Vol. 568 No. 2
89 Mr. Gormley asked the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources the preparations the Government is taking for the undertaking of the SCANS II project which is due to provide an estimate of the cetacean population in European Atlantic waters during the summer of 2004-05; the funding he has secured for the completion of this project; the agencies involved; and the way in which the project is to be undertaken. [16016/03]
It is understood that the SCANS II project, with an estimated cost of approximately €6 million, will cover an extensive area of Community waters from the Baltic Sea to waters off the Portuguese coast. BIM has been involved in a number of cetacean-related projects for several years, particularly in relation to the question of minimising cetacean by-catch in certain fisheries, in conjunction with the fishing industry. This work is considered a priority and BIM will be continuing its work in this area in 2003. In these circumstances, it is not possible to allocate funds for the SCANS II project.
BIM's current activities in this area, which include the routine collection of data on cetaceans and their inter-action with fisheries, will make a significant contribution to the conservation of cetaceans especially in waters around Ireland. We are prepared to make this data available to the SCANS II project.
