Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Tuesday, 3 Nov 1992

Vol. 424 No. 8

Written Answers. - Fishing Fleet Tonnage Register.

Austin Deasy

Ceist:

18 Mr. Deasy asked the Minister for the Marine if he intends to carry out a review of the country's fishing fleet tonnage register, with a view to having the total increased and with a view to including those boats which were omitted in the original census.

Minister for the Marine (Dr. Woods)

A new Fishing Boat Register was established in 1990 in accordance with European Community requirements in order to get a more accurate picture of the Irish fishing fleet and to form a reliable basis for ongoing monitoring and management. The establishment of the new register was widely publicised throughout the industry and in the media, and in addition registered owners of vessels were advised in writing of the requirement to re-register their vessels. The new register contains much more detailed information than the previous one and gives a more accurate profile of the fleet.

For a boat to be eligible for registration on the new register one of the essential conditions was that the boat had been previously legally registered. Therefore the creation of the new register did not provide any means of registering previously unregistered boats.

The only other means now to secure registration is first to be issued with a sea fishing boat licence. The key requirement with the licensing of a boat not previously registered is that the applicant withdraw equivalent capacity from the fleet.

I am aware that there are a significant number of small boats which have been operating for a long time on an informal basis in the Irish fishing fleet. I am anxious to find a means of regularising the position of such boats. This is indeed one of the issues I am pursuing with the European Commission in the context of discussions on the multi-annual guidance programme for the period 1993 to 1996.

When the guidelines for the Irish fleet for the medium term are settled I would hope to be in a position to progressively register small boats which have been in the fleet for a considerable period and prior to the introduction of the relevant replacement requirements. I am sure that the Deputy will appreciate that there would in equity be no question of giving special treatment to boats currently unregistered which entered the fleet subsequent to the replacement conditions being imposed.