Vol. 406 No. 8
27 Mr. G. O'Sullivan asked the Minister for the Marine whether, in view of the importance of our fishing grounds, he has any plans to charter oceanographic ships from the Soviet Union which are now available to analyse, access and quantify our fish stocks; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
I would like to assure the Deputy, in the first instance, that I am well aware of the importance of our fishing grounds and of the need to engage in ongoing research in order to extend our knowledge of the resources they contain. To this end, my Department and BIM carry out a series of exploratory fishing voyages and surveys each year, sometimes using my Department's own research vessel, the Lough Beltra, while on other occasions fishing vessels chartered from the industry are used. These voyages have proved very successful not only from the point of view of extending our knowledge of traditional fish stocks but also in the identification of new species of commercial potential to the industry here.
With specific reference to the Soviet Union, I would like to inform the Deputy that a highly successful and cordial agreement already exists between this country and the USSR in the field of marine research. The Polar Research Institute in Murmansk carries out an annual acoustic survey of blue whiting during their spawning period off the west coast of Ireland in March and April each year. For a period of three to five weeks, Irish scientists, both from my Department and University College Galway, Join their Soviet counterparts on board ship and work in close co-operation on the study of this important and relatively unknown species. While on board, the Irish scientists also engage in research on horse mackerel eggs and a variety of other studies.
This co-operation with the Soviet Union in fisheries research is of substantial value to the Irish fisheries sector. I will be exploring on an ongoing basis all means of further developing this co-operation in fisheries research.
