Civilians and Army to help understaffed Navy monitor Irish waters post-Brexit
A number of soldiers, civil servants and civilian clerks are being drafted in to help the understrength Naval Service monitor fishing vessels in Irish-controlled waters post-Brexit.
Both the Defence Forces and the Department of Defence confirmed the move ahead of an expected increase in monitoring workload at the national Fisheries Monitoring Centre (FMC) which is located at Haulbowline Naval Base in Co. Cork. It monitors vessels on a 24-hour basis every day of the year.
Concerns have been raised that EU-registered trawlers may flood Irish waters if there is a hard-Brexit and they are forced out of British fisheries.
Tracking them will be a massive task as FMC monitors Ireland's so-called Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), an area encompassing 1 million sq miles of sea, which is 12 times the landmass of the country.
It is the third-largest EEZ of any EU state.
All vessels over 12m long must have satellite tracking systems turned on which enables the FMC to monitor their movements.
Skippers also have to log their daily catch onto a computer system which the FMC has access to.
The Air Corps' long-range CASA aircraft also help the Naval Service monitor fisheries.
In particular, the aircraft crews seek out vessels which don't have their satellite tracking systems turned on.
Both they and the FMC track fishing trawlers and if they have suspicions about illegal fishing they can request a Naval Service ship to board them.
The FMC helps highlight anomalies and signal to the Naval Service what trawlers might be worth inspecting.
Staff at the FMC are also able to monitor Irish fishing vessels anywhere in the world.
A number of soldiers arrived at the FMC earlier this week and the Department of Defence has said it is in the process of establishing a panel of suitable candidates for posts as civilian clerks at the centre.
“A number of civil servants are also currently being recruited for deployment in the Naval base,” a spokeswoman added.
She said Minister for Defence Simon Coveney is trying to ensure “the Defence Forces are fully prepared to address any potential issues that might arise in the defence area as a consequence of Brexit.”
“The main day-to-day role of the Naval Service is to provide a fishery protection service in accordance with the State's obligations as a member of the European Union. Government policy remains that 90% of Naval Service patrol days will be dedicated to fisheries protection,” the spokeswoman added.
The Naval Service is suffering a manpower crisis and, as a result, it needs every available person to man patrols, hence the recruitment of outside personnel to aid fisheries monitoring.
The manpower crisis forced it to tie up two ships in June 2019 and they remain non-operational.
By contrast, the Royal Navy has commissioned four new fishery patrol ships to deploy in British waters from January 1, in the event of a no-deal Brexit.
Concerns have also been raised that closing British waters to EU trawlers could cause tensions between them and British vessels.
Similar concerns have been raised here that an influx of foreign vessels to Irish waters as a result of a hard Brexit could lead to incidents between these and Irish trawlers.
Both the Defence Forces and the Department of Defence confirmed the move ahead of an expected increase in monitoring workload at the national Fisheries Monitoring Centre (FMC) which is located at Haulbowline Naval Base in Co. Cork. It monitors vessels on a 24-hour basis every day of the year.
Concerns have been raised that EU-registered trawlers may flood Irish waters if there is a hard-Brexit and they are forced out of British fisheries.
Tracking them will be a massive task as FMC monitors Ireland's so-called Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), an area encompassing 1 million sq miles of sea, which is 12 times the landmass of the country.
It is the third-largest EEZ of any EU state.
All vessels over 12m long must have satellite tracking systems turned on which enables the FMC to monitor their movements.
Skippers also have to log their daily catch onto a computer system which the FMC has access to.
The Air Corps' long-range CASA aircraft also help the Naval Service monitor fisheries.
In particular, the aircraft crews seek out vessels which don't have their satellite tracking systems turned on.
Both they and the FMC track fishing trawlers and if they have suspicions about illegal fishing they can request a Naval Service ship to board them.
The FMC helps highlight anomalies and signal to the Naval Service what trawlers might be worth inspecting.
Staff at the FMC are also able to monitor Irish fishing vessels anywhere in the world.
A number of soldiers arrived at the FMC earlier this week and the Department of Defence has said it is in the process of establishing a panel of suitable candidates for posts as civilian clerks at the centre.
“A number of civil servants are also currently being recruited for deployment in the Naval base,” a spokeswoman added.
She said Minister for Defence Simon Coveney is trying to ensure “the Defence Forces are fully prepared to address any potential issues that might arise in the defence area as a consequence of Brexit.”
“The main day-to-day role of the Naval Service is to provide a fishery protection service in accordance with the State's obligations as a member of the European Union. Government policy remains that 90% of Naval Service patrol days will be dedicated to fisheries protection,” the spokeswoman added.
The Naval Service is suffering a manpower crisis and, as a result, it needs every available person to man patrols, hence the recruitment of outside personnel to aid fisheries monitoring.
The manpower crisis forced it to tie up two ships in June 2019 and they remain non-operational.
By contrast, the Royal Navy has commissioned four new fishery patrol ships to deploy in British waters from January 1, in the event of a no-deal Brexit.
Concerns have also been raised that closing British waters to EU trawlers could cause tensions between them and British vessels.
Similar concerns have been raised here that an influx of foreign vessels to Irish waters as a result of a hard Brexit could lead to incidents between these and Irish trawlers.
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