In addition, we are not lawyers. While we can advise on the current regulatory situation and how it is applied, we cannot interpret legislation or give legal advice. Overall policy is set out by the EU and there is limited scope under the Common Fisheries Policy, CFP, for national policy. It is technical and highly regulated and it would be helpful to try to explain that.
With those caveats in mind, I would like to take the committee through the current procedures and regulations that may inform discussions on the Bill and I will be glad to take questions from members afterwards. Sea-fishing boat licensing is one of the central elements of the legislation. I will outline the licensing system currently in place for sea-fishing boats which is relevant to the measures proposed in it. The rights to engage in commercial sea-fishing are managed through the current licensing system which regulates the Irish sea-fishing fleet in line with EU and national law. The EU CFP regulations, particularly Council Regulation 1224/2009 and EU Regulation 1380/2013, require commercial sea-fishing boats to be licensed. The management of EU fishing fleets using vessel capacity in terms of gross tonnage and engine power, measured in kilowatts, is a cornerstone of the policy and has been for many years. Licensing of sea-fishing under the CFP is centred on the licensing of a sea-fishing vessel and not the licensing of fishermen or individuals. That is a long-standing structure under the policy.
The current fishing boat register was introduced in 1990 and, at that time, the capacity of all fishing vessels was recorded as part of the registration process. EU fleet management rules introduced a cap on the size of member state fleets, including Ireland's, by setting a ceiling on the total capacity of the fleet in gross tonnes and kilowatt units. Over time, because of the recording of capacity in the new register and the establishment of a national cap, capacity itself became a private commodity. It is important to note that this situation arose for anyone, islanders or otherwise, engaged in commercial sea-fishing. Fishing boats from Donegal to Dingle or Castletownbere to Clogherhead were registered at that time on the basis of their gross tonnes and kilowatts. That capacity came to be a valuable asset for the families who owned the vessels and to this day is a key factor in licensing commercial sea-fishing vessels.
The Department understands that the current retail price for capacity for polyvalent vessels under 18 m is approximately €2,000 per gross tonne and €1,000 per kilowatt engine power. To give a practical example of this, the average vessel in the under 12 m fleet of the polyvalent general segment, which was discussed as the target segment of the fleet for the Bill, is approximately 7.5 m in length. Although there is a wide variation, this would be approximately 3.7 gross tonnes and 29 kilowatts in capacity terms. At current prices the combined capacity of such a vessel would be worth €36,400. That is to convey the concept that the capacity is a private commodity that is tradeable. In the Department’s experience, proposals which could impact on the value of capacity experience considerable opposition. This is understandable when one considers that in many cases investments are made or loans are taken out to secure both capacity and a seaworthy fishing boat in order to support a family at home on land or as part of larger seafood businesses that support a number of jobs in a local community.
Since the enactment of the Fisheries (Amendment) Act 2003 sea-fishing boat licensing has been carried out by the licensing authority for sea-fishing boats rather than the Minister, as had formerly been the case, and all applications for sea-fishing boat licences are now considered by the licensing authority. The primary legislation governing sea-fishing boat licensing is set out in section 4 of the 2003 Act, as inserted by section 97 of the Sea-Fisheries and Maritime Jurisdiction Act 2006. Before a sea-fishing boat may engage in commercial sea fishing activities, the vessel must be entered on the fishing boat register and hold a current sea-fishing boat licence. The legislation governing sea-fishing boat registration is set out in sections 74 to 80 and section 100 of the Sea-Fisheries and Maritime Jurisdiction Act 2006 and in the Merchant Shipping Regulation 2005, SI 264 of 2005. Section 75(2) charges the registrar general with the proper management of the capacity of the Irish fleet and states that a sea-fishing boat shall not be entered in the fishing boat register unless at the time of entry the vessel holds a valid sea-fishing boat licence or will hold a valid sea-fishing boat licence on entry. A vessel must be registered before it can fish. It should be noted that the Minister is precluded under section 3(5) of the 2003 Act from exercising any power or control in respect of individual cases, or a group of cases, with which the licensing authority is or may be concerned.
I refer to Part 3, section 6, of the Fisheries (Amendment) Act 2003 which established an independent appeals system through an appointed appeals officer to act independently in the exercise of his or her functions. Any person aggrieved by a decision of the licensing authority on an application for a licence or by the revocation or amendment of a licence may, before the expiration of a period of one month beginning on the date of that decision, revocation or amendment, appeal in writing to the appeals officer against the decision. Section 19 of the Act states that "[...] a person shall not question a decision of the Appeals Officer on an appeal otherwise than by way of an application for a judicial review under Order 84 of the Rules of the Superior Courts". The licensing authority itself has no role in devising policy. The Department assists in devising policy in this area and policy is subject to approval by the Minister.
Capacity is the key element in the licensing of commercial sea-fishing boats. There is a national cap on the capacity of the Irish fishing fleet. EU Regulation 1380/2013 sets down Ireland’s fishing capacity ceiling from 1 January 2014 at 77,586 gross tonnes and 210,083 kilowatts. That capacity, in the form of gross tonnage and engine power, is a privately-owned and tradeable asset in the Irish system that, with certain exceptions, may be sold, traded or realised as a financial asset on the tonnage market. EU rules require that there be a stable and enduring balance between fishing capacity and fishing opportunities for member states. This is the reason that maximum capacity, that is, gross tonnage and kilowatts, limits were introduced for member states’ fishing fleets. Importantly, Article 23 of EU Regulation 1380/2013 states that member states "shall manage entries into their fleets [vessels coming into the fleet] and exits from their fleets in such a way that the entry into the fleet of new capacity without public aid is compensated for by the prior withdrawal of capacity without public aid of at least the same amount". Reflecting that, national policy requires that replacement capacity be provided at a ratio of 1:1, which reflects the EU requirement. That has been the position in the fishing industry in Ireland for decades. Any new vessel getting a licence must take out the equivalent capacity.
With regard to inshore fisheries, as the islands are located in inshore waters the committee will wish to be aware of the processes in place for managing and developing the inshore sector. While there are no consistent international definitions of inshore fisheries, in Ireland the inshore sector is considered to comprise fishing boats of less than 12 m overall length that are predominately active within six nautical miles of the baselines of the State's territorial sea. Ireland’s inshore sector is not just "small scale coastal fisheries" as defined by the EU as there are many vessels in the inshore sector which use towed gear as well as those using static gear like pots and set nets. These inshore boats make up approximately 80% of the Irish fishing fleet, while the sector supports an estimated 2,500 to 3,000 jobs. To give the committee a picture of what this means around the coast, I will outline the number of inshore boats operating in each region. These are vessels under 12 m which is the category dealt with in the Bill. Deputy Ferris mentioned that the Bill focuses on approximately 60 vessels. However, there is a total of 1,623 vessels under 12 m: 300 in Donegal; 212 in Sligo-Mayo; 322 in Galway-Clare; 478 in the south west or Kerry and Cork; 190 in the south east or Waterford, Wexford and Wicklow; and 121 in the north east or Meath, Louth and Dublin.
In practice, the Department is also aware that other vessels, particularly of up to 15 m in overall length, also currently fish regularly in inshore waters and are significantly dependent on those waters. A large part of the inshore fishing fleet has access to quota stocks, such as mackerel, herring and whitefish. The Department is not clear what stocks are intended to be the subject of the Private Members' Bill but if there are particular stocks for which access is an issue, these could be explored at the quota management advisory committee. This is the method through which advice is given monthly on the allocation of national quotas to different categories of vessels. The rest of the inshore fleet's key target stocks are non-quota species. By definition, therefore, there is no quota allocation or quota limitation issue there. Those include shellfish caught by pots, such as lobster and crab, or shellfish caught by dredges, such as cockle and clam. The inshore boats also target other non-quota species such as turbot, bait fish and some crawfish.
The Department’s role in the inshore sector and in sea-fisheries generally is in developing and implementing policies which are consistent with Government and EU policy as well as national and EU legislation. The Sea-Fisheries and Maritime Jurisdiction Act 2006 is the principal national legislation for managing inshore fisheries. Article 19 of the CFP regulation allows member states to adopt conservation measures which apply to fishing vessels flying their flag or, in the case of fishing activities which are not conducted by a fishing vessel, persons established in their territory. Article 20 of the regulation allows member states to take non-discriminatory measures for the conservation and management of fish stocks and the maintenance or improvement of the conservation status of marine ecosystems within 12 nautical miles of its baselines. Both articles are derogations to member states and are restricted by certain provisions. The general position is that most inshore stocks are under significant pressure and most commentary on the inshore sector is seeking to manage fishing effort and to take other conservation measures. The Marine Institute and BIM publish regular shellfish stock reviews which present stock assessment and scientific advice on relevant stocks.
The Government has committed to the development of the inshore sector in the current programme for partnership Government. As a result, the Department is involved in a number of actions to support the sector. Inshore fisheries forum structures were established for the first time in the State by the Minister in 2014. These provided inshore fishermen with structured access to all consultative mechanisms for the management of fisheries for the first time in the history of the State.
This is perceived as a major step forward for inshore fisheries in Ireland.
The forums involve marine stakeholders and inshore fishing communities in the development of policy for the inshore sector. The structures include the National Inshore Fisheries Forum, NIFF, and its supporting network of six regional inshore fisheries forums covering the entire coast. Island fishermen have representatives on four of the six regional inshore fisheries forums and on the National Inshore Fisheries Forum. These structures allow inshore stakeholders to develop and propose policies for the sector directly to the Minister. The forums are advisory in nature, with decision-making on fisheries management continuing to be the Minister’s responsibility.
To date, the 13 National Inshore Fisheries Forum meetings have led to very constructive two-way conversations with the Minister on issues of mutual concern, industry priorities, emerging policies and initiatives. NIFF members are now included on a number of fisheries consultative structures including the quota management advisory committee which decides on the distribution, allocation and management of quota and advises the Minister on those decisions, the Celtic Sea herring management advisory committee, the industry-science fisheries partnership where the industry stakeholders engage with the Marine Institute on the science relating to this, the Sea-Fisheries Protection Authority’s consultative committee which discusses the roles and interests of the Sea-Fisheries Protection Authority and the industry, the monitoring committee for the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund operational programme and the BIM-Bord Bia market advisory group. Since 2014 increasingly inshore fishermen have had a seat at all those tables, have an input into all of those bodies and meet the Minister directly. NIFF members recently represented the inshore sector at the meeting between the fishing industry and the Taoiseach on Brexit.
All these developments have given the forums and therefore the inshore sector a role in making recommendations on a range of issues relating to fisheries policy. For example, the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund operational programme includes a dedicated inshore fisheries conservation scheme worth €6 million. That is there for the first time. The Marine Institute has also taken on board recommendations from the sector in its work programme under the marine biodiversity scheme and under the data collection scheme. The national inshore fisheries forum is developing the first ever dedicated strategy for the inshore sector. This is the first time an industry-led group has taken on this task.
Much of the work of the national inshore fisheries forum has been on tackling concerns about over-exploitation of certain stocks and protecting long-term sustainability. This work is particularly important for the sector when one considers that there are currently no quotas for most inshore species and very limited gear restrictions.
Lobster in particular is the mainstay species for many inshore vessels. As a consequence it is in need of monitoring to ensure that it is exploited at sustainable levels. The industry has been participating in the v-notching conservation programme for a number of years and changes were made to the programme in 2014 in discussion with the national inshore fisheries forum to the rate of funding support on offer to inshore fishermen to improve participation in the programme. This had the effect of increasing the number of lobsters being v-notched and put back for conservation reasons and the numbers of vessels participating in the v-notching schemes.
To give an idea of the impact of this, between 2010 and 2013 the average annual expenditure on the v-notching programme was €67,000. In 2014 this jumped to €125,000. By last year, this figure had increased to €370,000. The money is provided to fishermen and their co-operatives and associations as an incentive to put lobsters of certain sizes back to sea to support the reproduction potential of the stock.
Over 200,000 lobsters were v-notched and released during the period 2002 to 2016. Work is ongoing between the Department, the State agencies and the forums on reviewing the technical conservation measures applying to lobster to determine the best approach to maintain a long-term sustainable stock for the Irish inshore fishing industry.
The introduction of a minimum landing size for velvet crab is an example of a proposal from a regional forum taking the lead in developing a conservation measure. This was an industry-led proposal that was brought through the forum structures, initiating in the west region and published initially for public consultation and ultimately adopted by the Minister as a national conservation measure.
Other examples of the work of the forums include other conservation measures which have recently undergone public consultation, namely, to increase the minimum landing sizes for brown crab initiated by the south-east region and razor clam initiated by the north-east region.
There has been some discussion of quota management in the context of the Bill. It may be important to explain how that works. It is long-standing Government policy that Ireland’s fish quotas are a national asset. Ireland’s fish quota management system is designed to ensure the best possible spread both between fishing vessel operators and in terms of uptake of quota throughout the year having regard to fishing patterns and market conditions. There was an earlier reference to the UK system where there was allocation to Shetland. An observation from our viewpoint is that the UK system is very different and has largely privatised quotas, very much to the detriment of small fishermen in the UK.
Quotas for species which can be obtained using small-scale coastal fishing gear already have set-aside allocations for the inshore fishing sector. I have already mentioned that key inshore stocks are not limited by quota arrangements, for instance lobster and crab species which are the mainstay for many small boats. Whitefish quotas are generally managed on a monthly basis. The Minister sets catch limits for each quota stock following monthly consultation with the quota management advisory committee involving fishing industry representatives, including the national inshore fisheries forum representative. The monthly catch limits applicable to whitefish stocks are dependent on the overall length of the vessel. The catch limit of a vessel which is over 55 ft in length overall, is double that of a vessel which is under 55 ft. Quota management is linked to type of vessel. The size of vessel is related to the fishing licence.
There are also a number of opportunities for smaller vessels to target pelagic stocks. For example, a boat of less than 18 m overall length without a mackerel authorisation - in other words without a mackerel track record - may avail of the catch limits for mackerel set down in the monthly fisheries management notice for mackerel. The monthly catch limit is recommended by the quota management advisory committee and is usually set at 5 tonnes. A boat of less than 15 m overall length fishing for mackerel by means of hooks and lines may without a mackerel authorisation, land up to 500 kg of mackerel on any occasion. Such boat may not carry nets with a mesh of less than 80 mm when availing of this derogation.
Another example is herring stocks in the Celtic Sea. Some 11% of the national quota for Celtic Sea herring is set aside for an open fishery. The fishery is open to boats of less than 17 m in length overall, with fishing confined to an area known as the Dunmore Box, but not to specific vessels; it is vessels fishing in that area. This fishery operates from November to the end of the year. Interested boats are required to book into the fishery in order to receive an authorisation and thereafter on weekly basis to receive a quota catch limit.
In the case of horse mackerel, the Minister has agreed that 100 tonnes be set aside for a fishery by boats of less than 12 m to operate from 1 June 2018 to 30 September 2018. Boat owners who were interested were asked to book in with the Department by 15 December 2017.
On a wider scale, looking at the situation for the entire sector, on Sunday the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine launched a public consultation on trawling within the six-nautical-mile coastal zone. This consultation is taking place after a number of concerns were raised by stakeholders regarding the level of trawling inside the aforementioned zone. The topic has been the subject of scientific and economic reports by the Marine Institute and BIM and preliminary engagement with fisheries representatives.
Part of the objective of looking at this issue is that the Government has committed to the development of the inshore sector in the current programme for a partnership Government. The programme identifies a number of methods for supporting the sector, such as ensuring smaller inshore boats are given new opportunities for commercial fishing.
The consultation process provides an opportunity to examine the case for giving priority access to inshore vessels within the six-nautical-mile zone and in addition better support the ecosystem in inshore waters.
A formal paper prepared by the Department with the advice of the Marine Institute and BIM has been published and is available on the website to aid the consultation process. The consultation paper sets out possible measures and their potential impacts but I would emphasise that it is a consultation exercise. Obviously at this point we cannot pre-empt what may arise or any decisions that may be taken down the line. The Department does, however, expect that the consultation will attract diverse and wide-ranging views from many stakeholders. The consultation paper is available on the Department's website and the consultation will run until Monday, 11 June.
I hope this statement has been of assistance to the committee and I will be glad to respond to any questions.