Vol. 386 No. 5
asked the Minister for the Marine the reason he is refusing progressive fishing boat owners licences to replace older fishing vessels with modern well equipped larger boats; and whether his policy in this regard is hindering the development of the sea fishing industry.
55.
asked the Minister for the Marine if new fishing boat licences are being issued by his Department; the way in which the plan for fishing development can be achieved if no licences are being issued; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
I propose to take Questions Nos. 10 and 55 together.
I do not accept that the development of the Irish sea fishing industry is being hindered by the Department's policy in relation to the issue of boat licences. I referred to this matter earlier.
Under section 222B, inserted by section 2 of the Fisheries (Amendment) Act, 1983, of the Fisheries (Consolidation) Act, 1959, the Minister for the Marine may issue or refuse applications for sea fishing boat licences.
In view of the quotas allocated to Ireland for various stocks and the need to generally reduce the fleet size in terms of gross registered tonnage (GRT) under the EC structures programmes, there has been a tightening up of the issuing of licences with preferential treatment for cases where replacement on a tonne-for-tonne basis occurs. Such a policy has already existed for some time for pelagic vessels and beam trawlers. However, all applications are being considered on their own individual merits. My concern is to ensure that any new entrant will be economically viable and will be so without unreasonably displacing the vessels already in the fleet.
As far as our development plan for fisheries is concerned, the Deputies will be aware that the main emphasis of the plan is in non-quota species and aquaculture with a determined approach to both management of quota fisheries, and improved handling and fishing techniques. A number of exploratory fishing initiatives are being undertaken this year, in line with the programme prepared for us by BIM and approved and funded by the Government and the industry.
How can the Minister reconcile the statement in the BIM report to introduce 70 new vessels in the next couple of years——
The BIM report is based on non-quota and demersal species. The question refers specifically to pelagic vessels and beam trawlers and was raised earlier by Deputy McCartan. We are talking about two different types of fish pelagic versus the unused demersal quotas and the non-quota species which I referred to earlier.
The concept of allowing new boat owners on the sea must be linked to a proper scheme of decommissioning existing trawlers, and trawlers being taken out of commission must not be made available either in these waters or elsewhere for fishing purposes. Would the Minister care to comment on that?
Decommissioning grants are available in some European countries, and some of those boats are finding their way into this country. There is no room in this country for decommissioned boats because if they are not up to standard for other countries, then they are not up to standard for Ireland. Certainly, I can look into the matter but there are serious financial implications. It is a question that we would not continue to ignore. We are looking at what can be done to assist the fishermen to bring boats out of the fleet and replace them.
Am I to understand that the fishing fleet engaged in demersal type fishing are not subject to the limitations of tonnage? Also, does the Minister see that there may be a certain conflict between what is stated in the BIM plan of 70 extra boats and the present State policy which seems to be for containment? The EC want a complete reduction. There appears to be a conflict between those three agencies.
There is no great conflict, but there is a problem in so far as we found ourselves in a very difficult situation when we took office. I take the liberty of repeating this. On our assuming office, the previous Adminstration had recorded and made available to Brussels the fact that there were 32,000 tonnes of GRT in the country when actually there were in excess of 60,000 tonnes. When they could not get even these simple figures right, we should not have been surprised that they could not get the economy right. That is what has us in the present situation. We continue to negotiate with the Commission to have this increased to what we would call a reasonable level. I would not be prepared to play these cards in public. We are negotiating and doing reasonably well, though not extremely well, particularly after finding ourselves with such a low base as 32,000 tonnes. The negotiation is for well in excess of that, but not near what we believe it should be. I believe that further negotiation will leave us in a better position. However, Deputy McGinley will take a different view of demersal type boats as against pelagic type.
A Cheann Comhairle——
I am sorry, Deputy, I am calling the next question, No. 11.
