Gerry O'Sullivan
Question:17 Mr. G. O'Sullivan asked the Minister for the Marine whether he is in favour of standardising fines in EC countries for illegal fishing in view of the widespread abuse of regulations in Irish territorial waters.
Written Answers. - Illegal Fishing.
The primary purpose of any system of penalties should be to ensure that the penalty fits the crime and that it acts as a deterrent to would be offenders. I understand that the range of penalties for fisheries offences provided for at present in Irish legislation is amongst the most severe in the EC Community.
The question of standardisation of penalties for fisheries offences is being considered at present at Community level. While, in principle, this may be desirable, in practice it may not be practicable in the short term because of the differing constitutional, legal and administrative systems in the various member states of the Community.
I will be closely monitoring future developments in this matter at Community level to ensure that any proposals for adjustment to the present system of penalties will result in more effective control of all fishing activity within Community waters.