Trevor Sargent (Dublin North, Green Party)
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Question 121: To ask the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources if he was able to raise concerns at the recent European Council meeting regarding the lack of effective quota information in relation to foreign sea fishing boats being available to naval services in the policing of the Common Fisheries Policy; and if he received a commitment to a change in Common Fisheries Policy regulations in this regard. [6749/06]

John Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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Under the Common Fisheries Policy, CFP, each member state has delegated responsibility to manage its quotas as it sees fit. The system of allocating the quotas differs widely from member state to member state. Ireland allocates the fishing quotas for defined periods of time while other member states divide the national quota between fishing representative organisations or to individual fishing vessels. This mixture of systems does not lend itself to a situation whereby the entitlements of every fishing vessel may be known throughout the Community.

However, there are a number of systems already in place that facilitate control of fishing vessels of other member states. Certain information is available to the Irish control authorities on the fishing entitlements of other member states' vessels. For instance, member states inform each other of the fishing entitlements of individual vessels by way of circulated lists of fishing vessels with entitlement to participate in the individual fisheries. These lists are circulated to the Naval Service and land-based inspectorate of the Department. Where a member state has put in place a prohibition on any fishery, for example, when the quota is exhausted, this is notified by the Commission to all member states so that the control authorities in the member states are aware that a fishing stop is in place for that species.

The reformed CFP contains a specific chapter dealing with control and sets a variety of requirements that all member states must implement to ensure that fisheries resources are adequately protected. In addition, the Fisheries Council agreed in 2005 to establish a Community fisheries control agency to improve cooperation and co-ordination between the control authorities of member states. The agency is to be based in Vigo, Spain and is expected to become operational before the end of 2006. This will lead to a greater deal of information being available to member states' control authorities in respect of each other's fishing entitlements.

There should be greater information exchange on quotas and catches and I consider that this matter should be progressed as part of an overall effort of strengthened control at European level. In that regard, I wish to inform the Deputy that the subject was raised at our meeting with Commissioner Borg yesterday.