Vol. 409 No. 9
2 Mr. J. Higgins asked the Taoiseach whether, further to the recent announcement that the seas of Ireland are now a whale and dolphin sanctuary, he will outline the penalties for failure to comply with this decision; whether other countries have been appraised of the decision; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
The penalties are contained in the Whale Fisheries Act, 1937, which provides that if any ship is used for the taking or treating of whales, within the exclusive fishery limits of the State, the master of such ship shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £100 or, at the discretion of the court, either to imprisonment for any term not exceeding three months or to both such fine and imprisonment. Any Irish registered ship caught contravening the provisions of the Act can be seized and detained.
Since 1 January 1977 the exclusive fishery limits have been extended to 200 nautical miles under the Maritime Jurisdiction (Exclusive Fishery Limits) Order, 1976, (S. I. No. 320 of 1976). The provisions of the Whale Fisheries Act, 1937, cover Baleen Whales and by S.I. Nos. 158 of 1937 and 240 of 1982, these provisions were extended to cover all whale species including dolphins and porpoises.
The fishery protection service and Navy will, as part of their normal duties, ensure that the provisions of the sanctuary are upheld. The International Whaling Commission have been notified of the declaration. This is the appropriate means of communication to all other countries which are party to the International Whaling Convention. This, of course, includes the major whaling nations.
I thank the Taoiseach for his reply. Will he acknowledge that, in view of the fact that we are a maritime country with a long and proud seafaring tradition and the only truly insular country within the EC, we should have a national maritime museum? Will the Taoiseach give active consideration to this?
It is a separate question but I will take the suggestion aboard.
Can the Taoiseach tell us who will protect the dolphins from the whales? Deputies may have seen in last week's media a report that——
The Progressive Democrats will protect them.
——the pet dolphin, Fungi, in Dingle Harbour was under threat from a school of killer wales.
Who will protect the Progressive Democrats?
Are there any measures to protect one species from the predators?
No, I suppose they are a little like politicians in that regard.
Politicians are more like barracudas.
The Deputy can take it that Fungi is perfectly safe.
He was not safe last week.
Will the Taoiseach agree that the fisheries protection service are widely stretched at the moment and will probably be unable to cope with this extra workload? Will he seek extra EC funding on the basis that we in Ireland are responsible for about 30 per cent of the European coastline?
The Deputy should table separate questions on these matters.
