Marine department update on status of inshore fisheries management
Inshore fisheries management: a tale of lost opportunity (II Oct/Nov 2010) focused on the status of inshore fisheries in Ireland which comprises most of the registered vessels in the Irish fleet.
In 2005, a Shellfish Management Framework was introduced, designed to provide an integrated co-management structure to deliver responsible and effective management. Six years on and no regulatory system has been put in place. Many stocks remain fully exploited and catch rates have declined to a level that is adversely affecting the economic viability of the fleet.
The majority of Roundstone’s inshore fleet targets lobster and shrimp. Photo Gillian Mills
Against this backdrop Inshore Ireland invited the Department of Agriculture, Food and Marine to address these concerns. Now six months later Inshore Ireland has returned to DAFM to establish if any changes have occurred in the intervening months:
Q: What is the status of the Shellfish Management Framework?
Q: What has been put in place to deal with inshore fisheries issues?
It is almost four years since the lobster Species Advisory Group produced a management plan which went to public consultation. It was initially abandoned but eventually went through a second consultation phase and was finally submitted to the Department. Since then I am not aware of any outcome.
Q: Has the Lobster Management Plan been formally abandoned?
DAFM responds:
As stated in the response to Inshore Ireland’s questions published in the October/November 2011 issue, the Minister’s policy for all sea-fisheries is to promote sustainable fishing, good environmental practice and compliance with law. In the case of inshore fisheries, in light of the judgement of the European Court of Justice against Ireland concerning non-compliance with the EU Habitats and Birds Directives, the overriding priority continues to be to bring all inshore fisheries (and aquaculture) in Natura 2000 sites into full compliance with the EU Birds & Habitats Directives.
The Habitats Directive requires that any project or plan be subject to appropriate assessment before any consent or licensing decision is made. At the time of the Lobster Plan proposal, it became clear that the proposed Plan would have required such an assessment before any management arrangements were put in place.
The Habitats Directive requires that an appropriate assessment consider the potential impact of the proposed activity on the conservation objectives for each Natura 2000 site affected. Given the national nature of the lobster fishery, almost all of the approximately 90 Natura sites around our coast could be affected. In addition, the Directive requires that the potential impacts on the habitat of a proposed activity be considered in combination with the potential impacts of all other activities or proposed activities in each Natura site, including other fisheries, aquaculture and non-fishing activities.
At the time of the Lobster Plan proposal there was insufficient data on the benthic habitats of each of our Natura sites, on the spatial extent and level of lobster fishing effort in each site and on the other activities within our Natura sites to enable the required Habitats Directive appropriate assessment of the Lobster Plan to be conducted for our whole coastline. Equally, given the design of the Lobster regions in the Plan, a phased implementation of the Plan was not possible.
The resource intensive Natura 2000 compliance project referred to by the Department in the previous feature on inshore fisheries will ultimately lead to appropriate assessment of all of our Natura sites. That multi annual, multi-agency project is continuing to address appropriate assessment of each of our Natura sites in turn.
A substantial body of scientific data has been generated over the course of 2009 and 2010 and is near completion. The project is now focussed on roll-out of appropriate assessments. Three comprehensive appropriate assessments under the Habitats Directive were completed in 2011, in respect of Castlemaine Harbour County Kerry, Dundalk Bay Co. Louth and Roaring Water Bay Co Cork. Work is at an advanced stage in respect of Lough Swilly Co Donegal and Clew Bay Co Mayo, among others and this process will continue throughout 2012.
