Dinny McGinley
Question:88 Mr. McGinley asked the Minister for the Marine the steps, if any, he intends taking to protect the interests of Irish fishermen in the area known as the Irish Box; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
Written Answers. - Protection of Fishermen's Interests.
Under the Iberian Act of Accession the fisheries aspects of the Act fell for review by the end of 1993. However, since no final decisions were reached the review is ongoing. The terms of the Act provide that the Irish Box is due to lapse by the end of 1995. The effect of this would be full access for the Spanish and Portuguese fleets to all EU waters outside twelve miles.
This matter has been discussed at recent Councils of Fisheries Ministers where I have taken every opportunity of indicating that any significant change in the present arrangements, including any changes to the Irish Box, would have major direct implications for control, conservation and territorial fishing patterns in the Irish zone.
I have explained to Council the importance and sensitivity of the issue to the Irish Government and Irish fishermen. I stressed that, from a control perspective, the track record of the Spanish fleet in the Irish economic zone was most unsatisfactory. In particular I pointed out that
(a) one out of every two Spanish vessels boarded is detained for serious fishery offences,
(b) nearly three quarters of these vessels were in breach of the terms of the Iberian Act of Accession,
(c) apart from these breaches, the vessels concerned also had serious infringements relating to log books and undersized fish,
(d) since Accession, 40 per cent of the vessels on the basic list have been arrested for serious offences, and
(e) recently, a new problem — secret holds — had come to notice and eight vessels have been detained over the last year.
I have also stressed that the capacity of the Spanish fleet far exceeds the resources available to that fleet.
The arrangements to follow the review of the Iberian Act of Accession are not yet agreed at Council. In view of the risks posed by the heavy concentration of fishing effort by certain vessels to the South West of Ireland at the perimeter of the box, and the extreme pressure on fishing resources, I am pursuing at Community level proposals to adopt specific control arrangements so as to ensure the conservation of stocks in these areas.