ILLEGAL and unreported catches remain a threat to Ireland’s fishing industry, the Sea Fisheries Protection Agency (SFPA) has said.
The SFPA is located in Clonakilty, and is Ireland’s independent statutory body responsible for the regulation of the sea-fisheries and the sea-food production
sectors.
Last week, it launched its report on seafood trade in 2023. The report was launched in Castletownbere by SFPA executive chairman Paschal Hayes, Castletownbere Fishermen’s Co-Op chief executive John Nolan, and Bernard O’Donovan, the SFPA’s national director trade compliance.
Mr Hayes said that illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing is a significant threat to the future of fishing.
‘IUU fishing jeopardises the development of sustainable fisheries on which many coastal communities globally rely for their livelihoods, including in Ireland,’ he said.
‘As regulators, we are committed to utilising all the controls available to us to help detect and deter IUU fishing and IUU derived fishery products within our jurisdiction.’
In 2023, some 2,498 catch certificates underwent verification inspections.
SFPA executive chairman Paschal Hayes said 2023 was a challenging year for Ireland’s seafood sector ‘with the continuing repercussions from Brexit, the fallout from the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the energy crisis and the cost-of-living crisis creating a challenging trading environment’.
The report stated that Irish seafood exports were valued at €550m in 2023, down 14% from the previous year.
Some 56,731 tonnes of produce was imported from non-EU fishing vessels into Ireland, with a total of 609 direct landings of fishery products by non-EU fishing. Landings by UK-registered vessels accounted for 97% of the overall total number of landings by non-EU fishing vessels into Ireland.
The main countries from which import consignments originated were UK, Iceland, China, Ecuador and India. Irish vessels landed 356 times into third country ports, accounting for exports of 19,650 tonnes of produce, with 95% of landings taking place in UK ports.
Three countries account for 59.6% of Irish seafood exported to third countries outside the EU in 2023: Nigeria 35.3%, China 13.9%, and Ivory Coast 10.4%, primarily pelagic species like mackerel, blue whiting, herring and pacific oysters. Some 90.7% of seafood exports in 2023 consisted of pelagic species.
