The seafood sector has welcomed a commitment from Minister for the Marine Charlie McConalogue to protect access to Ireland’s rich blue whiting fishing grounds.

The December fisheries council in Brussels adopted provisional quotas for the first three months of 2023 as the EU agreement with Britain is not finalised.

Welcoming progress made at the Agrifish council, Minister for Marine Charlie McConalogue said the quotas will "support fishing at the beginning of the year".

“I do not expect we will need these provisional quotas but they are an insurance policy to provide certainty for our fishers,” he said.

McConalogue said that positive advice had been secured on a number of critical commercial stocks including spurdog, nephrops, Celtic Sea monkfish, hake and megrim and north-west haddock and whiting.

“I am satisfied..... that we will deliver quotas that follow the increases advised by science,”he said.

“I am also supporting cuts where these are needed to reduce fishing pressure on stocks and restricted catch limits for depleted stocks,”he added.

McConalogue also said he was working at EU level to limit the transfer of blue whiting quotas.

Blue whiting in Irish waters is valued at an estimated €100-€120m for 2023, according to fishing industry representatives.

Ireland currently has just 3% of the EU allowable quota for blue whiting, while Norway already has 18% and has been seeking “unfettered access” to Irish coastal waters

Mr McConalogue said he was working closely with the EU Fisheries Commissioner “to restrict access for the Norwegian fleet to the Irish zone and in particular the area within 50 miles of the Irish coast.”

Irish Fish Producers Organisation (IFPO) chief executive Aodh O’Donnell said the minister must “hold firm” against the proposal to give Norway access to blue whiting within the Irish exclusive economic zone.

“Until a final deal is reached, there is still a danger that EU interests will want to sacrifice access to Ireland’s waters to secure Norway’s Arctic cod for themselves,” he said.

“There is as yet no equitable offer on the table which would give Ireland anything in return for this blue whiting. This effectively pits us against other EU members, who don’t necessarily care about Ireland’s interests but do want access to Norway’s cod,” O’Donnell said.

“What we need is solidarity all round. The Irish fishing industry representatives are united and of one voice on this important national issue,” he said.

“ We need the support of our minister to fight for a fair deal. We need the support of the EU, so they give Ireland a fair deal. In return, we will support a politically negotiated agreement which gives Ireland, other member states and Norway a fair deal,” O’Donnell added.

Also commenting from Brussels, Irish South and West Fish Producers Organisation (IS&WFPO) chief executive Patrick Murphy explained the Marine Institute Stock book published annually provides the up-to-date scientific information and advice developed by International Council for the Exploration of the Seas (ICES).

“This book shows the blue whiting biomass is predominately in our waters in the Spring of each year. Norway receives additional amounts of blue whiting each year in return for access to their waters. For access in 2023, the Norway proposal is for more than 50,000 tons - 7,500 tons to be paid by Irish fishermen - for access to their waters,” Murphy said.

“In return, Europe would get 10,000 tons of Arctic cod - just 300 tons of which would go to Ireland,” Murphy noted.

“Norway already has a blue whiting quota nine times greater than ours at almost half a million tons. Yet, they demanded additional access to our waters to catch this species and offered no payment for their access,” Murphy said.

“We welcome the deferral of the EU-Norway talks and the minister’s commitment to ensure that Ireland’s priorities are protected,” Murphy said.

Irish Fish Processors and Exporters Association (IFPEA) chief executive Brendan Byrne noted that quotas could only be agreed on an “interim basis because the planned new EU/UK agreement is not yet signed.”

Byrne said the past few weeks showed “how effectively Irish fishing bodies could act when they came together in a united voice”.

“The Council awaits the UK signing of the agreement, but based on the science, at best, our valuable western horse mackerel fishery will be very limited and as a by-catch only,” he said.

“This is a serious development for the Irish fleet and for land-based processors due to the reduction in fishing opportunities. This makes a favourable outcome in blue whiting all the more important,” Byrne said.

The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Michael Creed T.D., today secured 233,500 tonnes of quotas worth €280 million for Irish fishermen for 2017. This represents an increase of 17,390 tonnes over 2016. The Minister secured the deal in the early hours of Wednesday morning following two days of intensive negotiations at the annual Fisheries Council in Brussels.

Commenting on the Commission package agreed by Member States, including Ireland, the Minister said “This is a balanced package for the Irish fishing industry. I am satisfied that I have managed to turn an extremely worrying set of proposals from the Commission into a much improved outcome for the Irish fishing industry. I am especially pleased that the quotas agreed respects the scientific advice ensuring that the fish stocks in our waters will be managed sustainably.”

The Minister said "The total €280m value of quotas, which represents a 6% increase on 2016, is a good result overall and is a long way from the original Commission proposals which would have resulted in very significant losses to our fleet. The original proposal included a 19% reduction in whitefish quotas.”

The Minster said "I am particularly pleased to have persuaded the Commission to reverse the proposed 9% cut in the prawn quota, the most important fishery for the whitefish fleet. We succeeded in getting the Commission to apply the appropriate scientific advice for prawns resulting in a 9% increase. This was my number one priority heading into these negotiations and I am very happy with the result”.

The specific quota details negotiated by Minister Creed include:

For the South and West coasts and the Irish Sea, a 9% increase in the €74 million prawn fishery which benefits the ports of Clogherhead, Howth, Union Hall, Castletownbere, Dingle and Ros a Mhil.
For the South West, a 9% increase in hake, reversal of cuts proposed for monkfish - important for the southern ports of Castletownbere and Dingle.
For the Celtic Sea fisheries: 21% increase in whiting (from a possible 27% cut); 7 % increase in haddock, 15% cut in cod (reduced from the 68% proposed cut).
For the Irish Sea, a 25% increase in haddock; retention of cod and sole quotas.
In the North West, a 20% increase in monkfish quota; a 9% increase for the megrim quota, a near doubling of the Rockall haddock quota and no change in whiting benefiting the ports of Greencastle and Killybegs.
Cuts in line with scientific advice were applied to haddock in the North West and megrim in the Celtic Sea.

The Minister explained "The most difficult area coming into these negotiations was the Commission proposal for cod and whiting in the Celtic Sea. The proposal was for a -68% cut on cod and a -27% cut in whiting. Whilst the scientific advice on cod in the Celtic sea is worrying, the scientific advice on whiting in the Celtic sea is positive. I am satisfied that the final outcome of a -15% cut in the cod quota and a 21% increase in the whiting quota was the most positive that could have been achieved. The impact of the cut in cod quota for Ireland, is substantially reduced through the application of the Hague Preferences*”.

On Mackerel, the Minster said that “Overall I am very satisfied with the increase in the quota allocation for our single most valuable fishery, Mackerel, which will have a value of €86m in 2017.

Minister Creed concluded "In 2017 we will now have a significant increase for our vitally important whitefish fisheries and stability for many of our valuable stocks around our coast. This will ensure the continued vibrancy of our industry and the long term sustainability of our stocks”.