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Fishing Industry Development

Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 10 May 2012

Thursday, 10 May 2012

Ceisteanna (23)

Clare Daly

Ceist:

25 Deputy Clare Daly asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine his views on whether fully regulated fisheries with observer regime is now a necessity in views of issues (details supplied) [23135/12]

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Freagraí scríofa

Finding practical and implementable solutions to the wasteful practice of discarding fish is a major priority issue for me. It is an important element of the reform of the Common Fisheries Policy which is currently under consideration at the EU Fisheries Council and the EU Parliament. On the 8th of November last, I launched the Irish "discard" atlas, which is a detailed compendium of discards by the Irish Fleet on a stock by stock and area by area basis. The Atlas, compiled and produced by the Marine Institute and Bord Iascaigh Mhara with the support of Irish Industry, outlines a range of potential measures to help reduce discarding.

This was the first publication of its kind and places Ireland firmly to the fore in the debate on eliminating discards. The atlas was designed to inform the process and debate to achieve real change and a significant reduction in discarding within the context of the reform of the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP), it also identifies where action needs to be taken, and potential measures that could be adopted.

In relation to the data available to us on discards we cannot continue to work on CFP Reform on discards with the type of information vacuum we have at EU level at present. I have asked other Member States to produce details of their discards similar to those in our discards atlas to better inform the process and to enable a systematic analysis of the issues and put forward possible solutions.

A move to a more ecosystem approach to fisheries management and sustainable fishing practices is one I fully support, and in particular the move towards fishing at maximum sustainable yield as envisaged under the reform of the CFP. The benefit of an MSY approach is that in the longer term, it will deliver more stable and sustainable fisheries for our industry.

These measures, in addition to the roll out of future Long Term Management Plans will be applicable to all Member States and will be subject to decisions at EU level by the Council of Ministers and European Parliament.

Fisheries under the umbrella of the CFP are fully regulated. There is a huge volume of fishing trips undertaken by Irish vessels and indeed the whole European fleet on an annual basis. In these circumstances, the resource and cost implications of a comprehensive observer programme can not justified. The delivery of sustainable fisheries is, in my view, dependant on the support and buy- in of fishermen to conservation measures and compliance with quotas set together with an the full implementation of an effective control regime.

Observer programmes are in place in order to collect data to inform scientific advice on the state of fish stocks. Under the EU Data Collection Regulation (EC No. 199/2008) Ireland is required to collect data on fish stocks and fisheries. The Marine Institute (MI) is charged by my Department to carry out the Irish work programmes in relation to our obligations under the Data Collection Framework (DCF). The DCF supports the scientific advice needed to conduct the Common Fisheries Policy.

The MI carries out a work programme which includes a comprehensive research vessel survey programme, port sampling of landings, sea sampling of discards, age profile of the fisheries resource, analyses of EU Logbook and Vessel Monitoring Systems (VMS) data. These data are the raw material used to assess the resource and develop scientific advice. Furthermore, a three-year National DCF Programme was developed by the Fisheries Science Services unit (FSS) for the years 2011 to 2013 and was submitted to the EU Commission in May 2010. The programme was evaluated in June 2010 and EU funding of €9 million was secured by Ireland to conduct the Irish data collection programme. This programme, including the observer element, is a vital requirement to inform decision making on sustainable fisheries.

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