INSHORE IRELAND July/August 2009 7

EU COMMISSION

Rhetoricorreal?Thepriceof
Ireland's entry to the EU
GILLIAN MILLS
EDITOR
THEappointmentofDrNoel
Cawley to oversee a stake-
holder consultation process
that will feed into Ireland's
submission to the Green
Paper on the Common Fish-
eries Policy marks the first
step in a lengthy debate that
will culminate in 2013.
At a Council of Ministers
meeting, Brendan Smith,
Minister for Agriculture,
Fisheries and Food, told his
European colleagues that
Irish fishermen remained
`aggrieved' at the share of
fish stocks Ireland received
when the first CFP was put
in place. ``There will need to
berecognitionofthisreality
as the background to this
reform process,'' he said.
In an effort to clarify the
economic cost of EU mem-
bership for the Irish fishing
industry, Inshore Ireland
invited the EU Commission
RepresentationinIrelandto
enter the debate.
The following material is
based on data collected
(1950 to 2004) by the Sea
Around Us project Ð a col-
laboration between the Uni-
versity of British Columbia
(Canada)andthePewChari-
table Trusts, Philadelphia,
USA. See http://
ww.seaaroundus.org/

Value of fish taken from Irish

waters stands at 12bn
T he value of fish taken
out of Irish waters
from 1950 to 2004 is
approximately 12bn at cur-
rent exchange rates. Of that,
about 3.5bn worth was taken
before Ireland joined the EU
and the remaining 8.5bn be-
tween 1974 and 2004. Of the
12bn, Irish boats have taken
approximately 25% or 3bn.
The total value of the catch
has risen since Ireland joined
the EU and Ireland has been
among the prime benefici-
aries from the increased catch
(see Figure 1).
The volume of fish caught
in the Irish EEZ (Exclusive
Economic Zone) has risen
from 160,000t in 1954 to
530,000t in 2004. A sharp de-
cline was evident between
1977 and 1979 when volume
nearly halved to around
202,000t, while catches peaked
in 1988 at 706,000t. ``Those
who claim that Irish waters
have been plundered by for-
eign fishing fleets say these
waters are the richest in the
EU, but the figures don't sup-
port that argument,'' a
spokesperson for the Eur-
opean Commission in Dublin
told Inshore Ireland.
``Just over 8% of fish
caught in EU waters between
2000 and 2004 were caught
within the Irish Exclusive
Economic Zone. That percen-
tage is rising, but is nowhere
near the 40% often claimed'',
the spokesperson added (Fig-
ure 2).
In 2004, 33% of all fish
caught in EU waters came
from within the UK's exclu-
sive zone, followed by Den-
mark, which includes
Greenland and the Faroe Is-
lands at 21%. Ireland is
ranked third at 8.4%, with
France, Spain, and Swedish
waters accounting for 5%
each (Figure 3).
LACK OF FACTS
Claims that since joining the
EU, Irish fishermen have
been pushed off their own
waters are also not borne
out by the facts, according to
the spokesperson.
``In truth, Irish boats have
been taking an increasing
share of the fish caught in
Irish waters. And this share
increased significantly from
9.8% in the 1960s to 23.7% in
the 1980s and to more than
25.7% between 2000 and 2004.''
On the basis of this data,
large fishing fleets such as
the Spanish and Danish have
taken most of their fish from
within their own national
waters Ð 80% and 70% re-
spectively (2004).
``Historically, the Irish
share of fishing in its own
waters is comparable to that
of Britain and the Nether-
lands, and is higher than that
of Germany,'' the spokesper-
son added (Figure 4).
Looking outside of Irish
waters, the share of fish
caught by Irish boats as a
percentage of all fish caught
in EU waters is rising Ð from
less than 1% in the 1960s to a
peak of over 5% in the late
1990s and falling to 4% by
2004. This ranks Ireland
ninth in the EU. With an eye
on the next CFP, the Eur-
opean Commission says that
overfishing has been the
great threat to the industry
with 80% of fish stocks in
European waters being overf-
ished. According to the
spokesperson, there is also
the ``deep-rooted problem of
fleet overcapacity''. While a
few EU fleets are profitable
with no public support, ``most
are either running losses or
returning low profit. Over-
fishing does not just threaten
the sustainability of fish
stocks, it also drives down
the industry's profits.''
Between 2007 and 2013, the
EU has earmarked 42.5m to
support the Irish fishing in-
dustry through the European
Fisheries Fund (EFF) and has
already invested 100m
across the Union in research
into aquaculture. ``Aquacul-
ture is THE growth area of
the future and support for
this research must continue,''
the EU spokesperson said.

The state of Irish fishing EU & Irish fishing

[EU Commission: Facts
and Figures on the
CFP, 2008]
ABOUT 11,000 people work in the Irish
fishing industry. The job numbers have
been stable since 1997:
* 5,500 in fishing
* 3,500 in fish processing
* 2,000 in fish farms and
aquaculture
There are about 2,000 vessels in the Irish
fishing fleet, rising from 1,800 in 1997 to
1,955 in 2008. Over the same period, the EU
fishing fleet declined by about 20%.
Ireland has the sixth largest fishing fleet
in the EU. In 2006, Irish fishermen landed
210,670t of fish. In the same year, fish
farms and other aquaculture projects
produced 60,050t of fish and shellfish. On
the basis of these figures, Ireland is the
ninth most important fishing nation in the
EU, having a total value of exports of about
360m per annum.
BETWEEN 2000 and 2006, direct EU aid
to the Irish fishing sector was 65.5m,
while a further 17m was provided
through the Exchequer.
EU aid was roughly 6,000 per annum
for every person working in the indus-
try.
Coastal areas receive support from Consultation details
the EU through the European Social
Fund; the European Regional Develop-
Principles to CFP sought by Ireland IN April, the European
ment Fund and the European Agricul- * Innovative policies to * Retention of national Commission launched a
tural Fund for Regional Development. simplify and reduce the ad- quotas remaining in public consultation on the future
Around 850 projects were supported ministrative burden. ownership and managed by of European fishing. Sta-
by the EU during this time Ð mainly for * Strengthening of the in- member states. keholder and general
decommissioning or modernising fish- dustry's capacity to maxi- * Greater stakeholder in- views are welcome by 31
ing vessels and to develop aquaculture. mise employment in coastal volvement in decision-mak- December 2009 at http://
Some 78% of Ireland's fish exports go communities dependant on ing and simplification of the ec.europa.eu/fisheries/re
to the EU without tariffs of any sort. EU fishing. decision making process. form/index_en.htm
countries produce only 10% of the fish * Opposition to opening the * Integration of aquaculture The results will feed
and shellfish they consume, so the 12-mile coastal zone and policy into the mainstream into the proposals that
potential for export growth exists. case for to have this in- CFP. the Commission will make
creased. for the reform of the CFP
due to come into force by 1
January 2013.