Research for New Tuna Catching Methods

£1.8m Research for New Tuna Catching Methods

At the EU Fisheries Council meeting in Luxembourg on 8 June the Ministers adopted a ban on driftnets for tuna and swordfish effective from 1 January 2002.

Details of this decision are as follows:

As of 1 January 2002 the use of driftnets to catch tuna and swordfish will be banned.

During the 1998 tuna season, the current maximum driftnet length of 2.5km will remain in place but the number of vessels using driftnets must be reduced by 40% from the number of vessels which fished in the reference period 1995-1997.

At the Council meeting the issue of compensation for fishermen to offset the social and economic repercussions of this ban, was discussed, although no specific amount of funding was provided. Provision was made for amending the FIFG Regulation 3699/93 (i.e. providing for funding under the Operational Programme for Fisheries), and it is likely that the amendment will provide a similar compensation package similar to that given to the Italians in 1997. The Italian package allowed for either direct compensation to the skipper and crew to decommission the vessel or compensation to diversify into alternative fishing methods. Compensation amounts were based on vessel GRT. Such a package would require national funding from 1994-1999 OP structural funds, but a difficulty arises, however, as there are no unallocated national monies under the Fisheries OP at this stage. It is likely that this will have to be dealt with under the next round of structural funds 2000-2006. Given this, DOMNR are most anxious to pursue the diversification trials that BIM is planning to begin.

In addition to amending the FIFG Regulation, the Commission gave a commitment to co-financing soundly based projects aimed at making it easier to apply legal alternative legal fishing techniques for catching albacore tuna. BIM submitted a project proposal under this call for proposals.

In 1998 five pairs of vessels will participate in Pair Pelagic trials as follows:

MFV 'Menhaden' Larry Murphy - Castletownbere
MFV'Sea Spray' Margaret Downey / Kevin Sheehan - Castletownbere
MFV 'Albatross' Danny O'Driscoll - Castletownbere

MFV 'Karen Rose' Anthony Sheehy - Baltimore
MFV 'Mulroy Bay' John O'Regan - Schull
MFV 'DeLinn' Hugo Boyle - Rossaveal

MFV 'Atlantic Warrior' John O'Donnell - Dingle
MFV 'Wave Crest' Declan Power - Castletownbere

MFV 'Shearwater II' Tony Faherty/Denis Whelan - Castletownbere
MFV 'Oilean Cleire' Sean O'Driscoll - Castletownbere

The first pair of vessel are due to commence trials work around the 6th-8th August. The other 4 pairs of vessels will be rigged out some time around the 17th-24th August, depending on specialist trawl nets being manufactured by Irish firms being ready and also on reports from the French tuna pelagic fleet. At the very latest all five pairs should be fishing before the end of August. The trials are scheduled to be carried out over a 30 fishing day period and are therefore due to be completed in late September-early October.

An additional 3 vessels will participate in Mechanised Trolling Trials as follows:

MFV 'Les Marquis' Jerry O'Driscoll - Kinsale
MFV 'Noz Dei' Pat O'Mahony - Kinsale
MFV 'Floralie' Jim Tormey - Dingle

The first two of these vessels will be rigged out the week commencing 3rd August and are planning to begin fishing trials the following week i.e. week commencing 17th August. The third vessel will be fitted out some time in mid August, provisionally the week commencing 24th August and again begin fishing operations the following week.

These trials are also scheduled to cover a 30 day fishing period and will end mid to late September.

The Menhaden and Sea Spray went to sea on Tuesday 11th August and they were followed by Shearwater II and Oilean Cleire at the weekend.

Bluefin Tuna landed recently in Castletownbere
(l-r) John Nolan, Chief Executive, Castletownbere Fisherman's Co-op;

Eoin Turner and Dermot Murphy, crewmembers MFV "Fiona Patricia"

(Photo Niall Duffy)

http://www.infowing.ie/donegal/Ad/Marine62.htm