The Supreme Court has ruled that fishing for mussel seed by Northern Ireland registered vessels in the State’s territorial waters is not permitted by law. The Court allowed an appeal by mussel fishing businesses and individuals and said it would make a declaration to that effect, with the precise wording to be settled after hearing the parties if necessary.
The case concerned an arrangement between Ireland and the United Kingdom, reflected in correspondence exchanged by officials in 1965, under which fishing vessels from Northern Ireland were permitted to fish in Irish waters. The State defendants relied on that arrangement and the Sea-Fisheries and Maritime Jurisdiction Act 2006 to argue that the fishing was lawful.
The Court accepted that a voisinage arrangement existed and that the term “arrangement” in section 8 of the 2006 Act could cover it. But it held that the arrangement was not legislation and was too uncertain to qualify as law authorising fishing. Section 8 permitted a foreign fishing vessel to enter the exclusive fishery limits for certain purposes, including purposes recognised by an arrangement. It did not itself authorise people aboard to fish. Section 10 required that fishing be authorised by law.
The Court also found that harvesting mussel seed in territorial waters involved the management of a natural resource belonging to the State under Article 10 of the Constitution. Article 10 required that its regulation be provided for by law. The Court held that the 1965 arrangement could not meet that requirement merely because the 2006 Act referred to entry for a purpose provided for in an arrangement.
The judgment drew a distinction between the State’s ability to enter international arrangements and the domestic legal authority needed to regulate fishing. It said there was no insuperable constitutional objection to making provision for such fishing by law. The ruling addressed legality only: it did not determine the fishermen’s complaints about mussel stock depletion or the effects of Northern Ireland vessels’ fishing practices.