Irish Court of Appeal temporarily reinstates six-mile exclusion zone

The Irish Court of Appeal has ordered the temporary reinstatement of the six-mile exclusion zone for trawlers over 18 metres in length.

Minister for the Marine, Charlie McConalogue, TD, has welcomed the Court of Appeal decision to temporarily reinstate the Policy Directive leading to the  exclusion of large fishing vessels trawling in inshore waters within 6 nautical miles of the Irish coast. This comes after he lodged and appeal in November against an earlier High Court decision which found that the initial Minister’s Exclusion Order failed to comply with the Consultation Process.

This will apply at least until the full hearing of the case by the Court of Appeal in late June.

After hearing the motion on Friday, 19 March last, the Court was persuaded that the balance of justice leaned in favour of the State at this time and granted a stay on the order of the High Court up until the hearing of the substantive appeal in June, at which time the matter of the stay will be reconsidered by the Court.

Minister McConalogue commented today “I am pleased to hear that the Court of Appeal has allowed for the reinstatement of the Policy Directive.  This decision will mean that vessels over 18 metres in length are prohibited from trawling inside our 6 miles zone, at least until late June, except for a restricted sprat fishery, which would usually not occur during the late spring / summer period. The stay has only been granted up until the June hearing.”