Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 378: To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food the extent to which large overseas fishing fleets are being restricted from over-fishing in traditional Irish fishing waters; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19889/08]

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 381: To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food the extent to which it is expected that fish stocks in or in close proximity to Irish waters are likely to be protected from over-fishing by other than Irish fishermen in the future; if sufficient safeguards are in place; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19892/08]

Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 378 and 381 together.

Ireland has a very important position as custodian of some of the largest and richest fishing waters within the EU but also in our location on the edge of the Atlantic Ocean. Illegal fishing practices by all fishing fleets in Ireland's Exclusive Fisheries Zone are and have been a matter of ongoing and substantial concern. Illegal practices militate against the protection of our fisheries resources, and their exploitation in a sustainable way into the future. Ireland sets and maintains high standards in the enforcement of regulations within our Exclusive Fisheries Zone using the resources of the Naval Service, the Air Corps and the Sea-Fisheries Protection Authority. The use of these resources with the addition of satellite monitoring of all fishing vessels both EU and Non-EU allows a high level of monitoring and surveillance of our waters.

Ireland's control authority, the Sea Fisheries Protection Authority (SFPA) which came into being on the 1st January, 2007 has significantly strengthened our capacity to monitor and control illegal fishing activities in Irish waters. The SFPA and our Naval Service are enhancing their monitoring and inspection systems, with upgraded communications systems, greater co-ordination between agencies and the appointment of additional inspection staff at our ports. At EU level, agreement was reached late last year on a Regulation on Electronic Recording and Reporting of fishing activity and on a means of remote sensing of fishing vessels. The new measures oblige fishing vessels to record and submit their logbook by electronic means at least once a day to the control authorities. The Regulation also allows remote sensing to be used to detect and track fishing vessels. The electronic logbook will be mandatory for all vessels over 24 metres in length from 1 January 2010 and it will be applied to vessels over 15 m in length from 1 July 2011.

Following strong pressure from Ireland, including a bi-lateral meeting in the autumn between my predecessor Minister Coughlan and Commissioner Borg, it was agreed that the implementation rules would ensure that each Coastal Member State would have full on-line access in real time to the electronic logbook data and landing declaration data of all vessels operating in its waters. This measure will substantially strengthen Ireland's controls at sea. These control measures will substantially strengthen Ireland's ability to monitor and control all fishing activity within its Exclusive Fisheries Zone. This is particularly important to Ireland because it will give our Naval Service access to catch data of all vessels operating within our Zone and strengthen their ability to target fishing vessels whose catch records would not appear to correspond to the profile of their fishing activity as determined by the vessel monitoring system. In addition the introduction of remote sensing will help to address instances where fishing vessels eluding monitoring by switching off their VMS system.

The measures outlined here are vitally important in demonstrating that Ireland is serious about control and for ensuring that all fishing vessels, Irish and non-Irish alike, fully record and report on their catch levels in our waters. These combined measures will substantially enhance Ireland's ability to effectively control all fishing activity within our waters and ensure that fish stocks in Irish waters are protected from over-fishing. In addition, the recently established EU Community Fisheries Control Agency will help to improve co-operation and co-ordination between the control authorities of member states. At European level also, there are new measures under discussion to regulate the activities of EU-flagged vessels outside of Community waters as well as of non-EU vessels wishing to exploit fishing opportunities within EU waters under international agreements. Ireland also campaigns vigorously for a level playing field on control across all Member States and this will remain one of my top priorities.