Irish authorities have also unveiled programs to 

 open up non-quota species to Irish fishermen. A 

 great emphasis has been placed on developing 

 aquaculture projects, for example, because they do 

 not conflict with traditional fisheries. Ireland has 

 made significant progress in developing salmon, 

 mussel, and oyster culture. BIM authorities have 

 also helped fishermen find new species, such as crab, 

 that can be sold in European markets. BIM 

 technicians have also worked with local fishermen to 

 experiment with different types of fishing gear that 

 will allow fishermen to catch different species of fish. 



4. Decommissioning Programs 



Ireland, as a member of the EC, is required to 

 comply with the MAGP established by the EC to 

 reduce the size of member state fishing fleets. Most 

 of the day boats in the Irish coastal fleet are already 

 old and in need of replacement. The BIM imposes 

 tough standards which require those seeking to build 

 new vessels to decommission the equivalent tonnage 

 of old vessels before a new permit is issued. 



5. Shipyards 



Ireland has some shipyards able to produce 

 wooden or steel-hulled fishing vessels. Irish 

 shipyards produce mainly vessels under 500-GRT. 



6. International Agreements 



Ireland is a member of the European Community 

 and is subject to international agreements negotiated 

 by the EC. Ireland does not have any bilateral 

 fishery agreements with any other country. 



7. Fleet Dispersal Plans 



There are only 8 high-seas fishing vessels on the 

 register of Irish vessels. Most other Irish vessels are 

 fairly small, coastal boats. The high-seas fleet has 

 been fairly stable in recent years, but one vessel, the 

 4,042-GRT stem trawler Atlanlean II. was sold in 

 1989 to a Liberian holding company." The authors 

 are not aware of any plans to sell any of the 

 remaining fleet of high-seas vessels. The Atlantic 

 Challenger, at 8 years, is now the oldest in the fleet. 

 It is unlikely that the ship will be sold, unless the 

 owners are interested in building a new vessel; in that 

 case they must decommission the vessel before they 



will be allowed to replace it. The authors believe 

 that this is unlikely for the immediate future. It was 

 reported that Ireland's largest stem trawler, the 

 Veronica, had caught fire and was being towed to 

 Norway in August 1993.'* 



SOURCES 



Allen, Hugh. "Ireland must unite her talents," 

 World Fishing, March 1993 



EC, Regional impact of the EEC's fisheries policy 

 - Economic and social situation and outlook for 

 the fisheries sector in certain regions of the 

 Community: Ireland," Commission of the 

 European Communities, Intemational Information 

 on Fisheries, May 1980. 



Fishing News International, various issues. 



Fitzgerald, Roger. "Ireland's green thumb touches 

 the sea," Seafood Leader, Spring 1988, p. 102. 



Florio, Donna. "Expansion on the Emerald Isle," 

 Seafood Business, March/ April 1991, p. 54. 



Heskin, Alex. "The Development of a fishery: The 

 Irish example," Bord lascaigh Mhara, Dublin, 

 Ireland, printed in Proceedings of the 

 International Seafood Trade Conference, 

 Anchorage, Alaska, September 8-12, 1982, 

 Alaska Sea Grant Report No. 83-2, January, 

 1983. 



Irish Sea Fisheries Board, "Annual Report and 

 Accounts, 1981," Dublin, 1982. 



Irish Sea Fisheries Board, "Annual Report, 

 1990," Dublin, 1992. 



MacSweeney, Tom. "Ireland's forward drive," 

 Seafood International, May 1990, p. 26. 



The Sectoral Development Committee Report, Irish 

 Fisheries Organization News, attachment, 

 October 1984. 



World Fishing, various issues. 



IDS 



