5.4 interview SOD

Stakeholders must be central to a reformed Common Fisheries Policy

The EU Commission decision in April to adopt a Green Paper on the reform of the Common Fisheries Policy has been welcomed, if cautiously, by the Federation of Irish Fishermen.

Proceedings from the organisation’s review seminar in October notes starkly: ‘Ireland had put consideratble effort into previous CFP reviews, but the the outcome never met expectations which led FIF to think a new approach was needed when structuring.'

5.4 interview SOD

Sean O'Donoghue, CEO of the Killybegs Fishermen's Organisation and FiF's current chairman

A key player representing Ireland in the complex intra-community horse-trading now well underway is Sean O’Donoghue, CEO of the Killybegs Fishermens Organisation and FIF’s current chairman.

A veteran of fisheries management who worked in the Department of the Marine and for BIM for over twenty years before taking over the KFO helm in 2000, few would match his grasp of the complexities of the CFP reform discussions.

V-notch scheme: The Dunmore perspective

Trevor Simpson, East Waterford Lobster Co-op Society


In the early nineties, Irish lobster fishermen began to realise lobster stocks were dwindling and that there was no future for their industry. Consequently, a group travelled to Maine in the USA to see the way they did things there. As a result and surprisingly quickly, legislation was then introduced in Ireland to protect V-notched lobsters. Now any lobster found with a v-notched or damaged tail has to be returned to the sea. Penalties were introduced that now make it illegal to capture v-notched lobsters.

In the mid 1990s, with the help of BIM, lobster fishermen in South Wexford set up a V-notching scheme off the Wexford coast. As many of the fishermen in Dunmore East had gear the other side of the Hook, we were very interested in this development. At the behest of BIM, a lobster fisherman from Maine travelled the coast to outline the success of the programme and licensing system in his home state. He met with us in Dunmore, and BIM funded a facilitator to see if we could set up a scheme here in East Waterford.

Kathleen Falls Dam with tail race and outflow pipe from hatchery. Photo Brendan Connolly

Ranched salmon – a blueprint for future management?

A proposal to allow hatchery-reared ranched salmon to be captured by draft net in the Erne Estuary, which has the potential to develop into a lucrative operation, is gaining widespread local support; however local politicians and government so far appear to lack the enthusiasm for the project.

A consultant-prepared draft management plan entitled ‘A proposal for the management of the salmon on the Erne Estuary’, which has been seen by Inshore Ireland, makes a convincing argument that Ballyshannon’s once substantial draft-net salmon fishery should be revived, but for hatchery-reared ranched fish only.

Kathleen Falls Dam with tail race and outflow pipe from hatchery. Photo Brendan Connolly

Kathleen Falls Dam with tail race and outflow pipe from hatchery. Photo Brendan Connolly

The report proposes that wild salmon and seatrout would not be targetted and that only ranched salmon released as hatchery-reared smolts to the open sea, identifiable by a clipped adipose fin, would be caught.

Restructuring of lobster fishery to avert stock collapse

Proposed changes in managing access to the Irish lobster fishery if accepted by the industry will see the Irish coast divided into eight units. All authorised vessels under or equal to 12m in length will be licensed to fish for lobster; however vessels over 12m will be only be authorised on the basis of established track record.

Managing Access to the Irish Lobster Fishery, which was prepared by BIM in consultation with the Lobster Species Advisory Group, follows on from an analysis of lobster stocks that revealed over-exploitation in many areas around the coast.

Pic: Lobster fishermen in the Roundstone area will primarily fish out of Management Unit 5b. Photo G Mills

Total capacity of vessels authorised to fish lobster will be stabilised once initial authorisations are issued, and further increases will be conditional upon improvement in catches and as agreed by industry.

Ketchikan: canned salmon centre of the world

As the sign says: ‘Welcome to the capital of salmon’. Everything about Ketchikan resonates of this king of fish - from the signage to the clothing to the very street talk. So I discovered on a trip to this Alaskan town as a guest of John West Seafoods.

Long-term lobster storage: fact file

Long-term lobster storage: fact file

Greater stakeholder involvement in fisheries management

A key component of the new Common Fisheries Policy, which was reformed in late 2002, was the formation of Regional Advisory Councils (RACs) to give stakeholders a greater say in the way fisheries are managed in areas they cover. The first of six bodies, the North Sea RAC, was created late last year, writes Gillian Mills.

According to the European Commission, these bodies will provide a permanent framework linking stakeholders at regional and local level and the Commission and the member states concerned. “They will enable the fishing sector to work more closely with scientists in collating reliable data and discussing ways of improving scientific advice.”

The RACs will also provide a forum for the fishing industry to enter into dialogue and to work with other interested parties on identifying options regarding the management of specific fisheries. Their recommendations and suggestions can then be submitted to the Commission and to the relevant member states.

Industry and science working to rebuild Celtic Sea cod

Dr Paul Connolly, Marine Institute, explains

The latest assessment for Celtic Sea cod is given in the figure below and shows the stock size since 1971. The graph indicates that the stock is ‘just at’ the safe limit of 10,000 tonnes (green dashed line); however it is predicted to go below this limit over the next few years (blue line) at current levels of fishing. The latest scientific advice for Celtic Sea cod calls for a 17% reduction in fishing mortality in order to rebuild the stock by 2006. This corresponds to a Total Allowable Catch (TAC) of 5,200 tonnes for 2005.

The cod fishery
Celtic Sea cod are taken in mixed trawl fisheries. Landings are made mainly by French trawlers targeting cod, haddock and whiting. In 2003, total international landings were 6,000 tonnes, with France accounting for 84% and UK and Ireland 6% each. Belgian vessels take about 2%. Cod landings occur throughout the year, but mainly in the winter months during November-April, with a peak in February-March.

Taking stock

Overview by Edward Fahy, Fisheries Science Services, Marine Institute

Since 1999, the Stock Book has had an inshore section. It is impossible to have too much information on a wild fishery, especially in a world of rapidly changing environmental conditions and ever-increasing catching power of a versatile and hungry polyvalent fleet. In the absence of a TAC regulation mechanism for inshore species, and given the case histories of some inshore stocks, it is highly desirable to have an annual review of the status and the scientific advice for inshore species.

The inshore sector in Ireland is less precisely defined than elsewhere in the EU. Large fishing vessels work close to the coast whereas in Britain there is a policy of confining exploitation of waters inside 6 n miles to boats of less than 10m. Some landings of TAC species are made close to shore in Ireland; on the other hand, species like brown crab, which were traditionally a mainstay of the inshore sector, are now being harvested outside 12 n miles.