A court in Wales witnessed an unusual example of Anglo-Irish co-operation last week when a dozen owners and skippers of Spanish fishing vessels were fined over £1 million. The fines were levied after the owners pleaded guilty to more than 100 offences of over-fishing, catching protected species and falsifying logbooks and landing declarations between 1995 and 1997. The guilty pleas were influenced by the quality of information given to the British authorities by the Naval Service here. This information was requested by Britain on foot of inspections of the vessels concerned in Irish waters. The so-called "flagships", which are registered in Britain by Spanish interests to avail of that member-state's quota of certain species of fish, had been in breach of their UK entitlements and other regulations in the Irish exclusive fishery zone.
An extent of the breaches is reflected in the supplementary statements to Haverfordwest Crown Court. One vessel, the Mera 1 was boarded by the Aisling, Eithne, Emer and Deirdre. Four other vessels were each boarded by three naval patrol ships at various times. During the court hearing, the Naval Service was complimented for its assistance. Some 80 of the 104 charges were on foot of Irish evidence. To the landsperson, the fines might seem hefty. However, the penalties are small enough in comparison to the value of catch taken by such ships in Irish waters; the real punishment is the fishing time lost when vessels are detained and brought to port.
Significantly, the judgment came shortly after it emerged that Britain may have to pay up to £100 million in compensation to flagship owners, because of its efforts to counter the exploitation of the various legal loopholes. The legislation to outlaw so-called "quota hopping" by Spanish fishing interests was designed to protect the livelihoods of British fishermen. Under the legislation, only boats that were 75 per cent owned and managed by British citizens, and who were domiciled and resident in Britain, could operate under the British flag and share in the British quota.
This was found to be unlawful under EU competition law in an appeal by the Spanish owners to the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg. If Britain does, indeed, have to pay such compensation, it will make a further mockery of the Common Fisheries Policy which is now more honoured in the breach than in the observance. The flagship issue is central to a fishery management policy that is regarded internationally as ineffective.
An opportunity to tackle some of the policy's flaws had been anticipated during the British Presidency of the EU, given that it was never considered important enough during the Irish six-month term. Had Britain been prepared to tackle it, Ireland would undoubtedly have offered support - given that most of the infringements are in Irish waters, and that we have a dozen flagships on our register. However, in spite of rhetoric by both the British Prime Minister, Mr Blair, British Fisheries Minister, Mr Elliott Morley, and the Minister for the Marine, Dr Michael Woods the silence has been deafening.
Meanwhile, the Naval Service, which is still awaiting Government action on a review of its own future, continues to detain up to 50 fishing vessels a year with a very small fleet and dwindling staff due to low morale. Boardings are to be increased, to appease the Department of the Marine. This may result in quantity, but less quality in terms of detentions, given the time that it can take to discover infringements, like secret fish holds. A fishery policy dependent solely on surveillance at sea reflects bad management ashore.