Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 6 May 2026
725. Deputy Pádraig Mac Lochlainn asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine to outline his response to the call from an association (details supplied) for an increased share of the national pelagic quota for inshore fishermen; and to provide an update on work ongoing in his Department to reopen closed fisheries . [32874/26]
Amharc ar fhreagraIn Ireland, fishing quota, including for pelagic stocks such as Mackerel and Herring, is a public resource and is managed to provide for proper management, conservation and rational exploitation of the State’s fishing quotas. It is managed as a public good that ensures that property rights are not granted to individual operators. This is seen as a critical policy to ensure that quotas are not concentrated into the hands of large fishing companies whose owners have the financial resources to buy up such rights. In Ireland, any movement towards privatisation and concentration of rights into the hands of large companies would seriously risk fishing vessels losing an economic link with Ireland’s coastal communities and undermining the socio-economic importance of the fishing industry in the coastal communities dependent on fishing.
The result of this long-standing policy is that the Irish fishing fleet involves a balanced spread of sizes and types of fishing vessels which have retained a strong economic link with our coastal communities and have delivered economic activity including vital employment in these communities, where there are very limited alternative economic activities. The arrangements have been set and developed over many years since the commencement of the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) and the introduction of quotas.
Any amendments or changes to the overarching policy on quota management arrangements are determined by the Minister following detailed analysis and full consultation with stakeholders, in particular the fishing industry. In order to consider any review of the pelagic policies, I must be satisfied that there is satisfactory evidence of changed circumstances to justify a policy review. If I consider there is a case for review of any aspect of a policy, it will require due process, involving an assessment of all issues arising, including a full public consultation.
Unfortunately, the situation is that if there is an increase in the quota allocation for any group of vessels, it must be taken from other groups within the fleet. There are a number of opportunities for vessels to target pelagic stocks, such as Mackerel, Horse Mackerel, Herring and Albacore Tuna, which are open to smaller 'inshore' fishing vessels. The attached document provides details on these opportunities. As regards “closed fisheries”, in cases when a stock is seriously depleted, there may be no other option but to prohibit fishing for that stock. When the stock has recovered, consideration can then be given to reopening the fishery. This has been the case with stocks such as Spurdog, which re-opened in 2023 having been closed for over ten years to rebuild the stock.
