Minister for the Environment John Gormley is hoping that EU member states will support a proposed fishing ban in several deep sea areas off the west coast to protect extensive cold-water coral reefs.
Mr Gormley says the Irish fishing industry has already endorsed protective measures.
A preliminary ban on fishing in the zones may be agreed by the end of this year, pending permanent protection as Ireland's first deepwater special areas of conservation.
The rich ecological system has been identified by Irish and international scientists in four sea areas off the west coast, spanning a sea area of 2,500 square kilometres on the Porcupine Bank and Porcupine Seabight.
Cold-water coral such as lophelia pertusa and madrepora oculata have been identified in reefs at depths of up to 500 metres.
The fragile systems host some 900 species, including sponges, crabs, lobsters, clams, snails, octopuses, starfish, sea urchins and fish species such as orange roughy.
However, scientists including Dr Anthony Grehan of NUI Galway have also highlighted the risks posed to the reefs by commercial fishing, mainly by non-Irish vessels.
If the proposed fishing ban in the four zones is accepted at a forthcoming EU fisheries council meeting, it will be the first such permanent measure of its type in the EU, Mr Gormley says.
"My department recognised that this request was the first of its kind in Europe and as such constituted an important test case in the history of the EU Habitats Directive and the Common Fisheries Policy," Mr Gormley said yesterday.
"My officials, in co-operation with the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and the Marine Institute, worked very closely with the European Commission and International Council for the Exploration of the Sea during extensive consideration of Ireland's request," the Minister added.
