The Sea-Fisheries Protection Authority (SFPA) says a new control plan is expected to come into effect on May 1st.
This is subject to approval by the European Commission, which withdrew Ireland’s control plan for weighing fish catches a year ago due to lack of confidence in the Irish monitoring system.
The SFPA said a new control plan to enable the derogation of weighing of fishery products after transport in Ireland has now been submitted to the European Commission “with a view to achieving permanent approval”.
Once approval is secured, it would be adopted by Ireland and would come into force from May 1st, the authority said.
The SFPA said it “has been working intensively to move from interim arrangements to develop a fair and effective permanent control plan”.
It said the objective was an approved plan that “balances the requirements of the industry whilst also enabling meaningful control to manage real noncompliance risks”.
“The SFPA believes the control plan it has submitted addresses significant EU Commission concerns surrounding Ireland’s control measures and the risk of non-compliance with the rules of the Common Fisheries Policy, particularly in pelagic bulk landings to Ireland which resulted in the Commission’s revoking of Ireland’s weighing-after-transport control plan in 2021,” it said.
The interim plan initiated from January 1st of this year is due to expire on April 30th, so there was a degree of urgency to ensure a permanent arrangement is in place.
The default provision of EU legislation is that all wild-caught fishery products have to be weighed immediately at transport by operators.
There is potential for a derogation to allow weighing to take place after transport but that requires EU commission approval of a plan to “manage compliance risks arising from that practice”.
Last year’s withdrawal of the plan followed an EU audit in 2018 of controls for Ireland’s pelagic fisheries in Killybegs, Co Donegal.
The 2018 audit had identified irregularities, including the alleged manipulation of weighing systems in some instances.
The SFPA said that these irregularities were “subsequently confirmed in an administrative inquiry” that it conducted.
The Irish industry had reacted angrily to the EU move, seeking sight of the audit which was refused. Killybegs Fishermen’s Organisation chief executive Sean O’Donoghue said the European Commission was “playing the role of judge and jury, with the fishing industry being refused the basic right to establish what it might stand accused of”.
