From Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine
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Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue, met with representatives of the fishing industry to discuss a number of important issues facing the seafood sector.
The Minister said:
“The meeting gave me the opportunity to engage directly with industry representatives and to hear first-hand their concerns and priorities. This meeting was very productive with representatives from the offshore and inshore fleets, aquaculture and the processing industry attending. These are very challenging times for the Irish fishing industry and it is vital that we work together to achieve our shared goal of a sustainable and profitable industry.”
Topics discussed included the operation of schemes recommended by the Seafood Sector Task Force, the impacts of the fuel crisis, that state of play of the Coastal States negotiations on a new sharing arrangement for Mackerel and the ongoing discussions between the EU and UK on measures to protect Cod and Whiting in the Celtic Sea. The Minister thanked the attendees for their constructive input to the discussions and said that he looked forward to continuing to work closely with the sector on these issues in the coming months.
The Minister said:
“I recognise that the seafood sector is facing particular challenges both arising from the impacts of the EU/ UK Brexit agreement and the Ukraine war resulting in very high fuel prices. I am pushing forward with the implementation of a range of schemes to address the financial impacts under the Brexit Adjustment Reserve fund involving support of up to €143 million and anticipate receiving State Aid approval for a further number of significant schemes that will support the industry.”
The Minister added:
“There are important discussions ongoing at EU level on a range of issues that impact directly on the sector involving mackerel sharing negotiations involving the EU, UK, Norway, the Faroe Islands and Iceland that will have longer term impacts. I want to work closely with the sector so that the EU and Ireland secure a fair and proportionate share of this important stock. There are also EU/UK discussions ongoing on additional measures to better protect cod in the Celtic sea and also support the whiting stock that is in decline. We need an ambitious approach that helps rebuild these stocks without undue impact on our whitefish fishing fleet which are heavily dependant on the Celtic Sea fisheries.”
The industry representatives were from the Irish South & East Fish Producers Organisation, Irish Fish Producers Organisation, Irish South & West Fish Producers Organisation, Killybegs Fisherman’s Organisation, Irish Islands Marine Resources Organisation, Co-operatives, Irish Fish Processors & Exporters Association, IFA Aquaculture and National Inshore Fisheries Forum.