Fishermen “face ruin” if Commission proposals are implemented

With the start of the fish discard ban fast approaching (2015 for pelagics and 2016 for demersal stocks), the Federation of Irish Fishermen (FIF) has warned that discarding will increase to an “unprecedented level, particularly in the mixed demersal fishery” if proposed cut backs in fish opportunities for 2014 are implemented.

“Even if the reductions are ameliorated to some extent at the Fisheries Council in December, Ireland will still need to implement a major whitefish fleet restructuring scheme without delay,” warned FIF chair, Francis O’Donnell.“These proposed cuts….run totally contrary to the new CFP,” he said.

“There is a considerable abundance of mature stock [of] various species which cannot be avoided using selective gear types at present. Those stocks will be lost to the Irish economy and the ecosystem as a whole.”

O’Donnell explained that in some cases involving ‘data limited stocks’, the scientific body, ICES, when giving advice (subsequently adopted in Commission proposals) uses the average catches over a few years and takes no account of the different quota up-take by Member States. He said this is interpreted to mean there is a reduction in stock biomass when often it is not the case, and the opposite can be true.

“This can only be described as a lethargic approach to fisheries management and one which amounts to an unnecessary reduction in fishing opportunities which should be avoided.”

Widespread impact

The FIF contends the proposed cuts will result in a loss in income of €22m to fishermen and €70m to the Irish economy, along with 1,200 jobs affecting families and small businesses in peripheral coastal communities. “Most of the demersal whitefish fleet is struggling to remain profitable. Our whitefish industry does not have a future if the continuous erosion continues year after year…when in many cases it is not based on robust scientific assessments.”

Such inadequate assessments have led to massive reductions and increases year-on-year on hake, blue whiting, haddock and mackerel, he said.

A key example he gave was haddock in VIIb-k where a 75% reduction is proposed. Such a cut “will not have any positive biomass implication for this boom and bust fishery and will almost certainly lead to discarding huge amounts of adult fish, resulting in major economic losses.

“Either way, these fish will be lost to the spawning stock biomass population. Furthermore ICES has said that Total Allowable Catch (TAC ) is an inappropriate management method for this fishery and that a restrictive TAC will actually contribute to discards,” he added.

Nephrops, Ireland’s second most profitable fishery, is facing a 23% reduction. “This is not in line with ICES information to the North-Western Waters Regional Advisory Council (NWWRAC) in November, and is at odds with the preliminary outcome of a recent benchmarking process.”He warned any reduction would displace effort to the main whitefish fishery “and will not be sustainable”.

A 40% reduction in western horse-mackerel is both “a surprise and disappointment and runs contrary to a very carefully considered unanimous recommendation” of the Pelagic RAC (attended by the Commission) for a transitional solution next year of a 25% reduction. “This would allow time for both the problems with the assessment and management plan to be resolved,” he said.

Pointing to mackerel, O’Donnell warned that while the proposals do not include any TAC or quota figures as Coastal State negotiations have not concluded, “we are fully aware the Commission is prepared to offer a 11.9% share to Iceland and a similar figure to the Faeroe Islands,” he said.

“This is totally unacceptable and is rewarding both countries for their reckless and irresponsible behaviour over [recent] years by unilaterally increasing their share of ‘scientifically advised’ TAC from less than 5% in 2006 to almost 53% in 2013.

“We fail to see how the Commission can justify this huge increase in share in terms of the new CFP which clearly states that sustainable fishing practices are the cornerstone of the policy.”