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.