Ireland will not be required to decommission any of its fishing fleet between now and 2002, following agreement by the Government with the European Commission. Talks in Brussels this week finalised agreement on an Irish programme for conservation under the Union's five-year MAGP4 fisheries plan, the Minister for the Marine and Natural Resources, Dr Woods, confirmed yesterday.
Dr Woods, attending a meeting of EU fisheries ministers about technical conservation measures and catch reporting, said the deal with the Commission was "hugely important" as it would allow the development of the Irish fleet, whose capacity would be intact at the end of the five-year period.
Money that would have had to be spent on decommissioning boats could now go on the modernisation and improvement of the safety standards of the fleet, he said.
The deal is the result of lengthy negotiations with the Commission which, in the face of the serious decline of several stocks, had originally called for fleet cuts of up to 40 per cent across the Union.
Others, notably the British, Spanish, French and Danes, will still face significant cuts. But Irish officials have persuaded Brussels that the main thrust of the underdeveloped Irish fleet is directed at stocks which are less threatened. The average age of the Irish boats is 30 years.
The Commission has promised that if stocks improve some increase in the fleet may be allowed.
Ireland will face some small reduction of allowable fishing days, however, probably in the order of 5 per cent over five years.
The Minister stressed that the Government was "totally committed" to fisheries conservation, and officials emphasised that other agreements reached yesterday were as important in this regard as the Commission's "effort-reduction" measures.
Ministers agreed to Irish proposals that boats entering and leaving restricted fishing waters will have to give "real time" reports of their catches each time to the coastal states. Dr Woods described the proposal as a form of "weighbridge in the sea" which would make spot checks by fishery protection vessels effective.
"This is a very important development to prevent overfishing and illegal fishing in Irish waters," he said. The reporting requirements come into force next July.
He also welcomed as particularly significant two measures agreed on nets which will allow increased numbers of small, young fish to escape - a raising of the minimum mesh size from 80 mm to 100 mm and agreement to require the use of nets with square meshes for fishing prawns.
The latter nets, in which the traditional diamond-shaped mesh is replaced half way down the funnel of the net with an area of square mesh, were developed by a Howth constituent of the Minister. A delighted Dr Woods described to journalists how he had played a part in introducing the fisherman to the Department.
Dr Woods said the Commission had also agreed to study the need for special measures to protect hake stocks in Irish waters.
