The Irish Sea Fisheries Protection Authority (SFPA) has disputed fishing industry claims that new E.U. requirements for weighing catch and tracing vessels is creating a shortage of raw materials for processors.
Irish fishing representatives recently said that new, stricter monitoring requirements have led to foreign vessels taking their catch elsewhere, leaving processors in such coastal towns as Killybegs in the lurch.
“This system is broken,” Irish Fish Producers Organization (IFPO) CEO Aodh O’Donnell told SeafoodSource in September. “Our ports should be magnets for landings, but the rules have had the opposite effect. Reform at the E.U. level is urgently needed to restore confidence, competitiveness, and jobs in coastal communities.”
However, data from the SFPA, which is an Irish independent statutory body responsible for regulating fisheries and seafood production, appears to contradict those claims.
SFPA data shows that overall landings in Ireland rose in 2024 to 264,582 metric tons (MT) from the 244,989 MT recorded the previous year.
The SFPA also noted that landings of pelagic species – the key fish category processed in Killybegs – by foreign vessels have remained relatively constant in recent years.
“In 2021, there were 38 pelagic landings from non-Irish vessels into Ireland,” the authority said. “In 2023, there were 37 pelagic landings. In 2024, there were 45 pelagic landings from non-Irish vessels landing into Ireland with 95,000 MT landed. Up to the end of May 2025, there have been 63 pelagic landings from non-Irish vessels into Ireland with just under 79,000 MT being landed. The volume of demersal species landed by non-Irish vessels has remained consistent over the same period.”
The SFPA also played down claims by the Irish fishing industry that E.U. regulations are squarely to blame for a scarcity of raw materials, explaining that a variety of factors dictate where trawlers offload their catches.
“It is a commercial decision for vessels to land fish into a particular port with a number of factors taken into consideration, including price being paid by the factory, proximity to fishing grounds, services available, etc.,” the authority said.
Bord Iascaigh Mhara (BIM), an Irish agency tasked with growing the nation's seafood sector, similarly said that a lack of raw materials may be due to several external factors.
“Globally, competition for raw material has increased, pushing up landing prices and eroding processor margins. As a result, landings into Killybegs have become less frequent, while processing costs have risen in parallel with transport, packaging, fuel, and labor costs,” the agency said.
As landings dwindle, it may require doing more with less, according to BIM, which said processors in places like Killybegs have invested heavily to maximize value from the fewer raw materials they are receiving.
“Some have modernized production with state-of-the-art processing lines, greener freezing systems, and automation that reduce costs and improve efficiency,” the agency said. “One major investment has enabled year-round processing from frozen raw material, but supply constraints remain a challenge.”
