A fishing industry leader has questioned the Sea Fisheries Protection Agency’s handling of its appeal for volunteers for remote electronic monitoring of fishing vessels.

Late last month, the SFPA issued a press release stating that it was enlisting the support of producer organisations to find a number of Irish-registered fishing vessels for the project.

Its staff had by then failed to find sufficient vessels which would volunteer to participate.

The SFPA says it wrote to producer organisations in advance of issuing a press release publicising the appeal.

However, the Irish Fish Producers’ Organisation (IFPO) has confirmed it was contacted about the proposed pilot project on Friday, March 24th – the same day that the press release was issued.

“We appreciate that new technologies can have benefits for the regulation and sustainability of the fishing industry,”IFPO chief executive Aodh O’Donnell said.

“ But this proposal and the practical considerations involved need to be discussed with our members. The Irish seafood sector is already subject to the very highest levels of control and is very well regulated,” O’Donnell said.

“We can’t ignore the irony that very large factory ships and foreign vessels fish openly in our waters without any REM and with very little monitoring,”he pointed out.

The SFPA said it wrote to additional fisheries producer organisations (POs) “prior to March 24th” to encourage participation in the REM pilot project.

“Preliminary conversations were had over a period of time with individual fishermen as well as a number of producer organisaitions,”it said.

The REM technology to monitor fishing may become a legal requirement within the EU, and the pilot project is part of a larger EU north-western waters initiative, the SFPA has said.

REM allows for the remote monitoring of fishing vessels, providing “valuable information on fishing activity and compliance with regulative requirements, including the landing obligation”, the SFPA explained.

“The legislative introduction of REM in fisheries control at European level is nearing certainty, having passed through the initial consultative stage, through the European Parliament and back for final consultations,”SFPA executive chair Paschal Hayes said in his authority’s press release.

He said there has been work in areas of Britain, including Scotland, to mandate the use of REM for some areas and some fisheries, “which may impact Irish fishers”.

“Therefore, we feel it is important that we gain real and meaningful experience of REM and put ourselves in a position where both the SFPA and the Irish fishing industry can guide and advise on the technicalities of REM, its introduction and uses,” he said.

“Ireland holds the largest stake in the northwestern waters, and gaining experience of REM is, we feel, of significant importance for our fishing industry,” Hayes said.

“We believe that this technology has the potential to bring significant benefits to the Irish fishing industry and in assisting the SFPA to fulfil its control and enforcement mandate for all fishing vessels operating in Ireland’s exclusive economic zone,” he said.

“The SFPA wishes to work with the Irish fishing industry to manage the introduction of REM, and to explore its potential benefits as well as address any concerns through the pilot project,” Hayes said.

The Irish fishing Industry is making gains in Europe, a meeting of fishermen in Killybegs, County Donegal, has been told.

They were assured by Fine Gael MEP, Colm Markey that the voice of the Irish fishing and seafood industry is now being heard in Europe and that this is starting to deliver positive gains.

The meeting was co-hosted by Aodh O Donnell of the Irish Fish Producers Organisation (IFPO), Brendan Byrne of the Irish Fish Processors and Exporters Association (IFPEA). Manus Boyle of the Dunkineely, Bruckless and Killybegs Branch of Fine Gael chaired the event, which was attended by a broad cross-section of the seafood sector, including stakeholders from other ports in Donegal, Galway and Cork.

“The catching and processing sectors pulled together to run a highly effective lobbying campaign,” O Donnell told the meeting. “This succeeded in keeping Norway out of the Irish Box. We still have a long way to go to secure our fair share of EU fishing quotas, but we are engaging directly with both the European Commission and the EU Parliament.”

Mr Markey agreed that there were still many issues to address at EU level. However, he added that attitudes in Europe to the Irish fishing and seafood industries had changed, and Irish voices were now getting a more receptive hearing.

Aodh O Donnell thanked Colm Markey MEP for his support at EU level, and the IFPEA’s Brendan Byrne for his co-operation and support for the lobbying campaign. He also thanked members of the fishing and seafood industry for taking part in the Killybegs event. “This meeting is not just a once-off, it is part of a process of engagement which we intend to maintain.”

Brendan Byrne of the IFPEA said he was delighted to co-host the meeting and it was important for the industry to stay united. “There was a frank and open discussion and exchange of views on the need to continue the fight at European level. We need to secure better outcomes, as we face the ongoing adverse impacts of the Irish transfer of quotas to the UK under Brexit. But together, we are a stronger voice, and we can achieve more for our industry and our coastal communities.”

Cork South West Deputy Christopher O'Sullivan recently hosted Billy Kelleher MEP for a series of meetings with key fishing sector representatives in West Cork.

The discussions, which took place in Castletownbere, Baltimore and Union Hall, focused on a range of pressing issues facing the fishing industry, including quota sharing, decommissioning, and regulatory challenges.

"It's no secret that the fishing sector has faced unprecedented challenges over the past couple of years," said Deputy O'Sullivan.

"It's essential that our MEPs have a clear understanding of these issues, and I’m glad Billy - who is no stranger to West Cork or the fishing industry - came to these important discussions."

Stakeholders at the meetings included fishermen and processors, who took the opportunity to express their frustrations and concerns directly to both Deputy O'Sullivan and MEP Kelleher.

Among the critical topics discussed were impacts of Brexit, the urgent need for Ireland to increase its quota share across various species, the importance of timely payments for those who participate in decommissioning, and the high level of regulation and policing faced by the Irish fishing sector.

“Brexit has had a major impact on Cork’s fishing industry due to quota reductions,” Mr Kelleher said.

“Any changes in fishing policy must take into account Brexit and the changing migratory paths of fish species. Fishers want to see a sustainable future for themselves, their families, and the wider community that they work as part of".

Irish fishing industry leaders have given a mixed reaction to the conclusion of a fisheries deal between the EU and Norway earlier this month.

Norway, a non-EU member, “still secured more out of the deal than Ireland”, Irish Fish Producers’ Organisation (IFPO) chief executive Aodh O’Donnell said.

“The strongest possible one for our fishers” was how Ireland’s marine minister Charlie McConalogue described the final deal concluded on March 17th. He paid tribute to the role of Irish producer organisation representatives in ensuring this.

McConalogue said he was “particularly satisfied that in relation to blue whiting, Ireland was able to secure a 33% reduction in the traditional level of Norwegian access to EU waters from 68% to 45%”, along with Norway’s “complete exclusion” from the blue whiting fishery in the Irish Box off the north-west Irish coast.

The minister said that he was “able to maintain the principle that Ireland's contribution to the EU quota transfer to Norway would be capped at 4% and, as importantly, established for the first time that Ireland would be directly compensated with additional quota by other member states for transfers and access provisions”.

“I was able to secure an additional 4,820 tonnes of blue whiting for the Irish fleets,” he said, adding that scientists advised that the stock was in “good shape”.

Killybegs Fishermen’s Organisation chief executive Sean O’Donoghue said the KFO had two key priorities since the negotiations between the EU and Norway began last October.

“The first was that there was to be no access to the Irish Box unless it was paid for in blue whiting. The second was that the transfer of blue whiting from the EU to Norway in the balance be kept at a minimum – circa 4%,” he said.

“Both were achieved in the final agreement. Unfortunately, a new dimension was tabled late in the day in terms of 15% access to Atlanto-Scandian herring, which is rejected. We will have to see how this can be rectified going forward,” O’Donoghue warned.

“Norway’s gains under their latest EU deal allows them to catch 4.5 times our blue whiting quota in our own EEZ,” the IFPO and Irish Fish Processors and Exporters Association (IFPEA) said.

“Norway have been allocated an extra 36,000MT of blue whiting in the Irish EEZ, compared to just 4,800MT extra blue whiting for Ireland,” O Donnell said for the IFPO.

“Norway, a non-EU member still secured more out of the deal than Ireland. They can now catch 224,000 metric tonnes (MT) of blue whiting, west of Ireland, whereas we can catch a maximum of 52,000MT in our own waters,”he said.

“In return, Ireland gets just over 258MT of Arctic Cod and access to Norwegian waters to fish 2,640 tonnes of Atlanto- Scandian herring,” O’Donnell said.

“In addition, Ireland benefits from 4,800MT of blue whiting from other member states. This transfer includes a paltry volume of 2,400MT in lieu of Norway having access to the Irish EEZ - outside the Irish Box - to catch an additional 36,000MT of blue whiting,”he said.

“If you do the sums, you can see they can catch almost five times more blue whiting in Irish waters than we can. This last-minute St Patrick’s Day deal does nothing to address Ireland’s unfair share of EU fishing quotas and rights,”he said.

O’Donnell said the industry counted it as “a win” that the EU refused to grant Norway its “unreasonable request for unfettered fishing rights inside the Irish Box”.

“We feel this was due to intense joint lobbying efforts with other fishing organisations. Our industry united as never before to make our voice heard and we are proud of what we achieved together. We feel there has been a discernible shift in attitude at both Dept of the Marine and EU level towards our fishing industry,”he said.

Brendan Byrne of the Irish Fish Processors and Exporters Association (IFPEA) said Brexit was part of the problem leading to this latest deal.

“After Brexit, Norway was excluded from British waters. That displacement brought them into Irish waters to fish their blue whiting quota. Ireland had already donated 40% of the EU’s quota allocation to Britain, so were already the biggest losers post-Brexit. Norway’s increased fishing off our coast thus exacerbated an already grave situation,” Byrne said.

“The Irish Government and the EU have taken too much from Ireland for too long in fishing, so that others can benefit. This has led to the total decline of our industry, while countries like Norway see massive growth in their seafood sector,” Byrne said.

O’Donnell added that “ Ireland must not be forced to pay because Norway was displaced by Britain, under Brexit”.

“We must not allow Ireland to be the whipping boy anymore. Our challenge now is to keep collaborating cohesively as an industry. We will keep making our voice heard at home and in Europe until we achieve positive growth for the fishing and seafood industry,” he said.

Irish South and West Fish Producers’ (IS&WFPO) chief executive Patrick Murphy pointed out that Ireland was, through the EU, granting access to Norwegian boats to come and catch “hundreds of thousands of tonnes of blue whiting in waters within Ireland’s Exclusive Economic Zone whereby Norway’s total catch of blue whiting in these waters vastly exceeds Ireland’s entitlement to catch fish stocks of all species in Irish waters”.

Murphy said McConalogue should initiate a public consultation to “amend and change his department’s current policy on herring in Area 6a and immediately embark upon a review of policy for blue whiting”.

Boats registered in the polyvalent segment of the Irish fleet are “limited to 9% of Ireland’s total allocation of blue whiting with qualified boats having to enter a lottery so that 12 boats can be allowed partake in the fishery while the 23 boats registered in the RSW-pelagic segment of the fleet are rewarded with 91% of Ireland’s national allocation”, Murphy said.

Murphy said he had received confirmation from McConalogue that the minister has “declined to embark upon any review of blue whiting policy and has refused to review and balance the allocation of this national quota between the polyvalent and RSW-pelagic segments of the Irish fleet”

He said that this was “despite the very significant increase of 81% in Ireland’s allocation for 2023 and the fact that polyvalent segment boats entitled to partake in the blue whiting fishery are struggling to make a living”.

A total of 42 owners have accepted offers to scrap their fishing vessels under the Government’s Brexit-related decommissioning scheme.

The big jump in figures – which had been running at 21 accepted offers from a total of 57 offers up to early March – has been confirmed this week by Bord Iascaigh Mhara (BIM), the State’s sea fisheries board.

A BIM spokeswoman said the late increase was due to the outcome of appeals, and a decision by a number of owners to accept offers within the last two weeks of the closing date in early March.

The 42 vessels amount to total capacity of over 6,700 gross tonnes, which is 84 per cent of the target of 8,000 gross tonnes sought by the government as part of the Brexit-related scrappage scheme.

The total cost will be 63 million euro, which is below the 75 million euro secured from the EU by Ireland’s marine minister Charlie McConalogue.

The 42 vessels comprise a mixture of prawn and whitefish trawlers, seine netters, gillnetters, and beam trawl vessels, spread around fishing ports along the coast, BIM has said.

A total of four vessels had already been scrapped in “specialist recyclers” based in New Ross, Co Wexford, and Limerick by late March, BIM said.

Scheduling for the 38 other vessels is “underway”, and this must be competed in an “environmentally compliant” manner by October 31st this year, it said.

The Government was seeking to decommission up to 60 vessels from the whitefish fleet, as a result of the overall loss of fish quota due to Brexit.

BIM said this would ensure that over 9,000 tonnes of quota fish valued at €35 million annually would be available for remaining whitefish vessels to catch, ensuring the remaining fleet's economic viability into the future.

BIM’s newly appointed chief executive Caroline Bocquel said that “we understand that any decision to voluntarily decommission vessels is a very difficult one for vessel owners and BIM has been working closely with the industry in recent months to assist vessel owners through the process”.

“Recognising the magnitude of choosing to stop fishing, BIM is confident that the result of the scheme will help put the sector on a firmer financial footing and deliver a more sustainable future for the industry,”she said.

“By restoring the profitability of the fishing sector, it will help those remaining in the sector and support the wider economies of Irish coastal communities,”she said.

BIM said the voluntary decommissioning scheme is one of a number of financial supports for the Irish seafood sector that have been agreed in the wake of the Seafood Taskforce report, which was issued by a task force established by Mr McConalogue to ease the impact of Brexit.

“Thus far, up to €268 million has been made available for a wide range of schemes aimed at supporting the industry to adjust to the new situation post-Brexit,”BIM said.

Irish industry organisations had initially sought an urgent meeting with the Taoiseach on the issue, as there was considerable anger among a number of those who received offers.

Some received offers well below the quoted maximum sum of 12,000 euro per gross tonne.

Applicants who received funding for temporary tie-ups as a Brexit impact measure were also told this money must be paid back under State aid rules.

BIM said “the requirement to repay the tie-up money is an EU rule”.

The funding for the decommissioning scheme is being paid from the Brexit Adjustment Reserve (BAR) awarded by the EU to Ireland. The sum of almost 1 billion euro must be used up within two years or returned.

Irish Fish Producers’ Organisation (IFPO) chief executive Aodh O’Donnell had called on the Irish government should be keeping tonnage within the State to ensure there is a route for young skippers seeking to buy vessels at a later date.

Marine Minister Charlie McConalogue, today attended the Agriculture and Fisheries Council in Brussels.

The main item of discussion in relation to fisheries matters was the recent ‘package’ of fisheries policy communications on the Common Fisheries Policy from the European Commission.

The ’package’ consists of a Communication on the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP); a report on the Common Market Organisation for fisheries and aquaculture; a Communication on the energy transition of the fisheries and aquaculture sector, and an Action Plan to protect and restore marine ecosystems for sustainable and resilient fisheries.

Restore marine ecosystems

Minister McConalogue said after today’s Council: “I welcome the important progress which has been made under the current Common Fisheries Policy over the past decade in improving the sustainability of fish stocks. The Commission’s Communication recognises the fundamental role played by stakeholders in driving these positive changes. However, I am very concerned that the Commissions Review of the CFP has failed to analyse and address the impacts of Brexit, which has been the most significant and enduring challenge faced by the fisheries sector for generations.” 

“Last year, I established a national Common Fisheries Policy Review Group to identify the key issues for Ireland in any revision of the policy. The Report of that Group, which I formally submitted to the Commission, included key recommendations that the full impact of Brexit on the functioning of CFP must be addressed. I made clear today that those issues need to be addressed at EU level.”

The Minister said, “Looking to the future, I called for the development of a comprehensive EU strategy to set clear objectives that will protect and enhance Irish and EU interests. We need to plan for future fishery negotiations with countries such as Norway and the UK, to strengthen the EU’s hand. For example, we need to use all available EU tools, including market access to deal a fair and equitable outcome for our seafood industry.” 

Bottom trawling

Minister McConalogue also expressed his concerns at the Commission’s proposals for a blanket ban on bottom trawling, saying, “I support the introduction of management measures to achieve the conservation objectives set for Marine Protected Areas (MPAs). I do not accept that achieving those objectives requires a blanket ban on using mobile fishing gear in all MPAs. There has been no impact assessment by the Commission on this aspect of the proposal nor have they provided any objective basis for this type of approach.”

This Council discussion was an initial exchange of views on the package, and further discussions will take place in the coming months. Minister McConalogue said, “This is a complex package and I will be taking time to consider and discuss in detail with all stakeholders in the coming weeks and months.”

Two fishermen have won an appeal over a ban on trawling inside the Irish six-mile limit.

A judgment issued by the Court of Appeal has ruled that the Government policy directive introducing a ban on trawling inside the six nautical-mile limit is invalid and of no legal effect.

The judgment by Mr Justice Murray relates to an appeal taken by Dingle-based fisherman Tom Kennedy and Castletownbere-based fisherman Neil Minihane over a policy directive introduced by the then Minister for Marine Michael Creed on March 5th, 2019.

The Irish Wildlife Trust has described the judgment as “dreadful news for marine life in coastal waters as the courts once again overturn a ban on trawling due to a technicality”.

“This was to have come into effect three years ago, but pair trawling and other destruction continues,” the IWT said in a post on social media.

The Irish South and West Fish Producers Organisation (IS&WFPO) has welcomed the judgment.

The policy directive initiated by Mr Creed had ruled that all vessels over 18 metres in overall length would be banned from using trawl or seine nets inside six nautical miles, including inside the Irish coast baselines, from January 1st 2020.

A derogation was issued for certain vessels (in the polyvalent and refrigerated sea water pelagic segments) targeting sprat, up to and including December 31st, 2021.

The Court of Appeals found that the failure of the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Marine and the department to notify Britain and the EU of conservation and management measures that would affect non-Irish vessels rendered the policy directive as invalid.

The failure to notify Britain related to the impact on Northern Irish vessels covered by reciprocal access, known as “voisinage”.

The “voisinage” arrangements between Ireland and Northern Ireland provide for reciprocal fishing access, allowing Irish registered vessels to fish within the six-nautical mile zone in Northern Ireland and Northern Irish vessels to fish within six nautical miles of Ireland.

These arrangements stand under the Brexit Trade and Co-operation Agreement, where the EU (on behalf of Ireland) is required to notify a measure -like the new policy directive - to Britain.

Both the EU and Britain have the right to make observations before measures are applied.

After the six-mile ban was introduced, both Kennedy and Minihane had taken a judicial review, and the High Court found in their favour in October 2020.

However, an appeal was lodged in November 2020 by Minister for Marine Charlie McConalogue.

The ban was temporarily reinstated in 2021 by the Court of Appeal, resulting in another round of legal action by the fishermen.

The IS&WFPO has offered to assist the Minister for Marine and his department officials to “properly introduce measures that will not discriminate against fishermen on the basis of their size and their ability to catch larger or smaller quantities of non-quota fish such as sprat”.

It has also called for a scientific evaluation of all commercial fish stocks within the six-nautical mile zone, and has said no policy directives should be set for these important fisheries until this assessment is complete.

The country’s major fishing organisations have called on the Oireachtas Committee dealing with the development of Marine Protected Areas to listen to them as it has to environmental organisations.

The country’s major fishing representative organisations have claimed that the Committee’s review process of the Marine Protected Areas Bill is “flawed” because it invited and heard submissions from environment groups but did not invite the fishing industry.

The Irish South and East Fish Producers, the Irish Fish Processors and Exporters Organisation, the Irish Fish Producers’ Organisation, the Irish South and West Fish Producers’ Organisation, the Killybegs Fishermen’s Organisation and the Aquaculture Committee of the Irish Farmers’ Association have lodged their “strongest objection at the failure to include us in consultation.”

The Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage is dealing with the MPAs Bill because it has been given Government responsibility for them and the Maritime Regulatory Authority (MARA).

TDs and Senators are members and met with environmental organisations - Fair Seas, BirdWatch Ireland, Irish Wildlife Trust, and Irish Whale and Dolphin Group.

The fishing organisations say they “wish to work constructively with the Committee but need to be afforded equality and respect to represent the views of their sector.”

They have sent a six-page document to the Committee, outlining their views on the MPAs Bill “on the basis we will be called before to give evidence in the same manner which was afforded to all other interested parties.”

“First and foremost, the first and aquaculture industries are not opposed to MPAs,” the document says. “We recognise and understand the need for and the value of MPAs both in the wider environmental and conservation context and in the specific value they can add to existing fisheries and food security by improving sustainability, if implemented effectively and based on scientific evidence. However, there is a need to acknowledge that Ireland’s marine area is also part of a food production system, and fisheries and aquaculture provide a vital source of protein. Balance is needed to ensure food security, economic activities, sustainable and resilient fisheries, protection of diversity, and support the fight against climate change.”

BIM’s new chief executive Caroline Bocquel has warned the offshore renewable energy (ORE) sector that it must improve its communication with the Irish fishing industry.

She has also told offshore wind developers that there should be “minimal impact” on the commercial fishing sector, which is already experiencing significant challenges, including the impact of Brexit.

Addressing the second national seafarers’ conference in Limerick late last month, Bocquel said that communication is a “key piece”, and such communication must be “early” and “authentic” and “not just for the sake of it”.

Communication has to be a “key part of the discussion”, she said.

She noted that Ireland’s seafood/ORE working group chaired by Capt Robert McCabe had done “huge work” on this and would be producing a set of communication protocols.

These communication protocols need to be “embedded” in the consenting regime to the extent that they “cannot be sidelined”, she said.

A second lesson which Ireland could learn from other jurisdictions is the need to work together, with discussions that could lead to better understanding.

She said that the current “developer-led” approach was “very problematic” as there were already “lines on maps”.

“We really need to be engaging on impact before drawing lines on maps,” she said.

She cited exclusion zones around wind farms, and the impact of such infrastructure on marine species, along with the appeals process, as concerns for the fishing industry.

She said BIM was working with the Marine Institute on gathering data.

While some developers were engaging directly with the industry or through representative organisations, others were not engaging at all, she said.

She said BIM was looking at technical support in relation to opportunities and approaches to co-location and developing training opportunities for fishers in the ORE sector.

Irish South and East Fish Producers’ Organisation chief executive John Lynch said that he had warned the ORE and fishing industry sectors were on a “collision course” last year, and this was still the case.

The fishing industry was “united” in its concerns about spatial squeeze, and food security was an important human requirement as energy.

He said the industry was working on its own marine spatial plan from a fishing industry point of view, as the Irish state had failed to produce one.

Several speakers were critical of the lack of a marine spatial plan, while consultant Michael Keatinge called for coastal communities/the fishing industry to have an actual equity stake in ORE projects – not just compensation.

He said there was a “klondyke” for ORE in Irish waters, and dialogue with the fishing industry had not developed at all.

The project off the Donegal coast involving Hexagon and the Killybegs Fishermen’s Organisation (KFO) showed there could be a new approach, he said, and the fishing industry was not against offshore wind but “just wants to be part of it”.

Marine scientist Damien Haberlin of University College Cork’s MaREI research centre for energy, climate and marine spoke of the gaps in knowledge on the impact of offshore wind.

Whereas there were tens of thousands of scientific papers on the biomedical sector, there were less than 200 papers relating to ORE, he said.

Haberlin said that if he had a “pot of money”, he would wish to spend it on research into the cumulative effects of offshore wind farms, both spatial and temporal.

Though there would be a price for not developing ORE in the context of climate change, “let’s do it, but let’s do it right”, Haberlin said.

Minister for Marine Charlie McConalogue has refused to be drawn on calls for the State to take specific measures to ensure a route for young entrants into the fishing industry to buy vessels in the future.

Interviewed by journalists at The Skipper Expo in the University of Limerick (UL) this weekend, Mr McConalogue also said he still believed commercial fishing was a “dynamic sector” in spite of the latest challenges posed by Brexit, which resulted in considerable loss of national fish quota.

The Irish Fish Producers’ Organisation (IFPO) has called on the State to reserve some tonnage from vessels which are accepted for the national decommissioning scheme – introduced in response to the loss of quota due to Brexit.

Keeping a “bank” of tonnage in State hands would allow for new entrants to build vessels in the future, the IFPO has said.

Asked about this, Mr McConalogue would not comment specifically beyond reiterating that the decommissioning scheme was a seafood taskforce recommendation supported by the fishing industry organisations.

Scrapping up to 60 boats would allow for more quota for those remaining, after loss of quota due to Brexit, he said.

Speaking earlier to Newstalk’s Pat Kenny Show, Mr McConalogue said that though he came from a farming background, he was at school with people from the fishing community and he would do everything he possibly could to support the sector.

“We have seen stocks become depleted because of overfishing generally...so we have been moving to a situation where we apply sustainability at all levels to how we fish,”he said.

He said he was also working to ensure the best outcome in relation to Norway’s bid to secure more blue whiting off the Irish coast.

He said there were opportunities in offshore energy, and there would be “jobs for those who have expertise at sea”.

Mr McConalogue said that a new sustainable fisheries scheme would ensure that use of sustainable catching gear and fuel efficiency measures would be eligible for capital grants.

Listen to the full interview with Mr McConalogue on The Pat Kenny Show here