No Irish vessels yet authorised to fish UK waters

There is a lack of clarity regarding what jurisdiction is responsible for authorising fishing on the Lough Foyle, post-Brexit.

According to Inishowen inshore fisherman, Liam O'Brien, all fishing vessels, whether Irish or British registered, must have official authorisation to fish in each other's waters.

Speaking to Donegal Live, Liam, who fishes out of Greencastle, said: “Post-Brexit, Irish fishing vessels have to apply to fish in Northern Ireland waters. We would be arrested if we did not have a permit.”

It remains unclear, however, which jurisdiction is responsible for officially authorising fishing on Lough Foyle.

A spokesperson for the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine reassured those seeking authorisation that there was no deadline for authorisation applications.

He added: “This situation goes back to the EU-UK Trade and Co-operation Agreement (TCA) [the post-Brexit trade agreement] signed on December 30, 2020 and in operation since January 1, 2021.

“It then had to be confirmed that the Voisinage Arrangement was to be catered for under the TCA.”

The Voisinage Arrangement has existed since the mid 1960s. It allows for mutual access to vessels from the Republic and Northern Ireland up to six nautical miles off the coast of each country.

The Marine spokesperson said: “Once it was clear the TCA did cater for the Voisinage Arrangement, what Ireland did then was go out to the Regional Inshore Fisheries Forums (RIFFS) and the National Inshore Fisheries Forum (NIFF) in early January and ask them to go and canvass their members and also to go and canvass anyone else they thought this would apply to.

“They were asked to provide a list of people who fish the 0 to 6 nautical miles in UK waters and who would require authorisation to do so.

“Once that was done, the two lists came in from the NIFF and the RIFFS and they were sent down to Cork, to the Licensing Authority for Sea Fishing Boats, which forwards them to the EU Commission. Those lists are currently ongoing. They have not come back. All we know at the moment is they are with the UK, so no one has been authorised yet, no-one in the 0 to 6 nautical miles is authorised to fish in UK waters. Until vessels receive authorisation they are not allowed to fish there,” said the spokesperson.

The Department advised if the owner of an Irish registered boat wanted to fish in UK waters, in the 0 to 6 nautical miles zone, they should email: inshore@agriculture.gov.ie or look at the Sea Fisheries Protection Agency (SFPA) website for further guidelines: www.sfpa.ie.