The Minister for the Marine, Mr Ahern, will brief the new Greek holders of the EU Presidency on the Irish Box situation when he meets his counterpart in Athens today.
The Minister is due to hold talks with Greek cabinet member Mr Georgios Dryos, who holds responsibility for fisheries, this morning. Mr Ahern will emphasise that Ireland is seeking resolution of the Irish Box issue through the EU, rather than bilaterally. The European Commission had left it to Ireland and Spain to seek agreement at the conclusion of last month's fisheries council in Brussels.
However, the Minister has rejected this approach, and has said that he intends to meet the EU Agriculture and Fisheries Commissioner, Dr Franz Fischler, on the issue. Last week, south-west fishermen who are angry over Spanish open access to the Irish Box from January 1st agreed to lift a blockade of south-west ports temporarily. However, the fishermen have erected a sign in Castletownbere, Co Cork, warning the Minister that they will be "watching closely".
During the blockade, four Spanish vessels, including three "flag of convenience" vessels, were forced to divert to Galway port. One of these vessels, the British-registered Itxas, was discovered to have 4,500 kilos of unlogged monkfish on board.
North-west fishermen, who are concerned about the impact of a new days at sea restriction, which will tie up their vessels for all but nine days a month, are seeking a meeting with the Taoiseach on the issue. A delegation led by the Killybegs Fishermen's Organisation (KFO) and the Irish Fish Producers' Organisation (IFPO) has already held talks with Mr Ahern, the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, Mr Ó Cuív, and the Minister for Social and Family Affairs, Ms Coughlan.
The delegation warned the politicians that the measure could effectively close down the port of Greencastle on Inishowen. Mr Sean O'Donoghue, chief executive of the KFO, says that the new restriction is totally illogical and unworkable, and is anti-conservation.
Industry leaders in Killybegs and Greencastle say that the measure will have most severe impact on smaller whitefish vessels which will not be able to survive on nine days a month, while larger vessels will be forced to move south. Donegal whitefish processors will also be deprived of their regular supply of locally caught fish and will be forced to absorb the extra transport costs involved in buying fish in Scotland or in Kerry.
Representatives of the revitalised Mná na Mara (Women of the Sea) organisation intend to raise the Irish Box and days at sea issues with their European counterparts at a conference on the role of women in the European fisheries sector in Brussels later this week. Delegates from 15 coastal fishing communities who attended a Mná na Mara conference in Enniscorthy, Co Wexford, earlier this month decided that the organisation should develop on a national level for fishing and fish farming communities around the coast.
