asked the Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries the action he proposes to take to protect the interests of those who plant and/ or cultivate shell fish around the coast; and if he will indicate specifically the position regarding the mussel fishery in Cromane Bay, County Kerry.
Ceiseanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Shell Fish Cultivation.
25.
As to the first part of the question, licences and orders may be granted under the Fisheries Acts, 1959 to 1974, which give the holders the right to establish, improve, maintain and regulate shellfish fisheries.
As to the second part, a public inquiry has been held by my Department into the application by the Castlemaine Harbour Co-operative Society Limited for a mussel fishery order in respect of part of Castlemaine Harbour including Cromane Bay which is a public fishery. Objections were raised at the public inquiry to the granting of the order. Because of these objections the application has had to be refused. My Department are in touch with the local mussel fishery interests with a view to resolving the matter.
Did the Parliamentary Secretary say that there is a licensing provision for the planting and cultivation of shellfish? I did not hear the first part of his reply.
As to the first part of the question, licences and orders may be granted under the Fisheries Acts, 1959 to 1974, which give the holders the right to establish, improve, maintain and regulate shellfish fisheries. I am favourably disposed towards making an order in this case if the local objection——
I am not talking about this specific case just now. I should like to ask a general question. Are the Department issuing a licence in control of the rights of the shorebed and the seabed? Will they ensure the protection of any expenditure on planting and cultivation of shellfish by any licence holder?
The Deputy asked: "are the Department in control?" I am afraid they are not in sole control. Fisheries are vested in the public. When we announce that we propose to make an order and we get objections, these objections remove control from us. In such cases we have tried to get local co-operation, or unanimity of opinion among the local people, so that objections will be removed or will be dealt with at local level.
In this fishery at Cromane Bay, Castlemaine Harbour, the local objections prevent me from making an order. Legal opinion available says that it would not be proper for me to make an order until a compromise is reached on this objection. That is the peculiarity of this law. It could be said that the Department are not independent agents. If they were, from the facts available in this case, I would have made this order. I am hopeful that the local people will be able to sort out this question among themselves. If they do so, I shall be only too pleased to make the order.
Do I understand from what the Parliamentary Secretary said, that orders may be made in any specific instance, where applied for by any group to cultivate or plant shellfish? If there is an objection, is there any procedure whereby an objection can be overruled or found to be non-sustainable?
The order can be made if the Department are satisfied that the application is well founded. I have power to make that order. The problem of overruling objections exists in this and other cases. By virtue of the peculiarities of the regulation it is not too easy to overcome objections in such cases because any citizen around the coast is entitled to object. If bona fide objections are made they are very hard to overrule because fisheries are vested in the public and not in the State. If they were vested in the State or the Department, that type of objection could be overruled. Legal opinion tells me that I am not in a position to make an order until such time as I can——
Is there any way of resolving this?
We cannot remain unduly long on any one question.
Seldom or ever would such a case arise.
Would the Parliamentary Secretary give me some information outside the House?
I will be only too pleased to do so.