Jim O'Keeffe (Cork South West, Fine Gael)
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Question 102: To ask the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources his views on whether there is a case for the licensing of small boats owned and used by fishing crewmen doing line fishing therefrom during the periods of the year when they are not employed on fishing trawlers; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5177/07]

John Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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The licensing of sea-fishing boats is governed by Part 3 of the Fisheries (Amendment) Act 2003. The position is that all Irish fishing vessels engaged in commercial fishing activities are required to be licensed under the Act and entered on the Irish and EU Fishing Boat Register. Accordingly, any fishing vessel, including those using lines and operating on a seasonal basis, must be licensed and registered.

It is a basic requirement of fishing boat licensing policy, reflecting mandatory EU fleet capacity policy, that a licence may only be granted for the introduction of a boat into the fishing fleet where the applicant will remove capacity (tonnage and engine power) from the Sea Fishing Boat Register which is at least equal to the capacity of the boat to be introduced. This is designed to ensure that the capacity of the fleet does not increase above current levels. Indeed these capacity levels have been identified as a serious source of concern in the recently published Cawley Report — Steering a New Course, wherein it is noted that "a significant imbalance currently exists between the available fish resources, which can be sustainably harvested and the catching capacity of the national fleet". To address this imbalance the Government is providing funds of up to €66 million to undertake vessel decommissioning. This reduction in the size of the Irish fleet is in addition to the decommissioning of fishing vessels undertaken in 2005 and 2006 when over €16 million was spent permanently removing 36 fishing vessels from the fleet.

In summary, small boats owned and used by fishing crewmen can be licensed provided they remove capacity from the Sea Fishing Boat Register equal to the capacity of the boat to be introduced. To license these vessels without removing equivalent capacity from the Sea Fishing Boat Register would be contrary to the provisions of EU Regulations. In the current reality where there is too much fishing capacity targeting too few fish, requiring the introduction of a substantial decommissioning of vessels programme, consideration of any scheme that involves increasing the size of the fishing fleet would appear to be difficult, if not impossible, to justify at national level and would appear to be totally contrary to EU policy.