Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 16 November 2021
670. Deputy Pádraig Mac Lochlainn asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the number of Irish vessels in the polyvalent, general trawl and seine net segments; and the gross tonnages and kilowatts for the separate categories of vessels of 12 to 18, 18 to 24 and 24 to 40 metres, respectively in tabular form. [55693/21]
View answerIn accordance with Fleet Policy Directive 2/2003, as amended by Policy Directives 1/2006, 1/2011 and 2/2011, the Irish Fishing Fleet comprises of the five segments:
- Polyvalent Segment
- Specific Segment
- Refrigerated Sea Water (RSW) Pelagic Segment
- Beamer Segment
- Aquaculture Segment
Two of these, the polyvalent and specific segments are further sub-segmented. Information regarding numbers of vessels in each segment and the capacity therein, is also published in the annual report of the Licensing Authority for Fishing Boats. The 2020 Annual report is published online at opac.oireachtas.ie/Data/Library3/Documents%20Laid/2021/pdf/DAFMdocslaid260721_260721_140944.pdf.
The Fisheries (Amendment) Act 2003 transferred the functions of sea-fishing boat licensing from the Minister to the Licensing Authority for Sea-fishing Boats, which operates on an independent basis subject to criteria set out in that Act and Ministerial Policy Directives. The Licensing Authority is the Registrar General of Fishing Boats, an official of the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine or, under the superintendence of the Registrar General, the Deputy Registrar General of Fishing Boats.
The Registrar General of Fishing Boats is charged with maintaining a Register of Fishing Boats and with the proper management of the capacity of the Irish fleet. The Registrar General has provided the attached table outlining the total number of vessels in each segment, as well as the Gross Tonnage (GT) and kilowatts (kW) within each segment for each of the requested categories of length specified by the Deputy. It should be noted that this information is specific to the Deputy's question and does not include all vessels in the fishing fleet.
Information about the Irish Fishing Fleet is updated online by the Licensing Authority on a weekly basis at:
www.gov.ie/en/organisation-information/5907a-sea-fisheries-administration/#licensing-authority
