If the Government loses its battle to retain the Irish Box, the Naval Service will cope with the increased pressure on fishery protection, according to its new chief.
Satellite tracking systems have revolutionised protection capabilities since the 50-mile exclusion zone was established, the Flag Officer Commanding the Naval Service (FOCNS), Commodore Frank Lynch, points out.
"Sure, there will be difficulties if the Box is opened up, but the investment placed in computerised systems, and acquisition of new ships, has made for a much more effective and efficient monitoring regime than 10 years ago," he says. Whatever happens, there won't be complete deregulation, because all EU vessels have to be licensed and are subject to quota, he adds.
Last week the EU Agriculture and Fisheries Commissioner, Mr Franz Fischler, made it clear that he was accepting a legal opinion which challenged continued restricted access to the "Box", established to protect the rich fishing grounds when Spain joined the EU in 1986 with the largest fleet in Europe.
The industry here has warned of "catastrophic consequences" if it is scrapped.
"We're not the people who set the conservation policies. We are providing the enforcement that is requested, and we are getting the tools to do that," Commodore Lynch said.
"The computerised monitoring system gives a constant satellite track of all vessels over 24 metres. Currently this information is transmitted from the Fisheries Monitoring Service at Naval Service headquarters in Cork, but the system will soon be directly available on board our ships."
Introduction of the system over the past five years, combined with the work of the Air Corps maritime patrol aircraft, has already translated into an increase in the number of boardings of fishing vessels at sea for inspection.
"The graphic information we have, and the database on vessel history, allow for intelligent boardings," Commodore Lynch emphasises. From the middle of next year, port-based inspectors with the Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources will also be able to tap directly into the system.
"Ten or 12 years ago ships didn't have this sort of information, and fishery protection was like a shot in the dark. You would head for areas of historical sighting and hope for the best." There has also been increased co-operation with other member-states such as Britain in relation to detecting "flag of convenience vessels", he points out.
Even as boardings have increased, the number of infringements has steadily decreased. The detention of an Irish vessel last week was the 15th this year, with just a month to go. Last year more than 30 detentions were recorded in Irish waters.
Some observers believe that Spain has been deliberately complying with regulations in the run-up to review of the Common Fisheries Policy; however, the 14th arrest was of a Spanish flagship which had no paperwork at all.
"It is very hard to come up with a definitive reason, but numbers have been dropping from a peak of 80 to 90 detentions annually," the Flag Officer says. Other industry representatives suggest that the Naval Service comes under diplomatic pressure at times.
"We periodically get accused of not being impartial, but when we look at the statistics we come up with the same patterns. We feel it would be a fairly serious mistake on our part to start leaning on a particular group," he says.
The Government's five-year implementation plan for the Naval Service is on target, he says, and a recruitment campaign over last summer has been very effective.
Shortage of key personnel, including watchkeepers, is still a problem, he says. "But we have so many officers under training at the moment that it would be difficult to cope with any more."
The implementation plan also involves increasing ships' days at sea on patrol. The current figure is 180 days, and next year's target is 190 per ship.
