Dáil Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 24 Apr 1996

Vol. 464 No. 4

Written Answers. - Fish Landings.

Mary Harney

Question:

31 Miss Harney asked the Minister for the Marine the number of flagship landings of fish into Ireland for 1996; the total tonnage of fish landed; its value; and the percentage of these landings which were verified by Irish fishery officers. [8206/96]

Minister for the Marine (Mr. Barrett)

To date this year 52 flagships have landed fish into Irish ports on 147 occasions. Landings have amounted to 1,372 tonnes of fish, valued at around IR£2 million. Approximately 75 per cent of flagship landings to date were verified by the Department's sea fishery officers through random spot checks carried out by day and night.

None of the landings by flagships inspected on the quayside was found to be in breach of EU fishing rules. This reflects the high level of inspection and control we impose and which vessels have come to expect when they land their catches here. The job of policing and enforcing compliance with conservtion regulations is obviously made easier when these vessels do land into Irish ports.

More often than not however they land elsewhere and we then have to rely on other member states to enforce the law. In addition to land based inspections the Irish fishery protection services also closely monitor flagship activity at sea. The Naval Service detains all vessels suspected of being in breach of fishing regulations and prosecutions follow in every appropriate case. We are continuing to press for much closer scrutiny by other member states of fishing activity of flagships at sea and on landings into their ports. I am concerned about the flagship problem from a number of perspectives and I am glad to have this opportunity to share those concerns with Deputies.

Over 150 flagships, or so called quota hoppers, operate in EU waters. Most of them are registered in the UK. There are 12 on the Irish register and some registered in France and Germany. They fish against the national quotas of the state in which they are registered. They are owned or partly owned elsewhere and mainly land their catch abroad which, as I have outlined, imposes particular enforcement problems.

My immediate priority therefore is to ensure that the activities of flagvessels are adequately controlled. I am however more broadly concerned about the inconsistency underlying the quota regime of the Common Fisheries Policy which allows flagships to benefit from national quotas without providing real economic benefits for the fishing communities of the flag state. This is because the eligibility for quotas and their administration by member states has to take full account of general Treaty provisions on right of establishment and freedom of movement. I have raised these concerns with the Commission as indeed has my UK colleague, Minister Baldry. We will be working together with likeminded member states on the complex and difficult issues involved to see whether, in the longer term, changes are possible. European fish stocks are under severe pressure and national fishing industries are faced with the prospect of further fleet cuts to address the overcapacity problem in the EU fleet as a whole. The flagships issue has to be recognised as one of the demensions of the overall problem and, as I stressed at the Fisheries Council last Monday, it must be taken into account in the search for equitable and realistic solutions to secure the future viability of fish stocks.