Fahey seeks fishing observers

"Observers" may soon be deployed on mackerel fishing vessels throughout EU waters, following increased pressure from Ireland to tighten up illegal fishing.

A pilot scheme is to be considered by member-states shortly, according to the Minister for the Marine and Natural Resources, Mr Fahey, who had his first meeting this week with the European Commissioner for Agriculture and Fisheries, Mr Franz Fischler.

The Minister said he had asked the Commissioner to move quickly on the proposal, and was "very pleased" with his positive response.

The Killybegs Fishermen's Organisation in Co Donegal has been pressing for observers on all vessels involved in pelagic (mackerel/herring) fishing as the only equitable way of monitoring activity.

It has claimed there is uneven enforcement of the present system - already subject to increased scrutiny with the introduction of satellite surveillance - and said it has no problem with controls if they are evenly applied.

The Minister also called for a "complete overhaul" of the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) in his discussions with Mr Fischler, and said a review of the controversial policy in 2002 was a real opportunity for reform.

"We now have an increasingly global market, and the CFP must be radically adapted in line with major changes," he said. "The international regional dimension of fisheries management continues to grow, and the pace of technological change is unstoppable." The post-2002 policy must take account of this very different world environment, Mr Fahey said.

Current EU fisheries management constituted a "hugely complex set of instruments", which reflected "the tensions, contradictions and conflicting interests" in the sector, and it was time for a complete review, the Minister said.

The developing blue whiting fishery, dominated by Russian and Norwegian vessels off the Irish coast, was also raised at the meeting in Brussels. Ireland and Scotland have been working to develop blue whiting as a complementary stock for the north-west fleet, but there is now real concern about a proposal to merge EU and international quotas of blue whiting into one which would give Norway a further advantage. The proposal is to be discussed at an EU/North East Atlantic Fisheries Commission meeting next month.

A reflection of the keen interest in blue whiting was last year's arrest of three Norwegian vessels in Irish waters - with fines of £306,000 being imposed. Norway takes pride in its system of fisheries enforcement, and breaches in EU waters are rare. But this week another Norwegian vessel was detained by the Naval Service and escorted into Killybegs.

The Vestkapp, a Norwegian longliner, was apprehended by the LE Eithne under the command of Cmdr Jim Robinson 45 miles north-west of Eagle Island for alleged illegal marking of fishing buoys. It brings to 11 the number of detentions this year by the Naval Service.