The European Union is under pressure from the World Trade Organisation (WTO) to reduce funding for the fishing industry, a senior European Commission official has warned.
It will be up to European economists to justify the need for such financial supports, Mr John Farnell, director at DG XIV in Brussels, told a conference hosted by the Marine Institute in Dublin Castle at the weekend.
Although fishing and aquaculture receive only a fraction of the subsidy given to agriculture - £1,500 annually per employee in the marine sector here, compared to £14,500 annually per farm worker, and £25,000 if trade transfers are added - there is growing global pressure to target what is regarded as unfair competition in the marketplace. In addition, the EU's own budget is under internal pressure.
Ireland's fishing industry may still be relatively underdeveloped, and is the subject of a £50 million whitefish renewal scheme, but the EU governments must face the fact that there must be further rationalisation of fleet size, Mr Farnell said.
The European Commission may seek to reduce or review funding for the marine sector in certain areas, notably the purchase of "third country agreements" or fishing rights from non-EU states, Mr Farnell told members of the European Association of Fisheries Economists. Currently, these external agreements absorb some 40 per cent of the EU fisheries budget, and benefit only some member-states. A report on the cost-effectiveness of these agreements is due to be presented in June, Mr Farnell said.
Also, eligibility conditions for structural funding may be reviewed, with the emphasis on reducing fleet capacity. A proposal relating to rationalisation was rejected by ministers at the most recent EU fisheries council. A final decision will be taken in June. The Commission is also seeking to cut supports for unsold fish or withdrawals on the basis that fishing organisations must take more responsibility for the balance between supply and demand, Mr Farnell said.
Recent OECD figures show that two-thirds of government budgets for fishing is spent on management, control and surveillance and research, and only one-third on direct transfers. Continued EU and state support is legitimate, therefore, Mr Farnell said, but with conditions.
"Fisheries management is not just about economics, and it is up to economists to improve their methodology in relation to the socio-economic benefits to the community."
Mr Farnell's comments come in the lead-up to the review of the EU's Common Fisheries Policy, and just weeks after Bord Iascaigh Mhara published a report seeking greater structural funding for the marine sector here in the next round.
Currently, the industry receives only 1 per cent of the structural funds budget. The BIM study argues that a doubling of annual EU and State expenditure on the sector would increase employment by 20 per cent over the next seven years in the most peripheral regions.
Over 70 delegates from Europe and the US attended the conference, which was opened by the Minister for the Marine and Natural Resources, Dr Woods, last week. The Minister emphasised that the economic benefits of fishing spread beyond the coastline to inland towns within easy reach of harbours, where employment was generated.
One of the keynote speakers, Prof Lee Anderson, of the University of Delaware, said the industry should not be too concerned about the negative impact of an alternative system of fisheries management - individual transferable quotas ITQs) - which became so controversial in the US that a moratorium was imposed pending a review.
This system will not necessarily concentrate all the resources in the hands of transnational corporations, as critics fear, Prof Anderson said. Fishermen should still have an important role to play if given access to capital, he said.
A recent report commissioned by the US Congress, and carried out by the National Academy of Sciences, favoured ITQs, with certain constraints, he said.
In a criticism of EU and State policy towards the marine sector, Mr Frank Doyle, secretary-general of the Irish Fishermen's Organisation (IFO), said the laissez-faire approach to management was no basis for policy formulation, and allowed market forces to dictate the pace.
The concept of "economic efficiency" was subject to narrow interpretation and was consequently misguided and counterproductive, Mr Doyle told the conference. Wider socio-economic requirements must be taken into account in policy formulation, he said.
Some 20 Irish vessels which were limited to catching non-quota species off the north-west coast may now be allowed to fish for quota species, the Minister for the Marine and Natural Resources has announced. The 20 boats ail government in 1991, must land at least two-thirds of their catch into Irish ports, the Minister added.
