Irish Fishing Master Register

The Sea-Fisheries (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 2022 came into effect on 3rd May 2022.

The purpose of this Act is:

• to amend the Sea Fisheries and Maritime Jurisdiction Act, 2006 to give effect to Article 92 of Council Regulation (EC) No. 1224/2009 and Title VII of Commission implementing Regulation (EU) No. 404/2011 to provide for a system of registration and assignment of points to masters of sea-fishing boats who are Irish Citizens

• to amend the Fisheries (Amendment) Act, 2003

• to amend the European Union (Common Fisheries Policy) (Point System) Regulations 2020 (S.I. No. 318 of 2020)

• and to provide for other related matters.

EU Council Regulation 1224/2009, established a community control system for ensuring compliance with the rules of the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) and establishing a level playing field across the EU on fisheries control. Under the Sea-Fisheries (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 2022 the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine shall establish and maintain a register of masters, i.e. the Irish Fishing Master Register (IFMR) of Irish citizens who are masters of sea-fishing boats. The Act defines a master as the master, skipper or other person for the time being in charge of the boat.

An Irish citizen shall not take charge of a sea fishing boat unless registered on the Irish Fishing Master Register. This applies to the owner of the sea fishing boat and persons employed as master.

A registered sea fishing boat licence holder shall not knowingly employ an Irish citizen as a master who is not registered as such on the Irish Fishing Master Register.

The Act applies to masters who are Irish citizens only and as such there is no requirement for non-Irish citizens to register.

The Act came into effect on 3rd May 2022. From then on, all masters must be registered. Registered masters will be issued with a Certificate of Master Registration, which must be carried on board at all times while acting as a master of a sea fishing boat. It should be noted that the issuing of the Certificate of Master Register does not confer the qualifications of master on the holder. Applicants should consult Maritime Education and Training Ireland for information regarding certificates of competency.

Please note that all information provided MUST be accurate and true. Anyone knowingly providing false or misleading information will be refused registration and may be liable to prosecution.

This application form must be completed by any Irish citizen who is the master, skipper or other person for the time being in charge of the boat.

Please complete the application form linked below to be registered as a master on the Irish Fishing Master Register.

Irish Fishing Master Register (IFMR) Application Form

Please be advised that the Department can only process application forms subject to the following criteria:

• All Application Forms MUST be correctly completed in BLOCK CAPITALS.

• A valid working email address must be provided on the application form for all persons being registered on the Irish Fishing Master Register (IFMR)

• Completed application forms may be emailed to masters@agriculture.gov.ie

• Existing customers of the Department of Agriculture Food and the Marine will have a customer number with the prefix 3000. This should be included on the application form if available to hand but is not required for applications to be processed.

All personal data processed by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine will take place in accordance with the law on Data Protection and will only be for the purposes connected to the functions of this department.

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