As the Deputy is aware on 27 October 2016, the Supreme Court issued a judgment in a case taken by a number of mussel seed fishermen. In the judgment, the Supreme Court found that fishing by Northern Ireland boats within the 0 to 6 nautical mile zone of the territorial waters of the State under the Voisinage arrangements is not permitted by law. The Voisinage arrangements allow fishing boats from Northern Ireland access to fish within the 0 to 6 nautical mile zone of the territorial waters of the State and vice versa.
It is important to note that the Supreme Court upheld the High Court finding that the Voisinage arrangements are not invalid but that, as it stands, there is insufficient provision for them in domestic law. The Supreme Court in fact noted that the arrangements were a sensible recognition at official level of practice and tradition, where fishing boats traditionally fished neighbouring waters.
The application of the judgment is to all fishing by Northern Irish fishing boats in the 0 to 6 nautical mile zone relying on the Voisinage arrangements. Fishing activities that have a legal basis are not affected, such as those reliant on the access arrangements to Ireland's 6 to 12 nautical mile zone set out in Regulation (EU) No. 1380/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council.
The Government approved the publication of the Sea-Fisheries (Amendment) Bill to address issues raised by the Supreme Court judgment of 27 October 2016, in so far as it relates to access for NI vessels. If enacted and commenced, the Bill will give the Voisinage arrangements a proper legal footing. The Bill was published in February 2017 and is available on the Oireachtas website. The Bill has been debated in the Seanad and now is at Committee Stage there.
The action by the UK in announcing its withdrawal from the 1964 London Fisheries Convention was not unexpected. The Convention deals primarily with access rights to countries 6-12 nautical mile zones and much of these are also included in Common Fisheries Policy. Article 2 of the Convention precludes countries from fishing in another country’s 0-6m zone. However, Article 9 of the Convention gave countries the option to come to arrangements with their neighbours to allow access inside the 0-6 nautical mile zone if so desired. This was the basis for the Voisinage arrangements.
The UK Government had been intimating its intention to withdraw from the Convention for some time. It is nonetheless unwelcome and unhelpful as it suggests a signal of the UK intent to take a hard line on fisheries in the context of Brexit.
However, there are no immediate direct impacts for the Irish fishing industry from this action as it will not take effect for two years and the Irish fleet is not significantly dependant on this access. The Irish fleet is heavily dependent on access to the UK 12 to 200 mile zone.
Any longer term impacts will only become clear in the overall context of the Brexit negotiations. It is the message of intent and the potential implications of that intent in the wider 12 to 200 mile zone that causes concern for the negotiations to come.
I spoke with Secretary of State Michael Gove recently and stressed to him the importance of long established fishing patterns by the Irish fishing fleet and the importance of these being acknowledged and protected in the context of Brexit.
As the negotiations develop, unilateral sectoral announcements, like this one, will be dealt with, as this will be, within the Brexit negotiation process and there will be no room, or indeed intent, to address issues in isolation.
I am working closely with our fishing industry and held a detailed public discussion with stakeholders last month in Galway. I will remain in close contact with fisheries stakeholders as the issues develop and work with them and my fellow fisheries Ministers in the EU to ensure that we are all fully prepared for what are likely to be extremely complex negotiations.
The UK has stated it wants to retain the voisinage arrangements element of the London Fisheries Convention. It remains to be seen if it can legally do this. On the all-island basis, however, there is still merit that we should reflect on an all-island approach to these matters. As I said at the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine recently, we will have to reflect on all relevant issues in the context of Brexit negotiations.
