Stakeholders have been given four months to come up with an agreed plan to manage crayfishing while protecting endangered species like the Angel shark.
The National Inshore Fishermen’s Association (NIFA) has presented eight specific proposals to reduce risk of bycatch while maintaining livelihoods.
The NIFA proposals were discussed at an Oireachtas Joint Committee on Fisheries and Maritime Affairs yesterday (February 24th).
Officials from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and representatives from the Marine Institute, NIFA and the National Inshore Fisheries Forum had been invited to attend the committee hearing.
Committee Cathaoirleach Conor McGuinness had explained beforehand that crayfish is mostly caught off the southwest coast and is the highest value per kilo species caught by the Irish fishing fleet at up to €50 per kilo, twice the price of lobster and 15 times that of crab.
Policy In Focus: Members of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Fisheries and Maritime Affairs discuss sustainable crayfishing and measures to reduce by-catch of protected species.
“ The size and value of crayfish landed has increased from 10 tonnes in 2017 to 83 tonnes in 2024,” he noted.
“The practice of fishing with tangle nets, which has replaced barrel pots as the main method of catching crayfish since the 1970s, has impacts on protected and endangered marine species which are caught in the nets as bycatch alongside crayfish,” he said.
The committee heard how a three-year study published last year by the Marine Institute recommended switching from tangle nets to pots for landing crayfish as the optimum solution to eliminate bycatch and provide for viable, sustainable and low-impact crayfishing.
The Marine Institute also said the viability of making that transition from nets to pots needs further consideration in collaboration with the inshore fishing sector.
“ Crayfishers want to see the transition managed in a manner that avoids the abrupt impacts previously imposed on other fisheries like salmon and pollock, while marine conservationists and environmental groups wish to see a faster timescale to protect endangered species,” McGuinness explained.
Last year, Kerry’s Tralee Bay was designated an Important Shark and Ray Area (ISRA) by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
It has been recognised as a critical habitat for threatened elasmobranch species like the flat-bodied Angel shark.
The fish bury themselves in sand and wait for prey, such as small fish, squid, and crustaceans, to swim overhead, but this hunting strategy has made them vulnerable to fisheries interaction, leading to a dramatic population decline since the 1960s.
In an opening statement to the committee, NIFA chair Michael Desmond outlined how its members recognise that interactions with protected species must be taken seriously.
“Many of the vessels involved actively cooperated in data collection and reporting, and without fishermen’s participation the information now before you would not exist,”he told committee members.
“However, NIFA cannot support the immediate removal of another traditional inshore fishery before practical management measures are properly attempted,” he continued.
“Closure is not management — it is what happens when management fails. We believe the correct approach is mitigation, adaptation and controlled improvement,” he said.
“There are clear measures available that can significantly reduce risk while maintaining livelihoods,” Desmond said.
He outlined the NIFA proposals as: a defined seasonal fishery to avoid sensitive periods; V-notching of berried crayfish to protect spawning stock; and controlled soak times to minimise unintended interactions.
NIFA also proposes: reduced fishing effort through structured participation management; development of a pot fishery alternative in cooperation with the Marine Institute; gear modification agreed directly with fishermen; continued onboard monitoring to improve real-world data; and targeted funding to allow fishermen implement these measures safely and effectively.
“ Inshore fishermen have repeatedly adapted to conservation measures in lobster, crab and other fisheries where workable rules were introduced,” NIFA’s submission said.
“ The same approach should be applied here. Removing a fishery before these options are implemented does not prove impacts cannot be reduced — it simply removes coastal livelihoods and the people who provide observation, reporting and compliance at sea,” it said.
“ Good environmental policy keeps fishermen involved in the solution,”it said.
Scientists at the hearing agreed that fishermen needed to be involved in solutions.
Dr Nick Payne, associate professor of zoology at Trinity College Dublin noted that “fishermen are not the problem here – they have participated in data collection”.
Referring to the wider issue of inshore fishing, he said that NIFA’s proposals for income stabilisation and financial support were positive moves, along with opening up other opportunities such as access to a bluefin tuna quota.
Dr Payne criticised “lack of progress by government” in supporting inshore vessels to make transitions where required.
