Mr. Greg Casey:

There is a fish stock that has been teeming off the south and west coasts of Ireland in recent years. It was a fish stock that was in trouble for many years but it has made a remarkable recovery, namely, the bluefin tuna. It has even been spotted as far north as the North Sea. There are two gentlemen here, Mr. Tom Kennedy and Mr. John O'Sullivan, who have fished for albacore tuna for almost 30 years and who are entitled to catch it. In terms of the bluefin tuna however, Ireland does not have any quota. There would have been good reasons for not having a quota for bluefin tuna 20 years ago because such tuna were not approaching our waters except on rare occasions. They are now teeming in our waters and the total stock has grown, as the figures will testify. However, as I understand it, fisherman asked the Department to make a submission to the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tuna, ICCAC, for Ireland to be given a quota to catch bluefin tuna in Irish waters - even a small quota to start with as a reference point. I was there-----