‘The Minister is robbing Peter to pay Paul, but Peter is already broke’

THE chief executive of the Irish South & West Fish Producers Organisation (IS&WFPO) Patrick Murphy has accused the Minister of engaging in parochial politics in regards to fishing rights. 

Mr Murphy was speaking in the wake of Minister McConalogue’s decision to set minimum allocations for herring quotas.

The new allocations announced by the department come on the back of a limited review of the 2012 Herring Management Policy in relation to the Herring 6a South quota for non-ringfenced vessels. The 6a South quota includes the area off Ireland’s north-west coast.

Minister McConalogue’s decision was made following a public consultation which attracted almost 90 submissions. 

Following this, he has decided to set a minimum allocation of Herring 6a South quota for non-ringfenced vessels under 20m in length overall, when Ireland’s quota for the stock falls below a certain threshold.

While Mr Murphy acknowledged the decision was a positive one for small vessels based in the north west, he says a similar review should have been made into mackerel quotas for vessels based off the south west.

‘The Minister has the individual power to allocate fishing opportunities to anyone in the fleet. We asked for the same evaluation for mackerel years ago and he deemed it wasn’t necessary,’ said Mr Murphy, who said his own Castletownbere-based organisation had contributed to the review but are not being heard.

‘Boats are in danger of losing everything. There’s an imbalance in the fleet and it needs to be addressed.’

Mr Murphy pointed out that in relation to herring quotas off the north west, the area is too far for smaller vessels from West Cork to fish, while it will also mean that the larger vessels from West Cork which do opt to fish the 6A South will have a smaller quota. 

‘The boats he is taking quotas off are also in trouble,’ said Mr Murphy. ‘It’s robbing Peter to pay Paul, but Peter is already broke.

‘I don’t begrudge small boats in Donegal getting fish but we’ve asked for reviews on blue whiting, where there was an 81% increase in EU fisheries quotas, and the minister refused to change the policy. Something doesn’t add up. 

‘The Minister is from Donegal and this will benefit small boats from Donegal. I think this is a populist decision in his own backyard.’

Mr Murphy, who plans to run as a candidate in the next European elections for Aontú to highlight fisheries issues, also called on TDs in West Cork to urge the Minister to review policy in relation to mackerel and blue whiting quotas.

In announcing his decision, Minister McConalogue said he had carefully considered all views submitted during the public consultation process and ‘there is a reasonable case for allocating a set quantity of the Herring 6A South quota for the non-ringfenced vessels when Ireland’s quota for the stock is low’.

The new announcement means where Ireland’s North-West Herring quota (6a South & 7bc) in the annual Total Allowable Catch (TAC) and Quota Regulation is less than 7,000 tonnes, for 2023 and future years, the 2012 Herring Policy will be modified, and a set quantity of herring will be made available for non-ringfenced vessels (vessels less than 20 metres in length overall), at a level of 350 tonnes; of which, 95% will be allocated to vessels less than 15 metres in length overall, and 5% to vessels equal to or greater than 15 metres in length overall but less than 20 metres in length overall.

Any adjustments (swaps, carry-over/deductions as provided by EU regulation) will not be taken into account for establishing this threshold. 

Where Ireland’s north-west herring quota (6a South & 7bc) in the annual TAC and quota regulation is equal to or greater than 7,000 tonnes, quota will be allocated in accordance with the 2012 herring policy. 

‘I appreciate fully the strong support given by our fishers for these conservation measures and for the advice received from the North-West Herring Stakeholder Group during the scientific fishery,’ Minister McConalogue concluded.