in Athlone. It met in August and we have had various sub-groups working off it but I want to focus on two sub-groups. One is a group where science and industry came together. We examined the fish stocks on which the scientists had one view and the industry had another and identified where there was conflict in those views. We have agreed to work together to try to resolve those contracts. I am not saying we will resolve them but at least we have identified issues on which we can work together. A good example of that is the issue with Celtic Sea cod.
The other sub-group, which meets tomorrow, is dealing with the issue of tacit knowledge, the knowledge fishermen have and how we can use that in the scientific process. We will not see those results today or tomorrow. It is a more long-term but very important project.
To turn to the next page, working with industry is also seen in the regional advisory councils and working with the Federation of Irish Fishermen, FIF, at a national level. An example of where we have been working with it is on developing management plans for mackerel, which is done in an international context, and Celtic Sea herring, which is done in a national context.
I hope we have presented members with an overview of the Marine Institute, the broad marine services it provides, a snapshot of the fisheries resource and the key stocks that are dictating fishing opportunities. I have listed a table with those fishing opportunities, and the details are on that for members to see. They list the key issues for science and industry, the importance of research and that the key to our future is science working with industry. I thank members for their attention.
