Under the reform of the Common Fisheries Policy, the European Commission have proposed a fisheries management regime in the context of Maximum Sustainable Yield (MSY). This means taking each year a proportion of fish in the sea that is the right size to let fish grow and reproduce at their most productive level. From a broader perspective as I have previously stated, Ireland is committed to having Total Allowable Catches set at levels that can produce Maximum Sustainable Yield (MSY) by 2015, where possible.
The philosophy behind this approach is to obtain the maximum long-term catch, while simultaneously ensuring the stock size is kept large enough to maintain productivity. However, I would stress that the transition from the current management framework to a framework based on MSY will need to be on a phased basis.
Where we have the necessary scientific advice from ICES, I was supportive of TACs for 2012 that ensure that we are delivering MSY for these stocks by 2015. In this way, the transition to MSY will take account of the socioeconomic impacts through reduced catches in the short term. The benefit of an MSY approach is that in the longer term, it will deliver more stable and sustainable fisheries for our industry.
There is a huge volume of fishing trips undertaken by Irish vessels and indeed the whole European fleet on an annual basis. The resources required for a 10% across the board observer programme would be extensive and not realistic from a costs perspective from a State or industry perspective.
On the question of CCTV coverage on vessels a number of pilot schemes have been commissioned by some Member States in certain fisheries. These projects have been initiated in what are termed "clean" fisheries where there is not a big mix of species. The UK authorities are proposing a small number of trials involving fully documented fisheries involving the landing of all catches of a specified fish species in certain mixed fisheries in the Celtic Sea in 2012. The trials will be supported by the use of CCTV cameras on board. The UK authorities are seeking additional quotas in 2012 to support these trials which are intended to improve information on discards.
The cost implications of CCTV equipment and of viewing and analysing the CCTV images by the control authorities would appear to be very high and could not be accommodated within existing resources and budgets. It is difficult to see how industry could be asked to fund such a regime, as it would be a significant business cost which would impact on profitability.
