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Submission to the Joint Oireachtas Committee Agriculture, Food and Marineon the Bad Weather in December 2013 and January and February 2014

As the Committee members are no doubt aware Ireland experienced a prolonged period of severe weather from the middle of December 2013 until the end of February 2014. While this weather had an impact on the entire population of Ireland for fishermen it had particularly devastating consequences from an economic point of view.

To put the severity of the weather experienced in context if you define a “bad weather day” as any day where the wind gusts exceed 40 knots (which would render small fishing vessels incapable of fishing) then during the 4 month period between November 2013 and February 2014 Ireland experienced more than 40 such days which is twice the average number of days experienced during the previous 4 winters (please see Table 1 below for further details).

Table 1: Number of days in the 4 months between November and February where the maximum wind gust exceeded 40 knots.

Winter / No of days
2009 - 2010 / 24
2010 - 2011 / 13
2011 - 2012 / 27
2012 - 2013 / 16
2013 - 2014 / 40

In addition if you look at the number of “extreme” weather days i.e. where wind gusts exceeded the threshold between 40 -60 knots the number exceeded any of those recorded in the previous 5 winters. (Please see Table 2 below)

Table 2: Number of days in the 4 months between November and February where the maximum wind gust exceeded thresholds between 40 and 60 knots.

Max guest / 40 / 45 / 50 / 55 / 60
Days
2009 - 2010 / 24 / 7 / 4 / 1 / 1
2010 - 2011 / 13 / 8 / 2 / 2 / 0
2011 - 2012 / 27 / 11 / 6 / 1 / 0
2012 - 2013 / 16 / 9 / 6 / 3 / 1
2013 - 2014 / 40 / 28 / 18 / 10 / 4

The impact of this severe weather has been nothing short of a disaster for fishermen. Inshore fishermen have suffered doubly both in terms of lost income due to being unable to go out and fish but also in terms of gear loss as a result of the weather. In addition to having no income for over two months they now find themselves in the unenviable position of being unable to fish due to extent of gear loss suffered by them. While Minister Coveney has put in place a scheme for the replacement of lobster/crab or shrimp pots the scheme has a limited impact both due to the limits placed on the scheme itself but also and more importantly as a result of those fishermen who are affected inability to access the capital requried to cover the portion of the cost of replacement pots. Under the scheme under 15 metre vessel ownser who lost shellfish pots or had them irrevocably damaged during the storms that took place during the period from the 18th of Decmeber 2013 to the 28th February 2014 were entitled to apply for compensation. The amounts available were €24 per lobster/crab pot and €12 for shrimp pots up to a maximum number of 50 pots for vessels under 12 metres and 100 pots for vessels of 12 metres or over but under 15 metres. Uptake on the scheme has been low however with just 151 vessels applying (it should be noted there are approximately 1,800 vessels who would have been entitled to apply for the scheme). This is in part due to the conditions of the scheme itself which required vessels to produce proof of payment for the lost pots as many fishermen would not retain such documentation for a long period. In addition as the pots had to be purchased and paid for before the grant aid was reclaimed a large number of vessels owners were unable to access the capital to purchase replacement pots and therefore were unable to avail of the scheme.

These fishermen as they are self employed have little or no access to Social Welfare payments during times when they have no income. While they can avail of the “Fish Assist” Scheme to do so they must satisfy a means test which is equivalent to that employed under the Jobseekers Allowance scheme and therefore to qualify they would have to sell their vessel etc and render themselves long term unemployed to access any form of social welfare payment.

At this present time therefore such inshore fishermen are in a situation where while at last the weather has improved sufficiently they are still unable to fish (and generate an income for themselves, their crew and families and the rural coastal periheral communitites that rely on them for survival) as they have no or insufficient gear to do so.

In addition the majority of whitefish trawlers have also suffered significant economic losses as a result of this severe weather due to their inability to fish during the period from the middle of December to the end of February. During this time period a few “lucky” vessels managed a maximum of perhaps 5 days fishing while the majority of vessels were unable to fish at all. Again as these are self employed they have no access to any social welfare payment during this period of time when they had no income while at the same time mortgages (both house and boats) and the day to day expenses of life had to be met.

We are not overstating the matter when we say at this moment in time many fishermen are facing financial hardship with a number considering bankruptcy (and its significant consequences)as their only option.

FIF and its consitutent organisations have repeatedly requested that an adequate compenstaion scheme be put in place that would compensate both those inshore vessels who have suffered gear and income loss and also those trawlers who have suffered considerable loss of income. We would like to take this opportunity to repeat this request and would ask that the Irish State adopt a similar approach to other Member States such as the UK and France who have given a commitment to assist their fishermen through this extremely difficult time.

For example in the UK a a scheme has been put in place with grant payments ranging from between £500- £5,000 with funding being provided at a rate of 60% for vessels under 12 metres and 40% for vessels over 12 metres. In Northern Ireland grant aid is available to all vessels under 27 metre length and is paid on a length based ratio as set out below:

Vessel size / Payment fixed
Under 10m / £1,000
10m but under 15m / £2,500
15m but under 20m / £3,250
20m but under 27m / £4,000

We urgently request that additional Government support be put in place to compensate fishermen and that some EMFF funding be fast tracked in advance of the final agreement. It should be noted that under the political and technical agreement reached at the end of January on the EMFF provision is made under article 33 (c) 1 to pay financial compensation to fishermen for economic losses caused by adverse climatic events under certain conditions. Furthermore the compensation can be back dated to 1st January2014. Indeed Commissioner Damanaki has in made the following statement in relation to the use of EMFF funds for compensation for losses suffered as a result of the recent bad weather:

“The new European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF) may co-finance mutual fundsto pay financial compensation to fishermen for economic losses caused by adverseclimatic events. Member States choosing to co-finance these types of measures fromthe EMFF should include them in their respective Operational Programme andensure that the contribution complies with relevant provisions in the Regulation. TheEMFF can also co-finance investments to improve fishing port infrastructure toimprove safety and working conditions.State aid to make good the damage caused by natural disasters and exceptionaloccurrences is, in accordance with Article 107 (2) (b) TFEU, compatible with theinternal market. Once the existence of a natural disaster or exceptional occurrencehas been demonstrated and a direct causal link between those events and thespecific losses incurred has been established, an aid of up to 100 % to compensatefor material damage is permitted.The Commission is currently reviewing the Block Exemption Regulation applicable tothe fishery and aquaculture sector and envisages exempting from notification thistype of compensatory aid measure.”

The extreme weather experienced as illustrated above requires a concerted exceptional Government effort to alleviate the real hardship caused to fishermen by this event and we therefore once again call on the Government to do so and help these fishermen to continue in their chosen profession and avoid long term unemployment

Finally FIF is recommending as a matter of urgency the following course of action.

  1. That the Government put place an adequate compensation scheme both for those inshore vessels who have suffered gear and income loss and also those trawlers who have suffered considerable loss of income.
  2. That the scheme is put in place before the end of April 2014.
  3. That additional Government funding is provided and that the EMFF funding is fast tracked.
  4. That a user friendly application process be put in place
  5. That the compemsation is paid to fishermen before end of May 2014

As a result of its involvement in another forum and separate to this request, FIF are pursuing a more appropriate taxation system for various segments of the Irish fishing industry. Many Irish fishing vessels spend prolonged periods at sea and it is our view that much of our national fleet are entitled to the seafarer’s allowance.

Constituent members of FIF

Killybegs Fishermen’s Organisation

Irish South & West Fish Producers Organisation Ltd.

Irish Fish Producers Organisation

Appendix One: Illustration of severe weather events as experienced at Sea.