Complaints have been made by fishermen who use other types of gear, about alleged damage to fishing grounds caused by vessels which engage in beam trawling. These criticisms are rejected by the beam trawling sector. In the interests of better co-operation between Irish fishermen using different types of gear in shared fisheries, my Department has encouraged dialogue between beam trawler owners and other fishermen. We will continue to facilitate further discussions.
As I have previously advised the Deputy, there are six vessels in the dedicated beam trawler segment of the Irish fishing fleet. There are also a number of vessels in the polyvalent segment of the fleet which are not precluded from fishing by means of beam trawls, or which are permitted to engage in beam trawling for a proportion of their fishing time. Quantification of the number of such vessels is under way in my Department as part of a comprehensive analysis of beam trawl entitlements within the polyvalent segment. This analysis has proved more complex and time consuming than anticipated originally, but the aim is to complete the work by September and we will provide the Deputy with comprehensive information at that stage.