The Gazette 1993

GAZETTE

MARCH 1993

In the foreword Mr. Lochrin states:-

allowable catches (TACS) and quotas which form the cornerstone of the Community system of fisheries management were addressed by him. He considered technical conservation measures, the enforcement by member States of Community law, and dealt with the supervision of the catching capacity of fishing fleets. Rory Conway, a well known solicitor from Cork, dealt authoritatively with "Prosecutions for breaches of Fisheries Law". Mr. Conway has represented the defence in many prosecutions over the last number of years, and has acquired a considerable volume of expertise. He outlines the procedures involved, including the escorting of the suspected vessel to the nearest and most convenient port, the powers of detention of the Sea Fisheries Officer, and the bringing of the defendant before the District Court as soon as may be. He highlights the penalty for indictable offences of illegal fishing, and attempting to fish illegally, as being a maximum of £100,000, plus the mandatory confiscation of all catch and gear found on board. Commenting on the penalty structure for Fisheries Officers, he says:- "It is the most elastic logic to provide that the maximum penalties for having a full hold of small fish are the same as for not having the ship's numbers painted in black and white on the hull." Denis Yule, a veteran advocate for the defence in Scottish Courts, brought his considerable expertise to bear in delivering a most interesting paper, highlighting some substantial differences between fisheries prosecutions in Scotland and Ireland. In Scotland, policing of fishery offences is conducted on a two tier basis. Producers organisations, such as the IFPO here in Ireland, have statutory power to levy civil fines against their members for exceeding quotas allocated. Fishermen, who are not members of an organisation, get their licence directly from the State,

and are subjected to Criminal Prosecution by the State.

"The seminar was intended to mark a turning point by bringing together a broad spectrum of people in an interchange of views from different perspectives'that would in turn, hopefully, stimulate a sustained interest in the sector." The seminar was one of a number of promotions designed to highlight the plight of the Irish fishing industry in the lead-up to the "Review of the Common Fisheries Policy" (CFP) then due in 1992. On Ireland's entry to the EEC, Ireland's fishing industry was in its infancy, it was operating on limited catching capacity, with haphazard stastics, and was over-shadowed by its better organised big brother - agriculture. There is no doubt that the Irish sea-fishing industry was sacrificed at that time. Since then the industry has grown, not only in catching capacity operating within very restrictive limitations, but in efficiency, and in on-shore production, into a multi-million pound industry, giving employment in peripheral areas, to those who would otherwise have to emigrate. It was against this background that the seminar had been organised, and the publication ensued. Robin Churchill, Senior Lecturer, in the Law Centre for Marine Law and Policy, University of Wales, Cardiff, author of "EEC Fisheries Law" and acknowledged authority on the Common Fisheries Policy, was the anchor around which the seminar was moored. His paper outlined the evolution of Community fisheries law. He dealt with the vexed question of access by fishermen, from one Member State to the waters of other Member States ("international access") and access

Patrick McCarthy, Solicitor, Skibbereen, Co. Cork, who acts on behalf of many commercial sea fishing interests, and on behalf of the owners of French fishing vessels arrested by the Irish authorities, dealt with "Sea Fishing Boat Licences". He distinguished between the issuing of a licence by the Department of Marine under the Fisheries Acts, and the registration of the vessel under the Merchant Shipping Act, 1894, and the Mercantile Marine Act, 1955. He dealt with the new fishing register for fishing boats, set up under "The Merchant Shipping (Registry, Lettering and Numbering of Fishing Boats) Regulations 1989" and with the difficulties facing the Irish industry in relation to reduction in total tonnage, and the transfer of tonnage. He distinguished between the almost arbitary powers of the Minister for the Marine in granting fishing licences with the controls on the issuing of liquor licences by the Court. Malachy Boohig, State Solicitor for West Cork, highlighted the difficulty for the Navy on the prosecution side, having regard to the magnitude of Frank O'Donnell, your reviewer, who chaired the seminar, dealt with the legal aspect of purchasing a fishing vessel. The publication contains a synopsis of the relevant EEC Fisheries Regulations, the main Irish statutory instruments, and a synopsis of the Fisheries Act, 1959 to 1983. For anyone involved in the sea- fishing industry, this is a very useful reference book, available from the Irish Centre for European Law Limited, Trinity College, Dublin 1. the law applicable to technical offences emanating from the Community.

to the fishing industry within individual States ("national access").

TACS and quotas are the common coinage of community jargon. Total

Frank O'Donnell

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