Vessels detained for illegal fishing up for year 2000

The Irish Naval Service carried out searches of over a thousand trawlers last year as part of the regular patrol of Irish waters. Figures just released also show that the numbers of vessels detained for illegally fishing in Irish water was up on the previous year.

The year 2000 was the first year that the Naval Service operated from the new National Fisheries Monitoring Centre and they are reporting an improvement in the detection of illegal fishing in Irish waters. The Service patrols the area within the 200-mile exclusive fishery limits of the State, which amounts to 12% of EU Atlantic waters. In the year 2000, they sighted over 2,200 vessels and of these, 1,200 were boarded and 46 were detained for various offences. These were detected via satellite from the Monitoring Centre, which can spot all boats over 24 metres in length within the fishing limits. 2000 also saw the addition of the L.E. Roisin to the fleet, the next ship will be commissioned into service early this year and will replace the L.E. Deirdre, which will be taken out of service after 28 years.