Turning the Tide: Our Strategy for 2022 – 2026

Seafood from Ireland enjoys an enviable reputation for quality

The waters where we catch or farm our produce are seen as clean and natural. Seafood itself is perceived as both healthy and indulgent – a unique combination – and eating seafood is not viewed as a habit that impacts climate change. This is a product that has significant potential for growth, much of it currently untapped.

The people who catch or farm the seafood that Ireland eats and exports have typically done so for generations. They are fiercely loyal and hard working. They support each other and their traditions with passion and determination.

At BIM, our aim has always been to help this community to achieve more, and to be rewarded more for their efforts. We seek ways for the Irish seafood sector to defend what is unique and yet still look for growth and improvement. Now, more than ever, we need to fulfil this role.

Meeting the challenges of the next five years

In this web page, Bord Iascaigh Mhara sets out our strategic goals from 2022 to 2026. This comes at a time when the Irish seafood sector faces change on a scale that is without precedent, mainly due to Brexit. The UK / EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement of 2020 had a unique and disproportionate impact on Irish seafood. Our fleet will lose 15% of its annual quota; exports of product to the UK and imports of ingredients and supplies from the UK have become disrupted. Finally, the UK land-bridge – the fastest-route-to market for continental Europe is now less viable.

Combined with the long-term impact of climate change, this creates a singular threat to the future of our sector. This is not a time for a steady-as-she-goes approach; to pass through this storm, the people of BIM and the seafood sector we support will have to work together with absolute intent and focus. BIM has always been committed in our work to support and develop the seafood sector. But the scale of the current context requires fresh thinking, renewed energy, and an absolute focus on the new challenges ahead.

With the support of the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, we have now developed our new five-year strategy. This sets out four goals that aim to redefine what we do, and to positively reshape the sector as a result. These goals are supported by four new approaches to how we work – which will change the culture and consequence of BIM as an organisation.

There are no quick fixes, and this will not be easy. But if we commit to this strategy – with the effort and intensity that it demands, we can prevail together.

How do we turn this ambition into a reality?

The scope and range of our strategy is pioneering and challenging – this reflects the existential challenges now faced by the sector. We must start planning how to deliver our goals for Irish seafood, and how to activate our new approaches when working towards those goals. It is essential that we find ways to make these objectives achievable, rather than aspirational. Setting these goals was the easy part; delivering them will be hard. But our success will secure the long-term sustenance of Irish seafood.

Next Steps

Our next steps towards realising these goals can be summarised as follows:

• Talk to our clients, our people, and our stakeholders – to persuasively explain our ambition and our ask, and to listen to their views on this strategy.
• Empower the leaders within our own organisation who can take command of each of our four goals and approaches.
• Develop an activation plan that reflects our strategy, and the response from stakeholders to our strategy. This will have clear timelines and measurable milestones towards our objectives.
• Start an ongoing process to update stakeholders on our progress towards these goals.

We are not underestimating the scale of the challenge we have set ourselves.

To the seafood sector: We know that you have faced disruption, stress and uncertainty in your lives and livelihoods. We want to reassure you that our future is aligned with yours, and we will do all we can to protect, defend and grow the Irish seafood sector. Creating a sustainable future for Irish seafood will require systemic and significant change. We now need to work together to achieve this.

To our own team: This is a voyage we must make together, and we must do so as a united team with a shared aspiration. In the same way that we need the sector to work in a way they can sustain for the long term, we will ask no more of our own people. We simply want an agreed focus on what matters, and on what makes a measurable difference.

Irish seafood is a precious resource that needs care and expertise to sustain and to serve. The people who bring Irish seafood to our tables have a heritage, tradition, and skill that commands respect. But they are also professionals – who strive for as much sense of financial security and certainty as any other business. Bord Iascaigh Mhara has a unique responsibility to Irish seafood, and to the people who work in the Irish seafood sector. This strategy shows our renewed promise to those who catch, farm, and enjoy Irish seafood. We want to make sure that Irish seafood remains on the menu for generations to come. We want to help the sector grow, so those who work with Irish seafood can sustain a living, and so their children can have the same opportunity, if not better. With your help, we can achieve this – together.

Turning the Tide 2022 - 2026

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Ag Casadh na Taoide 2022 – 2026

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