A doubling of annual EU and State expenditure on the marine sector should increase employment by up to 20 per cent over the next seven years in the most peripheral regions, according to a study by Bord Iascaigh Mhara.
The marine sector receives only 1 per cent of EU structural funds but this yields more in jobs and export terms pro rata than investment in agriculture, the study says.
While EU and State expenditure is £14,500 annually per farm worker - £25,000 if trade transfers are added - it is only £1,500 annually per employee in fisheries and aqua-culture.
The BIM plan earmarks nine development programmes for the coastal region, hinging on £154 million in EU investment support, which would ensure the future development of an industry currently worth more than £300 million annually in sales.
Some 60,000 people, including 16,000 direct employees, are dependent on the seafood industry, it notes. The plan assumes the next round of structural funds will last seven years, based on the western, midland and Border counties retaining Objective 1 status.
By increasing overall investment to £364 million over the next seven years, comprising £195 million in EU and State funds and the balance in private investment, the plan aims to:
Increase the value of the marine catch from £130 million to £166 million annually;
increase output in aqua-culture from £59 million to £123 million annually;
increase processing output from £213 million to £367 million annually;
increase exports from £228 million to £370 million annually;
and boost total direct employment by 1,900 people by 2006, with a further 1,500 new jobs in the ancillary and service sectors.
Even with the paltry level of current EU structural funding, the plan notes that fish landings rose by 33 per cent, from £98 million to £130 million between 1993 and 1997; aqua-culture increased by 44 per cent, from £41 million to £59 million; and processing output rose by 34 per cent, from £159 million to £213 million.
Direct employment also grew from 15,470 to 15,832, and exports grew from £186 million to £228 million, a 23 per cent rise.
In an indirect reference to a draft ESRI report, which advised against further investment in the fishing industry - a recommendation which was withdrawn in the final ESRI report - the BIM study emphasises that seafood employment is concentrated in a small number of peripheral fishing ports and coastal, island and Gaeltacht communities, where other employment opportunities are limited or non-existent.
The Minister for the Marine and Natural Resources, Dr Woods, said the report was an important strategic contribution to the debate on national investment priorities after 2000.
