Vol. 462 No. 6
47 Ms O'Donnell asked the Minister for the Marine the reason the five Donegal based special whitefish licensed vessels are not permitted into area V1, while at the same time six Spanish vessels have been permitted into this area since 1 January 1996. [5169/96]
The special whitefish scheme was introduced with the primary objective of increasing the take-up of unexploited whitefish and prawn quotas off the south and west i.e. ICES area VII. In view of the existing level of take-up of Irish quotas by at least 200 Irish whitefish boats traditionally active in area VI, the 20 boats licensed under the scheme are precluded from fishing for quota species in that area. They are however free to fish for non quota species in area VI. Policy decisions in relation to the special whitefish scheme are governed purely by domestic fisheries management considerations.
As regards Spanish vessels fishing for Spanish quotas in area VI, 23 such vessels have been entitled to fish in area VI for the last decade. Of these, only eight are now entitled to fish in the Irish Box. There is, of course, no increase in the Spanish quota entitlements in this area.
