EU monitoring
- a level playing field?

In a recent statement to The Irish Skipper, Ireland’s Sea Fisheries Protection Authority (SFPA) said that the EU Commission operates a league table of compliance by Member States and that while Ireland is neither top nor bottom of this table, it indicates that compliance in Ireland has improved in recent years due to increased levels of monitoring. However, Irish fishermen who occasionally land in other member states question the sincerity behind the EU’s claim of fair and equal treatment of fishing vessels in different countries.

The most recent incident which gives rise to this apparent lack of equality was when Donegal pelagic vessels Fr McKee and Brendellen landed in Skaggen, Denmark. With all pelagic species such as mackerel, herring and scad all experiencing major quota reductions in recent years, Irish pelagic vessel owners have seen their working season and opportunities for income seriously restricted. While some of these vessels are not large enough to fish for and carry big volumes of blue whiting, others have sought to extend their operations by seeking shoals of the non quota Boar fish. This species is used primarily for fishmeal processing and does not give a huge return in terms of profits but nonetheless helps to keep viability to fishing ventures under pressure from rising fuel costs and lack of quota.

During their recent visit to Skaggen, the Fr McKee and Brendellen reported their intention to land their joint cargo of 2,370 tonnes of boar fish for fishmeal. Paperwork was inspected and all was found to be in order and the Fr McKee began discharging. However, within an hour, orders were given to cease operations and await arrival of fishery officers. Shortly thereafter a minibus full of officers arrived and proceeded with a detailed investigation of the vessel and its load. This was soon followed by the arrival of a Danish fisheries monitoring vessel which had been dispatched from Hirtshals. Permission was given for landing to resume but with samples being taken every fifteen minutes - greatly slowing down the process and resulting in an 18 hour discharge for the vessel.

The actual form of this in-depth investigation and high level of monitoring is not being criticised but Irish vessel owners are questioning the fact that it seems that Irish vessels definitely appear to be singled out both at home and abroad when they land yet foreign vessels landing in Ireland never seem to face random intensive investigation but generally only receive general “glancing” inspection.

Most frustrating for Irish fishermen is the fact that they are attempting to diversify and utilise non quota species to reduce effort on other species but are inspected and monitored as if involved in a covert operation. One vessel owner asked the question that if fisheries monitoring authorities claim that they do not intentionally set out to target fishermen to put them out of work, why don’t they accept that not all fishermen set out to break the law and to abuse the system.