1964-2015
1964-2014
Skipper
The
SERVING THE IRISH & UK INDUSTRIES - APRIL 2015 €3.50/£3.00
The Saint Josse entering Kilmore Quay. Photo: Aileen McCarthy
RECORD BREAKER
Skipper Expo Int. Galway 2015 reaches new heights
LEADING JOURNAL OF THE IRISH & UK FISHING INDUSTRIES
See pages 28-32
2 News
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INSIDE THIS ISSUE
IFPO INTERVIEW
PAGES 4-5
DISCARD STUDY
PAGEs 6-7
regional news
PAGEs 11-21
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
PAGES 24-29
OUT AND ABOUT
GALWAY
PAGES 30-31
COURTOWN HARBOUR
PAGE 48
mara
media
Published monthly by
Mara Media
Annagry, Letterkenny, Co Donegal
Tel:074 9548935 Fax: 0749548940
Managing Director: Hugh Bonner
Email: [email protected]
Tel: 074 95 489 35
Editor: Niall Duffy
Email: [email protected]
Tel: 086 823 9608
Sales: Sharon Boyle
Email: [email protected]
Tel: 074 95 480 37
Contributors
Máirtin Ó’Catháin,
Marian O’Flaherty
Tony O’Callaghan
Gudjón Einarsson
Michael Craine
Designer: Declan McGrath
[email protected]
Website:
www.maramedia.ie
In the compilation of The Skipper, every
care is taken to ensure accuracy. Where
errors or omissions are brought to the
attention of Foilseachán na Mara Teo., future
publications will be amended accordingly.
However, Foilseachán na Mara Teo. does
not accept liability to any person for loss or
damage arising from anything contained in
this publication or for any error or omission
in it, even if such loss or damage is caused
by negligence of Foilseachán na Mara Teo.,
its servants or agents. Opinions and articles
featured are not necessarily the opinions of
Foilseachán na Mara Teo.
The Skipper APRIL 2015
Blue Whiting fishery needs better control
Dear Editor,
I have often heard the older
generation lament that “history
always repeats itself”. The Vikings
came to Ireland many years ago and
raped and plundered our women
and our lands respectively. Now
they return to rape again and history
is ironically repeating itself. This
rape however is not of a physical
nature, but rather they are raping
and plundering the seas of our west
coast. All this, while we the Irish
fishermen have to sit back and take
it on the chin.
Unfortunately for us we are part
of a spineless union with Europe
where fisheries is an incidental
nuisance, while nationally we have
no one in authority to stand up and
fight our corner. We might not be
selling steaks to New York, but
we do deserve fair representation .
Surely someone in authority must
have the moral courage to take a
stand and fight for justice for the
men and women of the sea on this
island we call home.
The Icelanders and Faroese played
hardball with the EU over mackerel
and won and the Norwegians
looking on at this perceived EU
weakness have now decided to play
hardball over Blue Whiting. Given
Europe’s track record on historical
fishery debates, I fear Norway will
win too. We the EU fishermen are
living under the legacy of the inept
stewardship of former fisheries
Commissioner Maria Dalmanaki.
Norway’s unilateral declaration
of a 40% increase in their of the
TAC is completely unjustified and
is effectively a means of legalising
what would otherwise be black fish.
Furthermore there is so much
damage being done in this fishery,
with loss of gear and fish that a
moratorium should be put in place
to ban fishing for Blue Whiting
west off Ireland from the 1st of
January to the 1st of March.
Can someone please relieve me
of my ignorance and explain to
me why we have to sit back with
boats tied to the wall, while the
Norwegians fish almost 500,000
tons of fish off our coastline?
Other nations gained increased
quota allocations on the mackerel
fishery based on the fact that the
fish entered into their EEZ. As the
Blue Whiting is located (as has
been proved by recent studies)
predominately in EU waters
west of Ireland and to a lesser
extent Scotland, surely it is not
unreasonable to assume that Ireland
should have a TAC on this fishery
of 100,000 tons.
Yours sincerely,
Philip Cavanagh.
BIM donate funds to ‘LAST’ charity
BIM raised funds for the charity
‘LAST’ (Lost at Sea Tragedies)
through the sale of the new lobster
gauge at the recent Skipper Expo in
Galway. The gauge incorporates the
current Minimum landing size of
87mm with the new Maximum landing
size of 127mm. The new gauges have been brought
in following new conservation
measures introduced by the Minister
for Agriculture, Food and the Marine
in December in January. Under the
new protection measure for lobster, a
maximum landing size of 127mm was
introduced to support the reproductive
potential of the stock.
BIM are delighted to announce a total
of €800 was raised for this very worthy
charity which aims to support and offer
guidance to the families of those lost to
fishing tragedies.
BIM’s Fisheries Development Manager Ian Lawler with the Founder of LAST and
Chair of the South-East Fisheries Local Action Group, Noel McDonagh.
• Vessel Surveys - all types
• Condition, Insurance, Pre-purchase, accident
• Project, Conversion & New-build Supervision
• Vessel / Licence Sale and Purchase consultancy
www.promara.ie
Noel O’Regan, MBA, I Eng, IMarEng, MIMarEST, MIIMS
Tel: 087 3435666 Fax: 022 22467 Email: [email protected]
continued
increases
APRIL 2015 The Skipper
News 3
Licence farce is destroying Irish Aquaculture growth!
UP to 2,000 coastal jobs and
a potential €150 million in
exports are on hold due to the
Government’s slow processing of
aquaculture licence applications
and renewals, according to the
shellfish farmers around the
country.
There is a growing sense of
despair among Oyster and Mussel
farmers over a situation where Irish
shellfish is in demand worldwide
as a premium seafood but the
very people charged with helping
the industry are responsible for
hampering its growth.
While many Finfish and shellfish
have farmers have contacted The
Skipper to air their greviances,
none were prepared to criticise
government departments on the
record for fear of reprisals and bias
towards their applications.
In a statement to The Skipper,
Ritchie Flynn, Executive ,IFA
Aquaculture gave voice to the
frustrations being felt by Irish
Aquaculture industry at the ongoing
delays in licencing applications
In the midst of all the positive
messages from Government about
supporting exports, jobs and small
businesses, a lot of people in the
aquaculture sector look at their
situation in total frustration and
ask “what have we done to deserve
this”? As they fill out another
form, write another cheque or have
yet another meeting with their
bank manager, they have some
justification for scratching their
heads when all they want to do is
produce food which needs labour
and earns foreign currency. The
answer to their question is simple –
they invested, built up their hopes
and turned down opportunities
elsewhere because they had faith
in the system, believed in the hype
and trusted that they would be
dealt with fairly and their personal
investment would be recognised.
There’s a huge amount to be
optimistic about aquaculture. First
and foremost, people want the
product. If we can get it to market
in enough quantities we can control
how and when and at what price
we sell it. We can make use of the
tremendous goodwill that exists
for Irish seafood and the positive
image we have at home and abroad.
We can explore new research
opportunities, try new species
and products and do an infinite
amount of positive things for our
communities. If we had the licences
and a positive framework of policy
support to build upon.
Growers who have waited almost
10 years for renewals which are
now hopelessly out of date and who
want to change their practices, their
sites and their markets are rebuffed
by a bureaucracy which robotically
can’t see beyond the paperwork to
the real needs of the farmer. If they
get a renewal they must then return
to the back of the queue until they
can seek a review. Even if it just
means changing the species on the
licence from one bivalve mollusc
to another, science and biology are
a no man’s land where snipers and
landmines will take you out as soon
as you leave your trench to seek a
review or change a licence.
The list of complaints relating to
the Department and its agencies
about lost files, lack of information,
mixed messages and general
confusion is legion. There has to be
a solution and even if some bays are
in the process of going through the
wringer of renewal, the warnings
of the IFA about momentum being
lost are unfortunately coming
true. What energy was there in the
beginning of this process when
the deal was struck with Europe
on SACs appears to have been
consumed by inertia and a fear of
decision making. IFA has repeated
the message that the last lone
producer in his or her own in their
own little cove is just as important
as a multi user bay must hold true,
but it appears to be falling on deaf
ears now.
It’s no wonder the industry is rife
with cynicism and mistrust. A new
“Food Harvest 2025” is supposed
to follow the last one - which didn’t
work for shellfish producers. A new
pot of money has been leveraged
out from Brussels - with no way of
accessing it without a full licence. A
growing list of costs and challenges
in the form of regulation and
customer demands have to be met
while profit and a decent margin
appears to be an unwelcome and
foreign concept in official circles.
The gap between policy aspirations
and the means to achieve it is
getting wider all the time for
industry. Equipment needs to be
replaced, modernisation needs to
happen, upgrading of farms and
reduction of costs must happen if
we are to remain competitive. The
only way that will happen is if the
burden of waiting forever for a
licence renewal is removed.
Industry needs a state system that
is focused on growing the profit
and reinvestment potential of the
sector. We need political ambitions
based on reality and the only way to
achieve that is to channel regulation
into a positive force for good, an
ambitious and target-led system
that rewards investment and risk,
that can help producers position the
country where its deserves to be –
at the cutting edge of aquaculture
production for a growing world
population.
DAFM Aquaculture Licence
Section figures supplied to
The Skipper
•
•
•
•
•
New Aquaculture licence
applications currently awaiting
decision - 441
Aquaculture licence renewal
applications currently awaiting
decision - 190
New Aquaculture licence
applications granted in 2014 - 63
Aquaculture licence renewal
applications were granted in
2014 - 29
Department projection of license
determinations in 2015 - 150
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4 News
The Skipper APRIL 2015
IFPO focusing on research, representation and rebranding
The Irish Fish Producers
Organisation is in the process
of re-establishing its identity
after parting company with the
Federation of Irish Fishermen
(FIF) and sees the next few
years as critical for all sectors of
the fishing industry as new EU
regulations come into force.
After three years as CEO of the
organisation, Francis O’Donnell
spoke exclusively to the Skipper
about where the IFPO is now
and where it is going.
Among the issues he sees are
the essential restructuring of
the IFPO to meet the terms and
opportunities of the new Common
Fisheries Policy and the new
European funding programme.
That funding aspect is one which
Mr O’Donnell and his directors
are keeping a close eye on as the
announcement of the allocation is
due on the 27th of March.
back and look at where we were
and where we were going as an
organisation and re-orientate a
little bit. And we felt that being
in the Federation was clouding
our judgement, as such.”
He added: “It’s quite hard to
explain, we felt that maybe we
were not always making the right
decisions for our members or in
the best interest of our members.
We believe that an entire look
at the Irish fishing industry is
necessary.”
From Mr O’Donnell’s point of
view, the realities that have to
be faced by Irish fishermen at
present are governed by the new
Common Fisheries Policy (CFP)
and the new Common Market
Organisation (CMO) regulation.
Commenting on the recent
departure of the IFPO from the
Federation of Irish Fishermen, he
explains: “In the last couple of
years, my board of directors in
particular, felt that the Federation
had lost traction a little bit
and, maybe, was not tackling
Government or the Minister the
day on some of the important
issues.”
He is particularly conscious of
the pathway contained in the
CMO regulation for producer
organisations in Europe to
become more involved in supply
and demand, marketing of
their members’ products, being
involved in market intelligence
and the supply chain. “We are
clearly now being asked under
regulation to do a lot more in
terms of the high-level stuff, such
as looking at emerging economies
and looking at what is happening
to our product.”
He emphasises that his
organisation is not opposed to the
idea of federation, as such. “We
believe that a federation may
come back into being again. But
we felt it was time to take a step
Mr O’Donnell believes that, in
Ireland, the primary producer
always gets a very poor price for
the product. Fishermen need to
start looking at ways of getting a
better price. Perhaps that means
fishermen getting more involved
in the supply chain and in the
processing and marketing of their
product. And that is what is being
asked of fishermen under the new
EU Common Market Organisation
(CMO).
He predicts: “It will be very,
very interesting to see in
the next three to four weeks
when the Government make
an announcement as to what
percentage of that money
producer organisations are going
to get. This will dictate if they
are serious about their on policy
for the agri-food and fisheries
sectors contained in the Food
Harvest 2020 strategy”
“We had to submit a very detailed
business plan, which is called a
Production & Marketing Plan,
which lays out in very clear
terms how we aim to achieve the
new objectives set down by the
European Commission in these
new regulations.”
The IFPO chief executive admits
that running the organisation
is actually costing between
€240,000 and €250,000 a year,
over and above what is taken
in membership fees. “So,
we’re running at a loss. All the
producer organisations in Ireland
are running at a loss because
the option of withdrawal and
carry-over and other potential
mechanisms to make revenue are
gone.
“Our producer organisation has a
significant turnover as we have a
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HYDRO ARMOR
good mix in terms of our make
up. We are a broad church so to
speak and proud of that. Inshore
crabbers are as important as RSW
vessels. According to the CMO,
we would be entitled to get three
per cent of what our members
turn over. So, technically, we
could probably get , €1.2m a
year for the next five years from
this EMFF. Now, obviously, we
didn’t ask for that but we have
asked for a substantial amount
of money, costed in line with the
new requirements being placed on
us by way of regulation.
DECOMMISSIONING
Looking into the near future, Mr
O’Donnell is of the opinion that
a decommissioning scheme will
probably be introduced by next
year. “It will be interesting to see
whether things will level out and
if it will allow more opportunities
for those that remain in the fleet.
“They’re looking at over 20metre
vessels at the moment but we
are getting calls from one or
two members and people not in
our organisation at all asking us
about it, saying that some of the
under-20metre people would be
interested in it as well.
“We have to match our capacity
to our opportunities, as such, but
the problem being that there’s
a perception sometimes that a
fishing vessel is seen as a person is seen as the owner - is seen a lot
of the time as a person that makes
a lot of money.
“There are some fishing vessels
APRIL 2015 The Skipper
that have been very successful.
There are some fishing vessels
that are not successful and, in
fact, are running at a loss or in
debt; the bank are on their back
all the time. But when you come
to decommissioning, it’s one thing
talking about decommissioning
capacity but you are
decommissioning communities
and you’re decommission six
jobs, seven jobs on board the
vessel. You’re decommissioning
secretariat - probably another two
jobs that are on shore - an then
you have all the other industries
around that, whether it’s Fluid
Controls or somebody providing
food for the vessel.
“So, I think decommissioning is
a double-edged sword and I think
it has to be very well thought
out. Should active capacity be
decommissioned as a priority.
It has to be people that want
to leave the industry, probably
that are not profitable. And I
think it’s important that if you
decommission, there has to be
honesty about it.
PENALTY POINTS
“Obviously, it’s very important
to have a control agency and I
wouldn’t say anything bad about
any of the personnel working
for the Sea Fisheries Protection
Agency. It is an organisation
laden with expertise and excellent
people. When they recruited back
in 2006, 2007 they cherry picked
expertise from across the public
sector, a smart move But, when
it comes to the penalty points
system, they absolutely need to
come forward and be honest as to
how it is being implemented in
Ireland.
“There’s a penalty points
system there; it’s part of the
control regulations as such. The
News 5
Government brought it in through
a Statutory Instrument. But it’s
the process we have a major
problem with.
“The system is that you get
penalty points for supposed
infringements. Once you get 18
penalty points, you’re basically
off the water for three months.
It can go up but you can only
get 12 penalty points for any
one landing, as such, or any one
detention. And, basically, the
penalty points are attached to the
licence holder and to the capacity
of the vessel.
“So that, if you had a vessel
that had 200 tonnes and 200kW
and that vessel was sold and the
capacity was sold and the capacity
was chopped 50 different ways,
the 12 penalty points go with each
part of the capacity, to start with.
“But the most important thing
about this is that the penalty
points system was set up in such
a way that, first of all, you get a
letter from the SFPA to say that
you’ve got 12 penalty points. On
such-and-such a day you were
inspected by such-and-such a
fishery officer.
“So, you have 28 days to appeal
that. Basically, what you really
have to do is put a book of
evidence together, which is
a significant task, especially
considering that the vessel may
be at sea, the owner may be
the master and may not be in a
position to put it together.
“But you’re preparing a defence
in the absence of having
statements from the SFPA. It’s
unheard-of. You make your
appeal. The Appeals Officer can
decide whether or not to give you
an oral hearing. The important
thing is that the Appeals Officer
is appointed by the SFPA. So,
the Appeals Officer is not an
independent person.
“The Appeals Officer can deny
you your appeal, in which case
you have to go to the High Court
to have your case heard. Or the
Appeals Officer does hear your
case. But the Appeals Officer has
been appointed by the SFPA. In
the event that you don’t win your
case, you then have to go to the
High Court.
“Now, if the High Court finds that
you didn’t commit the offence and
you’re exonerated, the way the
Statutory Instrument is written,
you still retain the penalty points.
It is absolute madness.
“Somebody needs to set up a
review panel. The brakes should
be put on it all. We’re never
going to get rid of the European
penalty points system and there
are cases where penalty points are
the only deterrent for people that
are continuously breaking the law.
But we have a major problem
with the way its being applied in
Ireland. And I would call into
question the credibility of the
SFPA on this. They should be
leading and saying to the Minister
that there is a problem with this
and we do need to review it.
There own people on the ground
agree with me on this. A judicial
review may be the only option,
an option we can ill afford and
totally unnecessary. I would like
Minister Coveney to intervene
and set up an independent review
panel, independent being key ”
are very supportive of this. We
need to have somewhere where
members, SFPA personnel, BIM
personnel, MSO personnel and the
public can come in. They don’t
have to be members, the kettle is
for communal use”.
“But even from a discipline
perspective it si better to work
from an office. We also intend to
take on extra staff this year as a
result of our extra workload. We
are going to need to have a place
for them. And having people
working from home, really, it just
doesn’t work, including myself.
I’m from Carrick, originally and
I think by bringing a few new
jobs to Killybegs and having a
few people located here will be
a small contribution to the local
economy as well.
ENFORCEMENT
“When a French or Spanish vessel
comes into Killybegs with fish on
board, a Fishery Officer has to go
down and carry out an inspection.
But the inspection is only a walk-on
and walk-off. They know that the
vessels have quota but they don’t
know at any moment in time what
quota is available to that vessel.
“I think the SFPA themselves
don’t know how to deal with this
but it’s very hard for us as an
industry o allow this to continue.
I think that the SFPA has to
make the other Member States
accountable and, if a vessel comes
into our EEZ, within our 200 mile
zone, they have to be able to show
what quota they have, who they
got itBfrom
and, on a daily basis,
PBP ServiceS - Peter
ruce (PatSy)
New Office in
Killybegs
how
that’s
dwindling
B
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leaning
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rotective
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oatingS
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atSy)or not. With
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a fishery
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organisation we needed a business have to work as stakeholders with
face. My directors agreedand
the SFPA to achieve this”.
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6 News
The Skipper APRIL 2015
Back to the future on the impacts of the Landing Obligation
By Dr Ronán Cosgrove, BIM and Dr Norman Graham, MI
Key challenges regarding the
impending Landing Obligation
will include requirements to land
undersize quota species, cessation
of fishing activity once the quota
for the first individual TAC
species is exhausted (choking)
and costs associated with
handling and disposal of catches
which cannot be sold for human
consumption. In order to ascertain
how this obligation will impact
fishermen, BIM and the Marine
Institute (MI) in collaboration
with Industry and the Department
of Agriculture, Food and the
Marine, simulated operational and
economic impacts as well as some
potential solutions to the choking
issue.
Two vessels were chartered to
undertake the trial in the Celtic
Sea: Vessel 1, a 24 m quad-rig
trawler targeting Nephrops;
Vessel 2, a 25 m single-rig
demersal trawler targeting mixed
whitefish species. Vessels were
required to retain and land all
catches of demersal species
specified in Article 15.1.C(ii) of
EU regulation 1380/2013, namely
Cod, Haddock, Whiting, Saithe,
Norway Lobster, Hake, Common
sole and Plaice. A scientific
quota was allocated to cover
catches in excess of monthly
quotas. This enabled vessels
to effectively fish their normal
monthly quota allocations for all
species, facilitating an economic
comparison of a ‘business as
usual’ (BAU) scenario where
discarding was permitted, versus
a Landing Obligation scenario
where discarding was prohibited.
In order to examine potential
solutions, the study was split into
two phases.
Phase 1, commenced in October
2014, where vessels were
expected to operate under
Landing Obligation conditions;
Phase 2, commenced in
November 2014, where skippers
were requested to use technical
or tactical measures to reduce
unwanted catches, thereby
postponing choking and extending
fishing time under the Landing
Obligation scenario. Vessel 1 used
a 300 mm square mesh panel in
the majority of hauls conducted
in November in an attempt to
reduce whitefish catches. Vessel
2 primarily adopted a tactical
approach by attempting to avoid
areas where juvenile fish were
abundant but also used a 90 mm
cod-end mesh size to reduce
catches of undersize whiting.
Haddock was the key choke
species encountered by Vessel
1 in both months. Vessel 2
choked on haddock, whiting and
cod in October, and haddock
in November. Vessel 1 caught
substantially less whitefish
species and postponed choking
until 41 hauls were completed
in November compared with
27 hauls in October. Vessel 2
achieved substantial reductions
in catches of juvenile fish but
only managed to postpone
choking by an additional two
hauls in November compared
with October. Based on STECF
figures, an additional 1.6 tonnes
of haddock was added to the
monthly quota allowance of 2.5
tonnes for this species as an
example of a potential quota uplift
which might mitigate the impact
of the Landing Obligation on
Vessel 2. An increase in haddock
quota to 4.1 tonnes resulted in
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APRIL 2015 The Skipper
News 7
one day or four hauls in October and by just
one extra haul in November.
In terms of economics, Vessel 1 operated
at a loss under BAU during October due
to relatively low catch rates of the target
species Nephrops. Consequently, a premature
cessation of fishing activity had little impact
on profitability that month. Although things
improved under the BAU scenario, profits were
substantially reduced to just above breakeven
point under the Landing Obligation scenario for
Vessel 1 in November. Profits earned by Vessel
2 under BAU turned into major losses under
the Landing Obligation scenario in October.
Breakeven was roughly achieved by Vessel 2
in November under both scenarios. Vessel 1
ceased fishing early on 16th November due to
lack of quota, and a poor level of profitability
under the BAU scenario caused by lower
catches of marketable fish, a likely side effect
of attempts to avoid catching juvenile fish.
This study confirms that while technical,
tactical and indeed quota uplift measures
can partially assist in mitigating impacts of
the Landing Obligation, they are unlikely to
provide a comprehensive solution. A detailed
analysis of additional measures such as
alternative quota management strategies, ‘de
minimus’ or permitted discarding, and high
survivability is urgently required to ensure
economic impacts of the Landing Obligation on
Irish vessels are minimised.
The full report is available at http://www.bim.
ie/our-publications/fishe.
UCC honors Dingle legend with MSc
Years of diligent oceanic toil were rewarded
recently as a true man-of-the-sea, Dingle’s Kevin
Flannery, was honoured by University College
Cork with an honorary degree.
Kevin, whose devotion to all things marine has
been a life-long vocation, donned his cap and
gown to receive an honorary MSc.
TOTAL SUPPLIER FOR
CREEL FISHING
Taking over the mantle
from the late Michael
Long in 1980, Kevin
has become a relentless
and intrepid discoverer
of a wide, and wild,
variety of Atlantic
species.
As founder of Dingle
Maritime Weekend, he
made sure to honour
the memory of his
mentor, the late Mikey
Long, who contributed
a large percentage
of the specimens in
the Natural History
Museum. Kevin
took the baton from
Michael then, and today
continues in the quest to
discover and learn more
about marine flora and
fauna.
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“One of the things he
[Mikey] used to do was
give a pint-bottle to any
fisherman who brought
in a rare fish. It was a
great incentive as many
of them couldn’t afford
the pint,”
In his capacity at
Dingle Oceanworld,
Kevin Flannery
Kevin oversees the running of one of the county’s
biggest attractions - home to a vast variety of
marine species - and in recent years he has been
instrumental in the establishment of a shark tank
and a penguin enclosure.
Along with advocating on behalf of the local
fishing industry and providing a strong voice
for the protection of our diverse coastal ecology,
Kevin has also played an instrumental role in
education, developing courses in marine biology
and oceanography for visiting students from
Sacred Heart University in Connecticut.
He is also involved in the effort to establish an
international university campus in Dingle.
And that’s only the mere tip of the ice-berg
when it comes to Kevin Flannery - sure, he even
discovered ‘alien’ life on Ventry Beach in the form
of Phronimas - creatures that burrow out seasquirts and live in them while they are still alive
and the inspiration for Alien sci-fi movie franchise.
All in all, it was a big day out for West Kerry in
Cork as former Dingle Harbour Master Captain
Brian Farrell was also honoured with an MScs at
the conferral ceremony.