BIM issues Letters of Offer under the Brexit Voluntary Permanent Cessation Scheme

 

BIM today issued letters of offer to 57 Irish fishing vessels under the fishing vessel Voluntary Permanent Cessation Scheme, funded under the Brexit Adjustment Reserve, with total funding of up to  €75 million. The scheme is a key recommendation of the Seafood Taskforce, established by Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Charlie McConalogue TD, to mitigate the impacts of the fish quota share reductions arising from the EU/UK Trade Cooperation Agreements.  Its aim is to help restore balance between fleet capacity and available fishing quotas following these reductions.

 

Approved applicants have until 8 February 2023 to accept the offer. Once an offer is taken up, vessel owners must surrender their fishing licences within an eight week period and decommission their vessel, in a manner that is environmentally compliant, by 31 October 2023.

 

The Seafood Taskforce agreed a decommissioning target of approximately 60 whitefish and beam trawl vessels with total capacity of 8,000 gross tonnes to ensure the future profitability of the Irish whitefish fleet, with approximately 170 vessels remaining in the fleet. Over 9,000 tonnes of quota fish valued at €35 million annually will be available for remaining whitefish vessels to catch which will ensure the economic viability of the remaining fleet into the future.

 

Interim CEO of BIM, Caroline Bocquel said, “ Minister McConalogue has to date secured funding for a series of schemes, arising from Seafood Taskforce recommendations, to a value of €265m. These have been designed to support industry to adjust and restructure in the post Brexit marketplace and sustain the coastal communities in which they are based. Decommissioning will strengthen the viability of the remaining fleet providing a  significant boost to the economics of those boats by making €34 million of fish quotas available annually to the remaining 170 whitefish vessels.. This scheme will ultimately help to put the sector on sounder financial footing, delivering a sustainable future for Ireland’s fishers, and restoring the profitability of a fishing sector that supports the economies of coastal communities.”