Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The sustainability of our fisheries is really important, so we must ensure that fishing is done at a sustainable level. While it provides good income for our fishermen today, we must ensure that the stocks will be there for the years ahead. The way that is done at European level is through a quota system, although it is highly contested at all times. There is a quota system that puts a limit on what can be fished from the sea by any vessel, irrespective of its size. Whether small or large, a vessel is restricted by its quota, which is set to ensure sustainability and that the quantity of fish taken out of the sea does not exceed the quota.

There is a distinction between the six-mile, 12-mile and 200-mile zones. Within the 12-mile zone, none of these vessels is allowed to fish. Outside the zone, the standard European rules apply. Our national competence agencies, the SFPA and the Naval Service, are charged with ensuring that there is oversight and implementation of the rules. It is particularly important for large vessels that there is strong oversight, as with all our fishing sector. That has to be applied to all vessels. To respond to the Deputy's wider point, sustainability is dictated by the quota share. I do not detract from the fact that this issue certainly brings out a great deal of emotion in people, and understandably so.

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