Marine plans must be credible, sustainable

SEAFEST 2015 has just opened in Cork and will bring together investors, academics, key figures, and stakeholders from the private and public sector to try to map a future for one of the greatest resources this country has at its disposal — the seas that surround it.

Last year, seafood exports were worth €533m to the economy and ambitious plans to increase that figure dramatically are being developed. Those plans have to recognise the new Common Fisheries Policy which is moving towards the implementation phase. It is designed to protect the sustainability of fishing and will set fishing levels and introduce a phased “obligation to land” all catches to end the unacceptable practice of discarding fish at sea.

These are commendable objectives and should help the commercial fishing sector create a new image for itself. For years it has suffered because the public saw the policy of discards as morally and environmentally indefensible. Rogue elements who routinely overfished and ignored quotas did little to help. The undeniable environmental impact of poorly-managed fish farms, especially on migratory fish, has not gone unnoticed either. Recent agriculture plans have incorporated environmental safeguards and the marine sector should do the same, but those assurances will be worthless unless they are credible. There is, no matter what the sector argues, some way to go on this issue.