Relevant Matter
Public policy or programme
Public Policy Area
Marine
Period
1 Sep, 2022 to 31 Dec, 2022
Specific Details
Challenges facing the Aquaculture Industry in Ireland
Intended results
To highlight the critical need for commitment from Government to ensure the economic potential and sustainable future of the Irish Aquaculture Industry.
To prioritise immediate action in implementing a functioning aquaculture licensing system which is key to any future development of the the Irish Aquaculture Industry, including appropriate legislative changes required to facilitate this.
To prioritise the full implementation of the "Aquaculture Licensing Review 2017" to allow for effective implementation of the actions proposed in the draft Seafood Development Programme 2021 -2027 and draft National Strategic Plan for Sustainable Aquaculture Development 2030.
IFA Aquaculture Recommends
- Implementation of the Review of the Aquaculture Licensing Recommendations -
There are several issue in relation to the lack of progress on several recommendations outlined in the "Review of the Aquaculture licensing Process", where the report concluded in 2017 that the aquaculture licensing system was "in urgent need of reform". The report also explicitly states that the Minister "will assign responsibility for recommendations, accountability and set milestones for delivery and identify the necessary resources to support the implementation process".
The recommendations of the Aquaculture Licensing Review need to be prioritised, resourced and implemented urgently with greater stakeholder engagement regarding an implementation plan with realistic timelines for completion. This should include the re-establishment of the "Aquaculture licensing Advisory Committee".
- Legislative Reform
As recommended by the "Review of the Aquaculture Licensing Process" where it was recommended for "work to commence immediately on the preparation of new Aquaculture legislation" (Recommendation 8.16). Since this report was published in 2017, a further number of EU ad National legislative policies have been give effect, many aforementioned in this document.
Most specifically, the recent Marine Planning and Development Management Bill (MPDM) which could be viewed as a missed opportunity for Irish aquaculture reform, regulation and development management due to the exclusion of the sector from the legislation. Aquaculture legislation, both primary and secondary, haqve been amended numerous times, in particular to give effect to EU environmental legislation - making it difficult to follow and establish the currecnt status of various provisions.
Inclusion of Aquaculture in the Marine Planning and Development Management Bill (MPDM).
IFA Aquaculture has serious concerns regarding the exclusion of aquaculture from the Marine Planning and Development (MPDM) Bill. The National Marine Planning Framework (NMPF) aims to introduce a single development management process for the Maritime Area for activities or developments. This is underpinned by legislation introduced in the form of the Maritime Area Planning Bill which aims to establish a new regulatory body in the Maritime Area Regulatory Authority (MARA).
This will not include aquaculture and fisheries as they are not legislated for as part of the Bill. Aquaculture and fisheries must be included in associated National marine spatial planning legislation as it is essential for the fair anhd correct development management of the Marine space.
Coherence of policies through the open - method of co-ordination.
This coherence, in relation to aquaculture continues to be absent - alignment and coherence of Aquaculture objectives with EU environmental regulations and directives is a key challenge and the level of coherence between different EU policies should be assessed on a sector-by-sector basis.
The aquaculture sector complies with obligations, particularly environmental objectives, outline in the number of policies and regulations ie. Habitats Directive, Birds Directive, Consolidated Environmental Impact Assessment Directive, Marine Strategy Framework Directive, Marine Special Planning Directive, Water Frqamework Directive and the Common Fisheries Policy.
Input Costs Support
Irish Aquaculture operators and their businesses will no longer be profitable unless there are significant supports during this time of crisis to assist with spiralling input costs. Earlier this year the European Commission activated a crisis mechanism of the European Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund (EMFAF), to enable Member States to grant financial compensation to aquaculture operators for income foregone and additional costs due to the current market disruption.
The EMFAF crisis mechanism is a temporary measure and applies retrospectively as of 24th February 2022 and will be in place until the end of 2022. IFA Aquaculture are calling on the Government to consider these funding mechanisms made available by the European Commission to assist Irish Aquaculture operators affected by these severe cost increases - this must be done without delay.
The IFA strongly believe that it is now critical that a single piece of legislation is brought forward to implement and underpin appropriate aquaculture policy and bring together all the existing primary, secondary and amended legislation in one single provision.
IFA request that the hearing with the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and the Minister for Agriculture, decided on by the Joint Oireachtas Committee on the 21st September, be added to the Committee work programme in the New Year.
Name of person primarily responsible for lobbying on this activity
Michael Mulloy IFA Aquaculture Chair, Catherine McManus IFA Aquaculture Committee, Teresa Morrissey IFA Aquaculture Policy Executive
Did any Designated Public Official(DPO) or former Designated Public Official(DPO) carry out lobbying activities on your behalf in relation to this return? You must include yourself, and answer Yes, if you are a current DPO or a DPO at any time in the past. (What is a Designated Public Official?)
No
Did you manage or direct a grassroots campaign?
No
Was this lobbying done on behalf of a client?
No
Lobbying activity
The following activities occurred for this specific Subject Matter Area.
Informal communication (2-5)
Designated public officials lobbied
The following DPOs were lobbied during this return period on this specific Subject Matter Area. These DPOs were involved in at least one of the Lobbying Activities listed above, but not necessarily all of them.
As returns are specific to a Subject Matter Area the above Lobbying Activities may be associated with multiple returns.
Martin Browne
TD (Dáil Éireann, the Oireachtas)
Jackie Cahill
TD (Dáil Éireann, the Oireachtas)
Matt Carthy
TD (Dáil Éireann, the Oireachtas)
Michael Collins
TD (Dáil Éireann, the Oireachtas)
Michael Fitzmaurice
TD (Dáil Éireann, the Oireachtas)
Joe Flaherty
TD (Dáil Éireann, the Oireachtas)
Paul Kehoe
TD (Dáil Éireann, the Oireachtas)
Brian Leddin
TD (Dáil Éireann, the Oireachtas)
Michael Ring
TD (Dáil Éireann, the Oireachtas)
Victor Boyhan
Senator (Seanad)
Lynn Boylan
Senator (Seanad)
Paul Daly
Senator (Seanad)
Tim Lombard
Senator (Seanad)
Denis O'Donovan
Senator (Seanad)