Minister for the Marine Simon Coveney has said that a new €241 million investment programme in the State's seafood industry will increase the sector's annual value to €1 billion by 2020.
Some €147 million will be provided by the EU, and €94 million by the State, to invest in areas ranging from fish farming to implementing the phased ban on discarding fish at sea to supporting “Leader-type” fisheries action groups in local areas.
A public consultation on proposals for the new programme, along with a strategic environmental assessment of its impact, was initiated by Mr Coveney in Clonakilty, Co Cork.
Speaking to The Irish Times, Mr Coveney said that the funding drawn down from the EU was the largest ever of its type, at two-and-a-half times the amount for a previous plan.
Highlights of the plan are a €42 million investment in the new Common Fisheries Policy, including support for the new discards ban and the implementation of measures to develop more selective fishing gear; a €41 million allocation for marketing, processing and “adding value” to the sector; and a €30 million allocation for aquaculture.
It also provides for a €6 million investment in inshore fisheries; a €12 million investment in coastal communities through fisheries local action groups; and an allocation of €10 million to support implementation of EU environmental law.
‘Starved of funding’
Aquaculture had been “starved of funding” due to licensing issues, Mr Coveney said. The Minister said that, overall, the programme would create employment and increase confidence in the sector at a time when seafood export value had grown by 70 per cent in the past five years.
Mr Coveney said that he could not comment on the Bord Iascaigh Mhara (BIM) plan for an organic salmon farm in Galway Bay as it was still "live", but denied that he had asked BIM to withdraw the application in favour of a smaller scheme.
Mr Coveney said the State’s aquaculture strategy would be published in the coming weeks.
The new seafood programme has to be adopted by the European Commission, but the Minister said that "now is the time for criticism and comment" during the public consultation period, which closes on May 1st.
Welcoming the programme, IFA Aquaculture chief executive Richie Flynn noted that Mr Coveney had "recognised the deep frustration within the sector, and by businesses, who have been waiting for many years for the system to react to applications for renewals, new sites or adjusted areas".
Along with access to funds, the aquaculture industry also needed an “educated, responsive, flexible and cooperative licensing regime”, Mr Flynn said.
