Vol. 562 No. 4
127 Mr. McGinley asked the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources if the owners of inshore fishing boats who have registered prior to the introduction of the recently announced new limited scheme to licence and register small inshore fishing boats will be compensated for huge expenses incurred in licensing and registering their boats. [6125/03]
The new limited inshore licensing scheme contains a number of specific restrictions which do not apply to the owners of currently registered inshore vessels. In addition the owners of currently licensed vessels will retain their existing entitlements. In the circumstances the owners of currently licensed and registered inshore fishing boats will not be financially compensated arising from the introduction of the new limited inshore licensing scheme.
The owners of currently licensed and registered inshore fishing vessels, having acquired replacement capacity under normal licensing policy, will retain this asset for use within the wider polyvalent segment. Their normal polyvalent licences will not be subject to the same restrictions as those issued under the new scheme, which only applies to boats under 12 metres in length and 20 gross registered tonnes. The capacity of boats licensed under the scheme will be ring-fenced and will not be eligible, for trade or use, as replacement capacity. Furthermore, it is proposed that boats licensed under the scheme will only be permitted to fish with static gear and for non-quota species, which is not the case with currently licensed polyvalent boats.
The European Commission has approved, in principle, the new scheme, strictly on the basis that it will not lead to increased fishing effort in the existing polyvalent segment of the Irish fleet. The new scheme therefore only applies to currently unlicensed and unregistered boats with a proven track record in inshore fishing.
Fishermen who have had a boat licensed and registered since 1 January 1990 are not eligible to apply under the scheme. The only exceptions are those who applied under the limited inshore scheme announced by my predecessor last year and have since had their boats licensed and registered.
The fishing industry is currently being widely consulted on the operation of the new scheme. While the basic principles of the scheme are essentially dictated by the European Commission and may not be changed, aspects of its implementation are open to discussion.
