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The SFPA has provided an update on the Pelagic Pairing Registration Requirements and Approval Process
The Sea-Fisheries Protection Authority wishes to provide an update on the Pelagic Pairing Registration Requirements and Approval Process.
Pair fishing, including three-way groupings, are an ongoing component of Irish pelagic fishing and entails two (or more) vessels fishing together in what is commonly known as a pairing arrangement, typically involving boats dragging between them a single large net with small meshing. It is defined in Article 13 (19) of the Sea-Fisheries Maritime Jurisdiction Act as: “The towing or trawling of a trawl, seine or other net by an authorised boat jointly with another authorised boat for the purpose of catching fish.”
When vessels fish in an approved pairing arrangement, catches of one vessel will be regarded as catches of the group and any and all catches of any one of these vessels within this pairing arrangement will be reckoned against the cumulative total of all the allocations of these individual vessels. This cumulative total will be used for the purposes of quota balancing. *
To partake in pair fishing for pelagic species, vessels under a condition of their respective authorisations must apply for and receive approval to pair fish prior to the commencement of fishing in a pairing arrangement. Previously, it has been sufficient for the representative of one vessel to apply to be in the pairing arrangement and also to terminate the pairing arrangement. With immediate effect, authorisation holder(s) from all vessels requesting to be included in the pairing must submit an application, and the same for termination of pairing arrangements.
Under no circumstances will pairings be approved retrospectively.
Further details on the application and approval process for pair fishing is available on the SFPA website www.sfpa.ie/What-We-Do/Sea-Fisheries-Information/Pelagic-Pair-Fishing or by contacting local port offices.
Source: Press Release
