Editorial Comment - Cormac Burke, IFSA
Although there’s been no official or public statement thus far on the issue of the EU Commission in talks with Iceland regarding their request to be allowed catch over 65,000 tonnes of their self awarded blue whiting quota of over 200,000 tonnes (which exceeds the ICES advice that EU nations and the UK are adhering to) the fact remains that as time goes by it is looking more and more likely that this will eventually happen. But, as we all know, the Icelandic fleet already catch their blue whiting in Faroese waters.
So what is the real story one wonders - and is the real aim in fact the right to catch mackerel west of Ireland and if so what is on offer?
Speculation is rife within industry that one of the Irish PO’s is refusing to accept mackerel quota as a payment in any such deal and even threatening to “walk away” from the process if it is put on the table - leaving many to wonder how can this make sense for the Irish pelagic industry at this time?
Outrageous as it may seem for Irish fishermen, particularly in light of the fact that the Irish pelagic industry has suffered cut after cut of its quotas in recent years, it is becoming clear that Ireland is being forced to become a beggar in its own waters in that the pelagic industry may have to agree to selling out access to non EU Third Countries if the payment in return involves the transfer of some additional badly-needed quota from the country in question.
It must also be taken into consideration that based on the murmurings coming out of ICES there may be even more substantial cuts to the EU mackerel quota in the next two to three years - - so Ireland may need to get in some extra quota in Irish waters immediately from an outside source if it is to retain something even near the current status quo if any such cuts come in later.
Actual numbers are vague at this point….. and it is correct to suggest that the Irish fishing industry is apparently divided on the issue.
What will the Irish pelagic industry demand from Iceland through the EU, with one standalone Irish representative aiming only for blue whiting quota and rejecting any mackerel payment to Ireland in the deal as apparently the extra volume will cause an overall reduction in the market price despite, reportedly, no indication of this belief coming from the Irish processing sector.
Remember how well we got on when the Norwegians were granted access to Irish waters? – yes, 300 tonnes of of Arctic Cod (nothing for Ireland in this) and 5% of the Atlantic scando herring quota – while the rest of the EU got millions and millions of euros worth of fishing opportunity and TAC - - who was around the table for the Irish industry then? And has anything changed in that regard? – I wonder is this the same tactic …. Apparently we want no mackerel… .
However, despite this minority representation, in terms of Irish PO numbers at the table, that claims we only want blue whiting and not mackerel quota payment as part of any Icelandic deal the reality is that Ireland currently has much processed blue whiting in frozen storage due to the fact that the largely unmentioned deal between Netherlands / Faroe Islands / Russia has resulted in a glut on the global market and therefore it is essential that IF Ireland is to be forced into a deal to allow Iceland fish in Irish waters then naturally the payment must involve a substantial transfer of mackerel quota in payment.
I say “unmentioned” in regard to the above because, much as in the previous proposal for Norway to catch blue whiting in Irish waters so that Dutch-owned EU nations flagged vessels could gain access to Arctic Cod in return but that in reality Ireland would gain very little, the EU Commission seems oblivious to the fact that while there is supposed to be an embargo on any EU transactions with Russia due to the ongoing Ukrainian conflict, there is heavy Dutch investment in the Faroese pelagic sector which in turn is openly doing business with Russia.
And now with the proposal for Iceland, which is reportedly also heavily financially backed by the Netherlands, the situation seems to be that while a payment in blue whiting quota is ok as additional pelagic quotas of all species are of course vital to Ireland at this time, but that the Irish need is much greater for mackerel quota - - which makes all the more questionable why one section of the Irish negotiating team are supporting the Icelandic (and thereby the Dutch) angle that no mackerel be paid over to Ireland in the deal.
Pandora’s Box
There are several ‘elephants in the room’ in these stories that should be addressed:
The deal for Norway to catch blue whiting in Irish waters meant a benefit to Dutch-owned EU nation-flagged vessels to gain access to Arctic Cod in Norwegian waters;
There is at present a glut on the international blue whiting market largely due to the Faroe Islands, with strong Dutch investment, doing business with Russia;
Both Norway and Iceland have tried to justify their huge self-awarded mackerel quota on the basis that massive volumes of this stock is their own waters … but then Norway had to do a deal with the U.K. to be able to catch mackerel there, and now Iceland, financially backed by the Dutch, want to catch a big chunk of their mackerel, and blue whiting, quota in Irish waters.
A blind man can see the common denominator here…
The most frustrating term used by the EU Commission is the “level playing field” with regard to EU Member States when obviously, in relation to fishing opportunities, control & monitoring, and international fishing industry transactions and ‘deals’, nothing could be further from the truth.
How is it that the Netherlands, the EU Member State with the smallest pelagic industry of almost any country with a coastline in Europe is apparently pulling all the strings and calling the shots when it comes to the EU Fisheries Commission and the entire EU pelagic policy and ‘deals’ with non-EU Third Countries?
This week Ireland’s Marine Minister Charlie McConalogue attended the EU Agriculture and Fisheries Council in Brussels.
The EU shares the majority of the commercial fish stocks in the Atlantic and North Sea with Third Countries such as the UK and Norway. On behalf of the EU Member States, the European Commission negotiates with Third Countries on the setting of fishing opportunities for shared stocks.
Commenting, McConalogue said that negotiations that began in October between the EU, UK and Third Countries on shared stocks are currently ongoing and there are no definitive figures for most of the stocks of relevance to the Irish fleet as yet.
He did however add that this Council is an opportunity to highlight Ireland’s priorities for these negotiations.
“Ireland cannot accept an agreement at just any cost. I have consistently stated that any agreement with Third Countries must be fair and balanced,” he said.
One can only hope that McConalogue can see the big picture and that he listens to the right people, those with the genuine best interests of the Irish pelagic industry at heart when he comes to fight Ireland’s case in this latest deal involving Iceland (and the Netherlands) which could have ramifications for the Irish fishing industry for decades to come.