A number of undersized lobsters and brown crabs due for sale have been returned to sea, after they were seized by the Sea-Fisheries Protection Authority (SFPA).

An inspection last weekend at the Limerick City Casual Trader area resulted in 28 undersized lobsters and four undersized brown crabs being removed by SFPA staff.

A file is currently being prepared for the Director of Public Prosecutions, the SFPA says.

It says it was operating on information received through the SFPA confidential telephone line.

The minimum landings size for lobster is 87mm carapace length, and in Irish waters the minimum size for brown crab is 140mm, it says.

A key initiative for the conservation of lobster is the “v-notch” scheme, where a small mark is cut into the tail of any female lobster found.

Once marked in this way, it is illegal to land, possess or sell such a lobster. A certain percentage of the population is therefore protected for breeding, thus boosting egg production and in turn recruitment to the stock.

An SFPA spokesman said that “the volume of such a find of undersize lobsters is both significant for the future viability of the fishery, and concerning, given the scale of the find”.

“ The fishery for lobster is one of the most traditional fisheries among coastal communities and the mainstay of many small vessels fishing all around the coast of Ireland. The actions of a few fishermen selling undersize and v-notch lobsters and undersize brown crab undermine the legitimate fishermen trying to maintain a sustainable fishery and livelihood,” the SFPA spokesman said.

“The majority of inshore fishermen act responsibly and in conjunction with state agencies, including the SFPA, to ensure the protection of the species which have been in decline in recent years. Many inshore fishermen participate in voluntary measures such as v-notching to assist with restocking of lobster,” the spokesman said.

Consumer trust in the quality, provenance and safety of Ireland’s seafood produce underpins the reputation and success of the sector on which many coastal economies rely, the SFPA said.

“If a member of the public has any concerns regarding fisheries control, seafood fraud and/ or seafood safety, they are advised to please contact the SFPA through its confidential telephone line on 1800 76 76 76, or email [email protected]”, it says

Three extra Irish ports have been designated by Minister for Marine Charlie McConalogue for landings by Northern Irish-registered fishing vessels.

Malin Head, Glengad and Bunagee in Co Donegal have all been approved and will come under the remit of the Sea Fisheries Protection Authority (SFPA) in Greencastle.

The SFPA’s port office in Greencastle was also opened on Friday by McConalogue.

Under regulations designed to deter illegal, unregulated and unreported (IUU) fishing, the designated ports in Ireland for all non-EU vessels are limited to Castletownbere, Co Cork and Killybegs, Co Donegal.

However, vessels registered in Northern Ireland may have access to the ports of Greencastle, Rathmullan, Burtonport, Ros an Mhíl, and Howth.

Malin Head, Glengad and Bunagee have now been added to that list.

“ Designated ports are a critical component in an overall framework that seeks to ensure effective fisheries management and minimise the risk of IUU fishing,” the SFPA says.

It says the establishment of a permanent SFPA port office in Greencastle “formed an important part of the measures undertaken … to ensure regulatory preparedness and compliance with EU sea-fisheries legislation and fisheries conservation control” after Britain left the EU.

Irish seafood exporters have received approval under a new registration system required for the vast Chinese market.

A total of 36 Irish food business operators have had registrations renewed under the new system, the Sea-Fisheries Protection Authority (SFPA) has confirmed.

The changed requirement was introduced last year by the Chinese competent authority, the General Administration of Customs China (GACC), the SFPA says.

It “marked a major change in how export registrations for Irish exporters trading with China are governed” and was a significant challenge, it says.

“The SFPA, in liaison with Department of Foreign Affairs colleagues in Beijing, have been working with the Irish fishing industry over the past six months to ensure as smooth a transition to this new regime as possible,” it says.

This involved “full migration of all Chinese export registration requests to a new GACC online portal”.

The registrations which have been successfully renewed by the 36 seafood businesses are valid until 2028, the SFPA says.

The Sea-Fisheries Protection Authority (SFPA) has reminded approved seafood businesses to submit their self-declaration figures for the first quarter of this year.

The figures are required to calculate fees for official controls, charged by the SFPA under an EU regulation.

“Fees for official controls, including routine seafood inspections, are calculated based on the volumes of fish first placed on the market by an operator,” the SFPA says in a statement.

The fees comprise a flat rate of €1 per tonne for the first 50 tonnes in a month and 50 cent per tonne thereafter, it says

“Fees are also charged for unplanned official controls arising from follow-up of non-compliances, based on an hourly rate,” it says.

The self-declaration figures for the first quarter of 2023 are due to be submitted to [email protected] on or before April 14th, 2023.

It says the self-declaration form can be accessed on the SFPA website.

It says fees relating to imports of fish and fishery products from third countries to Ireland at border control posts will continue to be collected by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine National Disease Control Centre.

The first annual Seafood Trade Report of the Sea Fisheries Protection Authority (SFPA) has a few interesting statistics about how Ireland’s fishing industry is doing outside of the European Union. Three countries account for 63% of Irish seafood exported to Third countries - Nigeria 30.7%, Egypt 21.8%, and China 10.5%. However, according to the Authority, there was a drop in these exports, which is put down to the “challenging year” for the sector due to the international situation.

It was a challenging year for Ireland’s seafood sector, with the continuing repercussions from Brexit, the fall-out from the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the continued impact of Covid-19 in export markets, the energy crisis and the cost-of-living crisis creating a challenging trading environment. This was reflected in the decrease in Third country (non-EU countries) exports from Ireland in 2022 to 78,171 tonnes (made up of 26 species from 47 Food Businesses to 48 countries outside the EU) from the 2021 figure of 121,395 tonnes in 2021.

As Afloat reported earlier, last year, the vast majority (93.4%) of seafood exported consisted of pelagic species, including Blue Whiting, Mackerel and Horse Mackerel. 3,670 consignments of seafood totalling 78,171 tonnes and 26 species were sent by 47 Irish exporters to 48 countries outside the EU.

The Sea-Fisheries Protection Authority (SFPA) launched its report on 'Protecting Seafood Trade 2022' today in Union Hall. Launching the report were: Paschal Hayes, Executive Chairperson, SFPA; Bernard O’Donovan, National Director Trade Compliance, SFPA and Diarmuid O’Donovan, CEO, Glenmar Shellfish. Photo: Andy Gibson

The Executive Chairman of the SFPA, Paschal Hayes, says that, as fish is highly traded in international markets, illegal fishing is a significant threat and Ireland, “as a food exporting nation places significant emphasis on our position as a supplier of safe, traceable, sustainably produced high-quality food. Seafood is a valuable part of this offering. The SFPA as a regulator, is conscious of our role in ensuring the integrity of our seafood and strategically in terms of how Ireland’s reputation as a food exporter of choice is dependent on all links in the chain.

“Fish is highly traded in international markets. IUU (illegal) fishing is a significant threat to the future of fishing. It creates an uneven playing field and jeopardises the development of sustainable fisheries on which many coastal communities globally rely for their livelihoods, including in Ireland. As regulators, we are committed to utilising all the controls available to us to help detect and deter IUU fishing and fishery products within our jurisdiction.

“Regulation, including health certification, also underpins confidence in the safety of Irish seafood products, providing vital reassurance to retailers, hospitality businesses and consumers at home and abroad. Retaining Ireland’s growing reputation for producing superior seafood is essential, and the integrity of the supply chain will be all-important. Everyone in the supply chain has a role to play in protecting it. This includes importers and exporters who can ensure the goods they handle have the correct documentation. It may be difficult to distinguish between a legally and illegally obtained fish, however robust inspection processes and accurate paperwork will tell the tale.

“Protecting seafood trade by ensuring highly functioning levels of regulatory assurance is a critical element of SFPA’s role.”

Nigeria, Egypt and China are the leading export markets for Irish seafood outside of the EU.

A report by the Sea Fisheries Protection Authority (SFPA) states that 93.4 per cent of seafood exported last year comprised pelagic species, including blue whiting, mackerel and horse mackerel.

Nigeria accounted for 30.7 per cent, Egypt for 21.8 per cent and China for 10.5 per cent of Irish seafood exported last year, the report says.

It says a total of 3,670 consignments of seafood, totalling 78,171 tonnes and 26 species were certified by the SFPA for export from 47 food businesses to 48 countries outside the EU in 2022.

Irish seafood exports last year were valued at 530 million euros, representing a 17 million euro “value growth” in exports on the previous year.

The report says 2022 was “a challenging year for Ireland’s seafood sector with the continuing repercussions from Brexit.

“The fallout from the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the continued impact of Covid-19 in export markets, the energy crisis and the cost-of-living crisis” also created “a challenging trading environment”, it says.

“This was reflected in the decrease in third country (non-EU countries) exports from Ireland in 2022 to 78,171 tonnes (made up of 26 species from 47 food businesses to 48 countries outside the EU) from the 2021 figure of 121,395 tonnes in 2021,” it says.

Protecting seafood trade by “ensuring highly functioning levels of regulatory assurance is a critical element of SFPA’s mission as the body responsible for ensuring the international integrity of Ireland’s seafood offering”, it says.

“The information provided in the Seafood Trade 2022 report offers analysis in terms of the key trends facing the sector at this present time and highlights an important element of SFPA’s activity as a regulator,” it says.

SFPA executive chair Paschal Hayes said the State regulator is “ conscious of our role in ensuring the integrity of our seafood and strategically in terms of how Ireland’s reputation as a food exporter of choice is dependent on all links in the chain”.

He described illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU )fishing as “a significant threat” in creating an “uneven playing field” and jeopardising “the development of sustainable fisheries on which many coastal communities globally rely for their livelihoods, including in Ireland”.

“As regulators, we are committed to utilising all the controls available to us to help detect and deter IUU fishing and fishery products within our jurisdiction,” he said.

Skippers and owners of smaller Irish fishing vessels are to be given training in the use of electronic logbooks at sea.

The training is to be provided for the 12 to 15-metre category of vessel which had been exempt until now in use of electronic recording and reporting.

The Sea-Fisheries Protection Authority (SFPA) says it will provide the training to an estimated total of 48 vessels in this category.

The Electronic Recording & Reporting System (ERS), as it is known, is a system for recording, reporting, processing, storing, and transmitting fisheries data (catch, landing, sales and transhipment) according to the EU rules.

The key element of the ERS is the electronic logbook, which is used to record and transmit details of fishing operations securely.

The information is managed by the master of the fishing vessel and is transmitted to the member states authorities where the authentic fishing operation details are kept in a secure database.

All vessels 12m or greater are required to use Electronic Recording & Reporting System (ERS) since January 2012.

To date, an exemption has been in place for some vessels that fall into the 12-15m category on the basis of either: the vessel is at sea less than 24 hours per trip, or the vessel is fishing within the 12 nautical mile limit, the SFPA says.

“This exemption is now being removed for the 12-15m category – which consists of approximately 48 registered vessels - ahead of pending regulations that will require 10m-12m vessels to also have ERS on board,” it says.

Details and dates of the training are as follows:

• Thursday 30th March – Castletownbere 09:00 – 17:00
• Tuesday 4th April - Greencastle 09:00 – 17:00
• Thursday 13th April - Dingle 09:00 – 17:00
• Tuesday 18th April - Dublin 09:00 – 17:00
• Thursday 19th April - Wexford 09:00 – 17:00
• Tuesday 25th April - Westport 09:00 – 17:00

The Sea Fisheries Protection Authority (SFPA) has commended its officers for their work on a case which has led to a conviction for failing to record a fish catch accurately.

Following a prosecution taken by the SFPA and the Director of Public Prosecutions, Eamon Moss of Kilmore, Co Wexford was convicted and fined €500 at Wexford Circuit Court on February 14th, 2023.

The SFPA said in a statement that the defendant pleaded guilty to an offence under the Sea-Fisheries and Maritime Jurisdiction Act 2006 of failing to record approximately 1,077kgs of a catch of black sole in the fishing logbook in March 2019 as master of the Irish-registered fishing vessel, "Rony".

“The under-recording of black sole was detected following an inspection of the vessel hold and records by sea fisheries protection officers, during which the inaccurate recording of multiple species was detected,” it said.

SFPA executive chair Paschal Hayes said that the legal requirement on vessel masters to ensure accurate recording of catches is “crucial in order to obtain a reliable assessment of the extent of fish species caught, which is key to the sustainable management of stocks”.

“This conviction underscores the seriousness of inaccurate logbook data and the active measures taken by SFPA officers to inspect for compliance. The SFPA commends its officers for their diligence and hard work on this case,” he said.

Ten enforcement orders were served on seafood businesses late last year, the Sea-Fisheries Protection Authority (SFPA) reports.

The orders were served during the final quarter of 2022 for breaches of food safety legislation under the Food Safety Authority of Ireland Act, 1998 and the European Union (Food & Feed Hygiene) Regulations 2020.

The SFPA says the enforcements were issued by sea-fisheries protection officers during risk-based official controls.

It says that “no closure orders were issued over this period”.

The SFPA’s responsibilities include enforcement of food law in the seafood sector up to the point of retail, and this involves the assessment of food safety controls across the marine and aquaculture sectors.

The SFPA says it has responsibility for the enforcement across a range of 2711 business operations nationally.

It says its officers carried out 60 inspections in land-based establishments in the last quarter of last year.

SFPA executive chairman Paschal Hayes said “the low level of non-compliance found illustrates the considerable efforts being made by seafood businesses to work within the regulations, as well as the robust inspection system in place to assure and, where necessary, to enforce compliance”.

SFPA executive chairman Paschal Hayes

The SFPA said it had also confirmed a successful food safety prosecution in the case of SFPA v. Castletownbere Fishermen’s Co-op Society Ltd.

“The defendant entered guilty pleas to food safety legislation offences, arising from an inspection conducted on 18th of October 2021, relating to the condition of parts of the food premises, failure to ensure pest control and protection against contamination, and failure to comply with procedures on traceability of raw fishery products,” the SFPA states.

“The defendant was fined €2000, and an order relating to costs was made in favour of the SFPA,” it says.

The Sea-Fisheries Protection Authority (SFPA) says there was a "low level of non-compliance" by the Irish fishing industry last year. 

Its annual report for 2021 records how it monitored over 47,000 landings of commercially caught sea fish, valued at over €435 million.

The report records that 1,345 vessel inspections were undertaken by SFPA officers last year, while 1,115 official control samples were taken.

The State regulator also says that a “significant operational plan was successfully activated to ensure regulatory alignment” following Britain’s departure from European Union.

As a result of Brexit, import controls undertaken by the SFPA rose from an annual average of 800 (pre-Brexit) to over 3,000, it says.

This rise was driven principally by pre-existing trade with Britain being reclassified as a “third country” outside the EU, it says.

The volume of catch certificates issued for export freight by the SFPA rose from approximately 200 to over 800 (with the UK accounting for 71%), while third-country landings (the majority originating in the UK) rose to over 600, it says.

A new port office for SFPA staff was opened in Greencastle, Donegal to “respond effectively and efficiently to the increased volume of activity”, it says.

The SFPA and the Naval Service, which works with the regulator as part of a service-level agreement, initiated 66 case files following the investigation of 95 incidents.

The SFPA says that a “low level of non-compliance reflects the adherence of the overwhelming majority of industry to the regulations and the robust inspection system in place to ensure compliance and detect non-compliance, where necessary”.

“The SFPA continued to deliver on its remit to ensure the enforcement of seafood safety law up to the point of retail. This included overseeing food safety compliance across 2,711 food business operators with 2,221 food safety inspections carried out,”it says.

The annual Shellfish Classification Sampling Programme oversaw the collection and analysis of over 1,500 shellfish samples from shellfish (bivalve mollusc) production areas - detecting out-of-range results in 52 areas (3.4% of the overall sampling).

“Ireland has a strong reputation for top quality seafood and an effective regulatory control system, promoting compliance with sea-fisheries and seafood safety law, underpins this,” SFPA executive chair Paschal Hayes said.

SFPA executive chair Paschal Hayes Photo: Andy Gibson

“2021 was a hugely challenging year for all in the sea-fisheries and seafood industry, including the SFPA,” he said.

“In particular, the control and compliance measures implemented to ensure regulatory alignment following the UK’s departure from the EU and the end of the Brexit transition period had a huge bearing on our activities,” he said.

He also identified as challenges “the revocation by the European Commission of Ireland’s sea-fisheries control plan in April 2021, due to ongoing concerns regarding the under-declaration of the amounts of fish landed in Ireland by operators”.

This was followed by the SFPA’s work to secure an interim control plan for both pelagic and demersal fishers, which “consumed significant amounts of the resources within the SFPA”, he says.

“While both of these events presented enormous operational and capacity challenges for the SFPA, a substantial programme of work was progressed and completed across all units of the regulator as part of its remit to maintain vibrant marine ecosystems and safeguard Ireland’s international reputation for safe, quality seafood,” he said.

“The launch of our new corporate strategy in 2021 was an extremely positive development for the organisation providing a clear roadmap to ensure that we continue to deliver on our regulatory remit in a highly effective and efficient manner,” he said.

He recorded progress in ensuring the organisation remained “agile, responsive and able to adapt quickly in a rapidly changing environment”.

“The work completed during 2021 is testament to the dedication, commitment and professionalism of SFPA staff in port offices across the country and in our headquarters in Clonakilty, who have worked tirelessly to fulfill our responsibilities as the competent regulatory authority tasked with safeguarding the sustainability of Ireland’s marine resources,” Hayes said.

The SFPA’s annual report is here