Irish fishing industry organisations have reacted with a mixture of cynicism and anger to the release of BIM’s annual fisheries report.

By Lorna Siggins – The Skipper

While billed as “Findings of the National Seafood Survey 2025” on its front cover, the report draws on data collected in 2023.

The next BIM National Seafood Survey for Fisheries is already underway, having been initiated on October 9th, and with vessel owners being asked to provide their information for 2024.

However, Irish South and West Fishermen’s Organisation (IS&WFO) chief executive Patrick Murphy says that fishermen will “question the value of participating” if the information they give is “distorted”.

In its press release issued with the fisheries  report on September 29th, BIM said that the Irish fishing industry experienced a “significant increase in profitability in 2023” compared to the “unprecedented challenges faced in 2022”.

The report, which is based on the fishing activity of 1,393 vessels for 2023, showed that while revenue decreased slightly by 1% to €305 million, gross value added (GVA) remained stable at €144.5 million.

Gross profit increased sharply to €48 million, the press release said, and this increase was driven by reductions in operating costs including fuel and personnel costs.

The report said that the sector also benefited from €70.9 million in operating subsidies financed under the Brexit Adjustment Reserve (BAR) and European Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund support. However, this was not factored into gross profit calculations for 2023, it said.

The press release did state that “forecasts for 2024 demonstrate declines in economic performance compared to 2023 due to decreasing revenue, GVA and gross profit linked to a decrease in landings by value”.

“Current projections suggest the sector may be able to achieve some positive outcomes by the end of 2025. A contributing factor could be the improved performance of the demersal sector and gradual reduction in overall operating costs, particularly energy and personnel costs, which has the potential to support improved profitability across parts of the sector, “the BIM press release said.

Industry Reaction

Killybegs Fishermen’s Organisation (KFO) chief executive Dominic Rihan questioned the timing of the report’s release, shortly before the release of scientific advice on mackerel, blue whiting and boarfish by the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES).

“Was this timing naïve or deliberate, “Rihan asked.

“A cynic might say it deflects from the real crisis that we are now facing, given that it is based on old data. So its effectiveness is questionable,”.

“The report compares a slightly better year (2023) with a bad year (2022),”Rihan said. “So of course one can see a positive picture. “And one could say it is manipulating data to give a false impression by giving percentage differences, rather than raw data,”he said.

“Government departments all like to use positive headlines, and the headlines for this are quite selective – but if one digs deeper, there is a different kind of trend,”.

Rihan said his biggest criticism would be the section at the end of the report on “looking forward”, which he described as “Alice in Wonderland”.

“The only reason that boats survived in 2024 was that the price of fish was so good, but those prices are not sustainable in the long term,”. It may not have been BIM’s decision to release the report when it did, but it certainly tempered any hope of the industry getting anything out of the Government’s Budget this year,”.

Irish Fish Producers’ Organisation (IFPO) chief executive Aodh O Donnell said that while “BIM has an important role to play”, it “needs to be working with up-to-date data”.

“A lot has changed since 2023 in terms of quota cuts since then,”O Donnell said.

“Timing is critical, but reports are only of value if they are up to date, taking into account the likely outcomes in 2026 to inform policy,”.

“The most important role BIM could play now is to commission an environmental impact assessment which takes into account the impact of the quota cuts we are facing. This would not take long to do,”he said.

IS&WFPO chief executive Patrick Murphy said that releasing a report now is of limited value, when it is based on “old data, old advice”.

“If scientists looking at the state of stocks can conduct re-evaluations and change their models, why can’t a body like BIM do the same,”.

“Fishermen are struggling to pay their bills, and BIM is effectively saying that ‘you are grand’,” Murphy said.

“If the people who are there to help are saying that they don’t believe we are in trouble, then we are doomed, Just look at the size of the fleet over 50 metres in length now on the register.”

“How come BIM can’t see that a boat is earning a third of what it had in 2019,”he said.

National Inshore Fishermen’s Association (NIFA) chair Michael Desmond singled out a percentage figure on page 26 of the report which referred to gross profitability of the SSF (inshore) fleet rising by 180 per cent.

This was qualified in the report by percentages showing a decline in revenue (-11%) and gross value added (-9%) in 2023.

BIM said that the profitability improved significantly due to reductions in key operating costs, including fuel (-7%), personnel (-38%), and maintenance (-29%) expenses, and that “this resulted in a strong recovery from a particularly low base in 2022”.

“We have a heap of fellas working singlehandedly as they either can’t afford or can’t find crew,” Desmond said.

“So highlighting profitability doesn’t give a sense of the struggle people are having,”.

Noting the positive performance of the pelagic fleet, Desmond said that this seemed out of date when ICES-recommended cuts were looming for next year.

“And we in the inshore sector are affected by this, even though we weren’t invited to the recent crisis meeting with Minister Dooley in Killybegs,”.

“We use mackerel and blue whiting for bait now and the price has already doubled. The trawlers that used to give us whitefish are gone.”

“Our expenses are ten-fold higher than 30 years ago – fuel, bait, insurance and maintenance costs have sky-rocketed – and this report doesn’t reflect that,”.

“Shellfish prices are falling, and we can’t compete with imports like American lobster, “he said.

“Our one chance to make money from quality line-caught mackerel is severely limited by the tiny quota we get, and neither Bord Bia nor BIM will make any attempt to market it as a quality product because of that small quota,”.

“So much of this is an easy fix if there was political will,” Desmond added.

Irish South and East Fish Producers’ Organisation chief executive John Lynch has been appointed recently to the board of BIM. However, speaking on behalf of his organisation, he concurred with the view that the “headlines” to the report gave a misleading picture.

“People really have to read through the report to see what’s going on, as this was information provided by fishermen, “he said.

BIM Response

Asked to respond to criticisms of the report, BIM said that “the timing of the report is determined by data availability and EU submission deadlines”.

“Its publication on the day before the ICES recommendations were published was a coincidence. BIM was unaware of the ICES advice when publishing the historic fisheries report and fully recognises the significant challenges currently facing the pelagic sector in relation to the proposed 2026 Total Allowable Catch (TAC),”it said.

“The purpose of the annual fisheries report is to provide an objective, evidence-based overview of the 2023 fleet performance based on industry reported data to inform future policy and support decision-making at both national and EU level,”.

“BIM’s annual reports on the economic performance of Ireland’s seafood industry are published at the same time each year, following completion of the National Seafood Survey (NSS) validation process,”.

“The NSS survey is the cornerstone of Ireland’s data collection obligations under the EU Data Collection Framework (DCF). Data for 2023 was collected over a four-month period between October 2024 and January 2025. Publication of the report follows the formal finalisation of the data by the EU,”.

“BIM contributes to the formal consultation process on fishing opportunities for 2026 through the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine’s call for stakeholder submissions on the ICES advice and the European Commission’s communication to EU Parliament and the EU Council, Sustainable fishing in the EU: state of play and orientations for 2026,”.

“BIM’s technical assessment of the potential impacts of the proposed TAC changes forms part of Ireland’s official submission under that process and highlights the impact the proposed TACs for 2026 would have on the Irish fishing sector, “.

“The reported 180% increase in gross profit for the small-scale (inshore) fleet refers to overall fleet averages for vessels under 12 metres in length. This segment, which represents 82% of Ireland’s active fleet and supports over half of all national full-time equivalent jobs in fishing, operates mainly within 12 nautical miles of the coast, “BIM said.

“The report also gives a breakdown of gross profit for the sub-segments of the inshore fleet and highlights how many of the segments do not show a positive gross profit,”.

“While the inshore fleet recorded declines in revenue (-11%) and gross value added (-9%) in 2023, profitability improved significantly due to reductions in key operating costs, including fuel (-7%), personnel (-38%), and maintenance (-29%) expenses. This resulted in a strong recovery from a particularly low base in 2022,”.

BIM said that “it should also be noted that the Irish Fleet Economic Assessment Scheme, which aimed to gather data from the inshore fleet, led to a substantial improvement in data coverage and accuracy within the inshore fleet in 2024”.

 “Participation levels rose sharply, allowing BIM to produce a more representative assessment of inshore economic performance. As a result, the time series may show a stronger year-on-year change compared to earlier years, reflecting improved data quality rather than a structural shift in profitability, “it concluded.