Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 15 February 2005
286 Mr. Kehoe asked the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources the number of fishermen who have got new licences or licences renewed for scallop fishing in the past three months; if their attention had been drawn to the Departments plans for scallop fishing; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5028/05]
View answerThe Fisheries (Amendment) Act 2003 transferred responsibility for the licensing of sea-fishing boats from the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources to the Licensing Authority for Sea-Fishing Boats which operates on an independent basis subject to criteria set out in that Act. The licensing authority implements general licensing policy in accordance with policy directives issued by the Minister. The head of the licensing authority is the registrar general of fishing boats, a senior official in the Department.
Sea-fishing boat licences are issued on a fleet segment basis rather than for individual species such as scallops. The segment in respect of which a licence is issued does, however, broadly determine the species for which vessels may fish. Under national licensing policy, the Irish fleet is categorised into five fleet segments. these are the pelagic segment, which comprises tank boats which fish for pelagic species, such as herring, mackerel and horse mackerel; the polyvalent segment, comprising multi-purpose vessels which can fish for demersal and shellfish species, and, unless specifically precluded, for pelagic species; the beam trawl segment, made up of beam trawlers which fish for bottom-dwelling species; the specific segment, comprising vessels which can only fish for aquaculture or bivalve shellfish species; and the aquaculture segment, involving vessels which are solely engaged in aquaculture.
While sea-fishing boat licences for fleet segments other than the aquaculture segment do not preclude vessels from fishing for scallops, it is understood that, in practice, the owners of vessels proposing to predominantly engage in this form of fishing apply to have their boats licensed in the specific segment. Fishermen wishing to have the scope to fish for a broader range of species than scallops, or other bivalve shellfish species, have their boats licensed in the polyvalent segment.
The licensing authority informs me that it has, within the past three months, issued one new sea-fishing boat licence for the specific segment and 18 such licences for the polyvalent segment. It further advises that a number of amended or renewal licences were issued over this period but a precise figure is not readily available. The purpose of issuing these licences did not specifically relate to scallop fishing but to general issues such as vessel re-measurement and updating of vessels' data. Some existing licensed vessels which have complied with a code of practice relating to vessel safety had the period of validity of their licences extended. I understand that a general renewal of sea-fishing boat licences is due to take place before the end of June next, when the vast majority of current licences will expire.
At EU level, ceilings on fishing effort were first established in 2003 based, as for all other fisheries, on the average of the fishing effort levels for the reference period 1998 to 2002, inclusive. The Irish scallop fleet has been increasing fishing effort over the period 1998-2002, and 2003 saw a substantial increase in effort over 2002. The level of effort available for 2005 for the Irish fleet is accordingly less than the recent level of fishing effort deployed in the fishery. My officials have held detailed meetings, the most recent on 4 February 2005, with the representative organisation for the scallop fishermen to review the fishery and consider options for effective management. I informally met the industry representatives and scallop fishermen last Friday, 11 February and heard their concerns.
In the coming days, I will review the outcome of these meetings and will consider the options available to me. I intend to hold a further meeting with industry representatives shortly with a view to finding a way forward that will ensure that the EU effort limits are respected while providing for a sustainable scallop fishery into the future.
