The former owners of the Irish supertrawler Atlantic Dawn have secured government approval to retain the vessel's licence and its quota allocation.
Atlantic Dawn Ltd, run by the McHugh family of Killybegs, Co Donegal, has bought a replacement vessel to fish the quota, and plans to buy a second vessel as part of an expansion.
The replacement vessel, the 58-metre pelagic trawler Atlantean, has been renamed Veronica and has already gone to sea to avail of the quota entitlement.
The Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food says that the arrangement does not set a precedent for individual transferable quotas - or privatisation of annual fish allocations - and does "not represent a change in established policy and practice".
However, fishing industry sources have claimed that the quota of about 2,300 tonnes of mackerel and substantial herring, horse mackerel and blue whiting allocations should have reverted back to the Government for redistribution, when the Atlantic Dawn was sold last March.
The 144-metre Atlantic Dawn was purchased by Dutch fleet owners Parlevliet and Van der Plas in March after the death of Kevin McHugh (60) late last year.
However, the company, run by Mr McHugh's son Karl, still has part-ownership in a 106-metre vessel, also called Veronica, which has been converted to a seismic research ship. The company also owns a processing factory, Arctic Fish, employing about 40 people, among other interests.
The Atlantic Dawn sparked considerable controversy when it was delivered to Ireland from Norway in 2000. The European Commission, which was trying to reduce overall fleet sizes, initiated infringement proceedings against the Republic over the 14,000-tonne vessel.
However, after 18 months of negotiations, involving former marine minister Frank Fahey, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and former EU commissioner David Byrne, the Commission reversed its stance and allowed the vessel on to the Irish and EU register. The deal involved taking sister ship Veronica off the register.
Significantly, Mr McHugh was allowed to retain the Veronica's tonnage, and to sell it to other owners, who were required to regulate over-capacity in the Irish pelagic (mackerel/herring) sector. The tonnage sale is estimated to have netted €50-€60 million for the company.
The Atlantic Dawn fished both in Irish and west African waters, but was eventually forced to leave Mauritania where it had secured a private agreement.
Atlantic Dawn Ltd's recent purchase of the 58-metre Atlantean from Aran islander Des Faherty involved changing the vessel's name as Mr Faherty wishes to retain the original title.
