Vol. 438 No. 6
29 Mr. J. O'Keeffe asked the Minister for Defence if, in view of the harassment and intimidation of Irish fishing boats by flagships and foreign owned vessels, he will introduce legislation to allow the Navy to monitor and control these vessels; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
Under current legislation the Naval Service is entitled to board any fishing vessel in the context of a fishery inspection, for example to ensure that the catch of the fishing vessel is within the limits prescribed by law, that fishing did not occur in areas which are prohibited, that the catch is confined to the permitted species of fish and that national and EU Regulations have been complied with. In 1993, the Naval Service boarded 703 fishing vessels. Of these, 61 were detained for alleged breaches of fishery laws.
The Naval Service's response to complaints of harassment and aggressive behaviour by fishing vessels is to send a patrol vessel to the area of conflict as soon as possible to examine and report on the situation. The presence of a Naval patrol vessel in an area generally results in fishing vessels behaving in an orderly fashion.
