Abstract
Approximately 86% of Irish fishing vessels, as of 2018, are classified as small-scale or inshore (under 12 m in length). These vessels are predominantly active within Ireland’s territorial waters (up to 12 nautical miles) and as such are subject to national management to a greater extent than the larger vessels that operate in the shared waters that are directly governed by the European Union Common Fisheries Policy. Despite the social, cultural and economic importance of the inshore sector to small coastal communities, a governance framework for small-scale fisheries in Ireland has only recently been established. This paper gives a brief overview of Irish inshore fisheries including the numbers and profile of participants, target fisheries and its social, cultural and economic significance. An account is given of a previous unsuccessful attempt to establish a governance system for the sector. The paper then describes and gives some fishers’ perspectives on a second iteration of inshore management established in 2014, the Inshore Fisheries Forums, and the recent emergence of a number of representative bodies for Irish inshore fishers. These initiatives are discussed in the broader context of the fragmented nature of marine governance in Ireland.
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- 1.
At the time of writing, the new strategy had been presented to the Minister but not yet been officially launched and therefore it was not available online. The consultation document for the strategy can be found at http://www.bim.ie/media/bim/content/about/7667-BIM-Strategy-for-the-Irish-Inshore-Fisheries-Sector-2018-2023.pdf
- 2.
AKTEA – Women in fisheries and aquaculture http://akteaplatform.eu
- 3.
Personal communication, National Inshore Fishermen’s Association representative, July 2017.
- 4.
IIMRO is a national organisation set up in 2014 to represent the voices of island communities on marine related matters. It works in partnership with LIFE (Low Impact Fishers Europe) and the European Small Islands Network. http://www.iimro.org/index.html
- 5.
The terms of reference of the NIFF specify that “forums will not spend time on issues that do not have significant impact on inshore fisheries (for example, management of many offshore fisheries…)” (http://inshoreforums.ie/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/IFF-TOR-Jan-2016-with-Env.pdf). While the intention may understandably be to focus discussions on inshore fisheries so that the process stays on track, it is highly political to assume that the management of offshore fisheries does not have significant impact on inshore fisheries and therefore should not be discussed in the forum.
- 6.
IIMRO submission to Joint Oireachtas Committee on Island Fisheries (Heritage Licenses) Bill, May 2018.
- 7.
“It was agreed that quota assignment is a matter of the national authority and that any allocation for islands within the national quota is not contrary to the Common Fisheries Policy; Local management of areas of concern to islands in line with Marine Protected Area guidelines is not contrary to the Common Fisheries Policy.” Excerpt from Minutes of IIMRO meeting with Director General Machado, DG MARE, December 2015.
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Fitzpatrick, M., Brennan, R., Jackson, E. (2020). From Protest to Participation: Learning from Experience in Irish Inshore Fisheries Management. In: Pascual-Fernández, J., Pita, C., Bavinck, M. (eds) Small-Scale Fisheries in Europe: Status, Resilience and Governance. MARE Publication Series, vol 23. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-37371-9_15
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