The Supreme Court has dismissed an appeal by Pat Fitzpatrick and Michael Flannery over the closure of a nephrops fishery on the Porcupine Bank, and ordered them jointly and severally to pay the Sea Fisheries Protection Authority’s appeal costs.
The ruling, delivered on 13 July 2022, followed a preliminary ruling from the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU). The Supreme Court said the CJEU’s answer supported the conclusion that the methodology used by the fisheries authorities was valid.
The dispute concerned a Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine closure order made on 2 November 2017 for fishing in area FU16. The Sea Fisheries Protection Authority (SFPA), Ireland’s Single Control Authority, had recalculated the catch from fishing trips using a “time spent” methodology. It considered time spent in an area a better indicator of where catches were taken than the electronic fishing logbook data. The appellants argued that the methodology and resulting closure were unlawful.
The Supreme Court had referred questions about EU fisheries regulations to the CJEU. It asked whether the SFPA was restricted to reporting catch data as logged by fishers, or could use a reasonable, scientifically based method to process that data when it had good reason to consider the logs grossly unreliable. It also asked whether the authority could use other data sources. The CJEU answered that the authority could use a methodology such as “time spent” to process data and ensure the accuracy of catch figures notified to the European Commission.
After that ruling, the first respondent submitted that the appellants were not entitled to the relief they sought. The SFPA sought similar relief and asked for its appeal costs. The appellants made no submissions at this stage. The Supreme Court said the CJEU’s answers confirmed that the trial judge had been correct to find the methodology valid. It dismissed the appeal.
The first respondent did not seek costs. The court awarded costs to the SFPA against both appellants jointly and severally, to be adjudicated if the parties could not agree. The ruling addressed the outstanding issues on appeal after the EU reference; it did not make a new closure order.