Vol. 434 No. 10
4 Mr. Sheehan asked the Minister for the Marine the steps, if any, he is taking to renegotiate the Irish Box or a similar concept for the protection of Irish fisheries as incorporated under the 1985 Treaty of Accession, in view of the fact that adjustments to this arrangement must be adopted by the EC before 31 December 1993.
70 Mr. McGinley asked the Minister for the Marine if he will give an assurance that Spanish and Portuguese fishing vessels will not be permitted access to the Irish Fishing Box from 1 January 1996.
80 Mr. Clohessy asked the Minister for the Marine the progress, if any, he has had regarding discussions with the EC on the dismantling of the Irish Box.
I propose to take Questions Nos. 4, 70 and 80 together. As the Deputies will be aware, a number of the provisions of the Iberian Act of Accession in relation to fisheries fall for review at this time. The Council must decide by the end of this year what changes, if any, should be made and such changes must come into effect as from 1 January 1996.
The two major elements involved in this review are the Irish Box and the specific control arrangements, the list system, the basic and periodic list, which apply to the Spanish fishing fleet. The legal position in relation to the Box, and this is a Treaty provision, is that it will lapse as from 1 January 1996. It is a legal provision in the Treaty and we are bound by it.
The position in relation to the other controls (i.e., the list system) is that they will remain until the year 2002 unless the Council, by 31 December this year, decides by qualified majority voting to make changes.
I should mention at this point that there is a desire on the part of the Commission — and this has some support among member states — that the position of Spain and Portugal should be normalised within the Common Fisheries Policy framework. This is seen as being of particular significance in the context of the negotiation of the terms of accession of the Nordic countries to the Community.
While Ireland has no objection, in principle, to the normalisation of the position of Spain and Portugal, we are only prepared to contemplate a balanced package of measures which, having regard to our experience of the fishing behaviour and practices of these fleets, would fully protect stocks in the Irish control zone.
In any package of measures I will be seeking the following elements to be addressed: (i) the bringing of the size of the fleets concerned into better balance with the stocks available to those fleets; (ii) the establishment of an effective and transparent system of control and monitoring; (iii) pending the establishing of such a system, the retention of the current systems of control, and (iv) the continued non-operation by the Spanish fleet in areas where stocks are under pressure, and the ensuring of no increase in effort in other areas.
The latest proposals presented by the Commission fall far short of the above requirements. On the contrary, they amount in effect to the ending of all special controls. Therefore, I have made it quite clear that those proposals are totally unacceptable and that major changes will be necessary. This matter will come up for consideration at both the November and December Councils. I can assure Deputies that no effort will be spared in the securing of a satisfactory outcome. On the matter of surveillance costs, I would see any diminution of controls on these fleets as a reason for an increased rather than reduced Community contribution.
I am sure the Minister is aware that failure to renegotiate the Irish Box or a similar concept for the protection of Irish fisheries as incorporated in the 1985 Treaty of Accession, will mean the deathknell of our fishing industry. In such circumstances does the Minister realise that not alone will Spanish and Portuguese fishermen clean out our entire fisheries stocks within the 12 mile limit but will even take limpets off the rocks on our shores? While appreciating that the Minister is endeavouring to do his best within Europe, I must warn him that if he fails in this fight I can foresee no future for our fishing industry in that we have 20 per cent of EC fishery waters yet only 5 per cent of the catch.
The Deputy appears to be imparting information rather than seeking it.
Any failure on the part of the Minister in his fight for the protection of our 12 mile fishery limit would mean the end of our fishing industry. I cannot overemphasise that point to the Minister because I have seen our fishing stocks being snatched by Spanish and Portuguese fishermen.
I have great sympathy with the views expressed by Deputy Sheehan and will certainly take them into account. There is no doubt that the legal position is that the Box will go. Our objective is to secure a balanced set of measures which, combined, will afford protection of the stocks in the areas concerned. As I said in my reply, these would entail fleet reduction, enhanced control and restricted areas. On the question of the introduction of a conservation box, I should say that such a Box could be introduced only if it were necessary to protect Irish fishery stocks in a particular area and provided it was implemented on a non-discriminatory basis. I should like to assure the Deputy that I do share his concern, although I would not be pessimistic as he is in regard to the potential death of the Irish fishing fleet. With the new package on offer in the recent past, our fleet will have an advantage in what we will be commissioning and so on. However, that is not relevant to the Deputy's supplementary questions. I can assure hin that I will pay close attention to what he has said.
If the Minister fails to retain the present facilities for our fishery industry, would he endeavour to proceed along the lines of what is at present known as the Shetland Box?
I have all that in mind and assure the Deputy that all these options are being carefully considered at present. Indeed, only yesterday I attended a Fisheries Council meeting in Luxembourg at which I addressed the issues raised by the Deputy. The Deputy will be aware that we are bound by the 1985 Treaty of Accession and that the provisions of the treaty are weighted in favour of the Spaniards and Portuguese. Therefore, the Deputy will appreciate that in going in to argue our case or fight our position, there is an 11:1 majority against us. That is how serious the position is in relation to the end of the Irish Box. As a result, I take into account very seriously what the Deputy has said.
