As the Deputy may be aware, the Irish inshore fishing fleet comprises Irish-registered sea-fishing boats of less than 12 metres in overall length. Such boats are not required by EU legislation to have a Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) fitted onboard.
There is national legislation in place that requires sea-fishing boats to have installed onboard fully functioning GPS (Global Positioning System) units for monitoring purposes when fishing for certain inshore stocks or in particular conservation areas. I am advised that GPS monitoring units have been provided to vessel owners in the above circumstances through a pilot project run by the Marine Institute which has been funded under the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund.
Information gathered by the pilot project will inform the future development of vessel monitoring options for the inshore fishing fleet.