In the latest twist to the Irish Box controversy, south-west fishermen say they will maintain their blockade of three fishery harbours over the weekend in defiance of an appeal from the Minister for the Marine.
Meanwhile in Spain, industry representatives have admitted that they do want to be allowed to increase the number of vessels in the Irish Box over the 40-vessel limit. However, they also said there would be no "overall increase" in fishing effort in the area.
"I think that there are no reasons for Irish fishermen to be frightened or worried," Mr Jose Ramon Fuertes Gamundi, of ANASOL, the umbrella organisation for the Galician fleet in Vigo, told The Irish Times.
However, Spanish industry promises and the Minister's commitment on retention of the Box made to industry representatives in Dublin on Thursday "offer us no comfort", Mr Ebbie Sheehan, fisherman and fleet-owner in Castletownbere, Co Cork, said yesterday.
He said the unofficial blockade of Castletownbere and the Kerry ports of Dingle and Fenit would remain in place until fishermen meet on Monday.
"We have had huge pressure to drop the action - from the Minister, from Eiranova, the Spanish-owned base here, and from the local Spanish agent."
Mr Sheehan said there had been requests for Spanish vessels to land on Sunday night. "If the barrier we have erected on Dinish Island is dismantled before Monday, it won't be the fishermen that do it."
A spokesman for the Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources would make no specific comment, but said that both Ireland and Spain were trying to act in a reasonable and responsible manner on the issue. Ireland intended to pursue the issue through the European Commission, rather than bilaterally with Spain, as the Commission had directed.
Senior departmental officials are due to meet counterparts in Brussels next week .
The Minister's assurances to the industry have also been criticised by both the Fine Gael marine spokesman, Mr Simon Coveney, and Connacht-Ulster MEP Ms Dana Rosemary Scallon.
Ms Scallon said if the Government was serious about its legal opinion there should be a total exclusion of Spanish vessels from the Irish Box until the matter was resolved. Otherwise, it was sending out "a very weak message". She said Ireland should seek to renegotiate the Box "rather than have it renegotiated for us", and should make the case on the basis of protection for an Objective One area in the EU.
She also expressed concern about the "devastating impact" that the days-at-sea limits could have on the north-west fleet from February 1st.
Mr Coveney said the Minister's words were "hollow" when he did not intend to detain any Spanish vessels in the Irish Box because of "legal ambiguity". Either the legal position was clear or it was not.
There was no change to the low level of Spanish activity in the Irish Box yesterday, but much of the Spanish north-west fleet ties up this weekend for the Christmas festival on January 6th.
Mr Gamundi told The Irish Times yesterday that the Irish Box "would always be a special area for everybody", and reiterated that there would be no increase in overall Spanish effort throughout the year.
"The only issue pursued by both the Spanish government and the fishing industry is to have the Spanish fleet integrated in the general system for access to the Box," Mr Gamundi said. Even though the Box had a "specific consideration", Spain wanted to have its effort estimated "annually" and "not on a daily basis" - in other words, the fleet should not be tied to a ceiling of 40 vessels fishing at any one time.
This was also confirmed by the Spanish Federation of Fisheries Organisations, a relatively new body which is understood to be less representative of the Galician industry than ANASOL.
The Irish South and West Fish Producers' Organisation (IS&WFPO) said that its members were aware that there would be increased effort in the Box when the "spotlight" moved off. The months of March and April were particularly significant for the hake fishery during the spawning period, and Spain increased its hake quota at last month's council.
