The Oireachtas Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine this afternoon heard of the need for more targeted investment in Ireland’s fisheries sector to ensure sustainability of both fish stocks in Irish waters and rural coastal communities that fish them.
The Committee was engaging with BIM on their 2013 Annual Report, which outlines the progress towards achieving Ireland’s ambitious Food Harvest 2020 targets.
Committee Chairman Andrew Doyle TD says: “We thank Bord Iascaigh Mhara representatives for an upbeat assessment of Ireland’s fisheries industry. The Fisheries Sub-Committee report on sustaining Ireland’s rural and coastal communities, launched last year, was raised by a number of Members, who expressed concerns that its detailed recommendations are struggling to gain traction.
“The Committee remains concerned about the sustainability of the inshore fleet. While the renewed dialogue with stakeholders in the past year is to be welcomed, Committee Members pointed out that smaller operators may have to move towards greater collaboration in order to survive.
“In forthright exchanges, Committee Members pressed the BIM representatives on the scale of aquaculture projects that are being planned, amid considerable local opposition. Committee Members question BIM representatives on whether smaller projects might afford local people more ownership of the projects, particularly if they were to be run along cooperative lines, which has proven to be a successful model in Scotland.
“Reflecting on recent discussions with a Committee delegation and the European Commission, Members asked whether Ireland was collectively doing enough to avail of funding on Fisheries Local Action Groups (FLAGs). We were told that, while the Groups were divided geographically to give every rural coastal community an opportunity to access EU funding, careful consideration must be given to seeking funding strategically, in a manner that realises projects of sufficient scale that will achieve the maximum benefit to the coastal communities.”