Vol. 504 No. 6
8 Mr. Ring asked the Minister for the Marine and Natural Resources the effectiveness of the fisheries protection vessels in the implementation of real time catch reporting for flagships entering and leaving the Irish zone. [12365/99]
Real time entry-exit reporting, catch reporting and satellite monitoring are the key components of a package of fisheries management and control measures negotiated by Ireland at the time of the Iberian Accession to the Common Fisheries Policy. The measures are primarily designed to ensure that all fishing activity in the Irish zone is managed and monitored transparently and on a real time basis. EU fishing vessels transiting fishery zones or entering or leaving ports must report their entry and exit to the Irish fisheries control service.
Vessels are also obliged since July 1998 to simultaneously report their on-board catches. These reports are made to the Naval Supervisory Centre at Haulbowline which is the central repository for fisheries surveillance data. Monitoring for compliance with these reporting requirements is a key inspection task for the Naval Service vessels. To ensure the most effective enforcement of these requirements by naval vessels, the development of a fully integrated fisheries surveillance system capability is in progress. This system will enable comprehensive on-line access to, and data retrieval by, the Naval Service at sea communicating with the Haulbowline data base.
All data bases and communicating systems are being upgraded with, in addition, the immediate objective of ensuring that all systems are Y2K compliant. I understand that incremental progress has been made but in common with all EU member states considerable work remains to be done to put all the operational and data systems in place for maximum coverage and data utilisation.
My Department is working with the Department of Defence and the Naval Service to ensure comprehensive delivery within a reasonable timeframe. In the meantime the existing systems will continue to be utilised to the full to ensure that all vessels, including flagships, make the necessary reports.
When the Minister refers to comprehensive surveillance will he consider the weighbridge approach, as he indicated in private conversation with fishermen in Brussels last December? It means that when flagships converge on a certain area they are subject to inspection by the Naval Service and are then subject to further inspection on leaving. Does the Minister agree that if we adopted this system, which has been so successfully used by the Norwegians, it would probably lead to the collection of more valid information, including information on conservation?
Unfortunately, the Norwegian system is that of an independent country outside the EU.
I accept that.
That is the problem. We cannot do what they do because we are bound by EU regulations and rules. The nearest we can approximate to the Norwegian system is to have a check when vessels enter and leave the zone, with reporting in both instances. The system is designed to ensure that vessels are first monitored on satellite. Second, they will have to return real time-current time reports on what they hold on entering and leaving any specified area. That is our equivalent to the weighbridge in the sea.
It is not the same.
That is correct because not all the boats go to one point. However, under our system the Naval Service can pick any vessel and check the record of what it had entering and what it is supposed to have on leaving. Prior to that there was only one record on what the vessel had on entering and that created a problem.
At present the Naval Service has responsibility for monitoring fishing vessels coming into and going out of the Irish zone. Does the Minister accept that seven vessels are inadequate to monitor 132,000 square miles of water? Is he in consultation with the Minster for Defence to ensure that the Naval Service is given the necessary resources so that the fleet is increased in size to enable it do its job properly?
I congratulate Deputy Coveney and the Coveney family on their round the world trip. Thank God they arrived home safely to Cork last Saturday having undertaken a marathon trip to raise funds for charity. Please convey our best wishes to them.
I thank the Minister.
A new £20 million state-of-the-art vessel is due, which will give the Naval Service a great opportunity. It is the latest addition to the service. The needs of the service with regard to surveillance will be monitored on an ongoing basis. We are dependent on the funds made available to us on a continuing basis, as well as capital funds for the work of surveillance in the Irish seas. I accept it is a difficult task.
