What lies ahead for the seafood development agency?
The Public Service Reform Plan published on November 17 notes the IMDO and BIM to be: Candidate bodies for critical review by end June 2012.
Inshore Ireland asked Francis O’Donnell, CEO of the Irish Fish Producers Organisation (IFPO) if he thought BIM should remain a stand-alone agency or should be subsumed into its parent department, the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine:
Francis O’Donnell, IFPO
In the current climate tax payers need to see value for money and the streamlining of services where possible and practical. Equally, as an organisation that works closely with BIM it would be easy to be critical that such a review is happening at all. Reviews are what governments do. We cannot have an ‘a la carte’ approach – it would be disingenuous to say the least.
I believe we need to focus on why BIM should remain as a stand-alone agency. It was established in 1952 and has played a critical role in assisting and helping the Irish fishing industry evolve and adapt to the many difficult challenges it has since had to face.
Tailored skillsets
BIM is a dedicated development agency comprising a highly skilled workforce with tailored skillsets and academic backgrounds reflective of the changing demands of this industry. Its personnel have excellent working relationships with fisherpersons and their families around the coast.
The Irish seafood industry is worth ~€750m annually in both domestic and export sales. More importantly this provides over 11,000 jobs. As someone who hails from a coastal community in west Donegal, I cannot stress enough the importance of this sector. Even during the boom times, peripheral communities did not enjoy the spoils of the Celtic Tiger to same extent as urban areas.
The ‘Harvest 2020 Strategy’ report identifies the potential to increase Irish seafood sales to €1bn and to raise employment to 14,000 full time jobs by 2020.
I believe this to be conservative considering the potential demand from emerging economies such as India and China. Ireland will have difficulty satisfying a tiny portion of this demand. We have therefore to carve out our niche where we can.
Clear strategy required
To rise to this challenge the industry needs a clear strategy and the correct expertise to improve seafood quality and handling. This needs to be coupled with adding value to seafood products prior to export. Naturally a stronger focus on marketing is required in Europe and worldwide. The latter has to be viewed in the context of increasing consumer demand for better labelling and traceability of seafood products.
People want to know where their food is coming from. More importantly consumers are differentiating between seafood products that are sourced responsibly to those that are not. The provenance and journey from net to plate is where we are heading.
Robust certification standards in addition to premium quality products are part of this evolving trend. If Ireland wants to tap into the massive potential offered in emerging economies then a strategy has to be driven by someone, not just anyone. It is my opinion that expertise is required.
BIM operates separately as a development agency to its parent department. This is not a new concept. Bord Bia is a semi-State body with the marketing function for food, operating as a separate agency from its parent department.
Similarly, Enterprise Ireland is a semi-State body with a mandate to foster and develop entrepreneurialism in Ireland. Agencies such as these possess a unique set of skillsets and expertise that can detect trends in the marketplace. This is reflected by BIM’s awareness of brand development and the identity of Irish seafood products for domestic and overseas markets.
Pioneering principles
BIM is positioned to respond to such real-time demands and does this because it is focused on doing so. The agency is a pioneer regarding gear technology innovation and design to ensure Ireland is to the forefront of achieving reduced levels of discarding.
As the new Common Fisheries Policy rolls out in 2013, new and more strenuous demands will be placed on the fishing sector to meet technical measure requirements. BIM will be needed more than ever to assist the industry to meet this challenge.
BIM’s parent department is responsible for formulating policy and regulation. This requires a very different set of skillsets, awareness and knowledge base. Such organisational skillsets are equally complex and dynamic, and very important.
BIM’s training role cannot be understated. Since its formation it has prepared thousands of fishers for a life in the marine environment and its training is bespoke in nature, reflecting the latest requirements. As demand grows for seafood globally, coastal communities must position themselves to reap those benefits. The skillsets needed to avail of existing and new opportunities require a dedicated agency with a deep understanding of the sector and the markets that it sells into. BIM is the only agency to possess this tacit knowledge and know-how.
The impact of losing such a dedicated agency is unquantifiable. The IFPO is firmly of the view that BIM needs to remain as a stand-alone agency.
At the time of going to press, DAFM advised Inshore Ireland:
The Review of BIM is one of 46 similar reviews required under the Governments Public Service Reform Programme. The Review is on-going and there is no fixed date for its completion although it is intended to complete it as early as possible.
