An Irish trawler skipper yesterday called for greater protection from the Naval Service following a second day of confrontation between his vessel and British-registered Spanish trawlers off the south-west coast.
According to Mr Johnny Orpen, of Castletownbere, he and his four crew on the 85ft Ardent were again harassed by Spanish vessels after they returned to fishing grounds 40 miles south-west of Mizen Head.
The Department of the Marine last night expressed "grave concern" at yesterday morning's incident. Department officials were in contact with British officials "at high level" and the Minister for the Marine, Dr Woods, would raise it with his British counterpart when all the facts were available.
A spokesman for the Defence Forces last night defended the Naval Service against accusations that it responded too slowly to the incidents on Thursday and yesterday. "They responded as quickly as they could, given their resources," he said.
Mr Orpen said the Ardent had to stop suddenly on Thursday morning when a Spanish vessel cut across its bow, and the Ardent left the area. The Spanish vessel gave him to understand that it would be lifting its nets at around 3 p.m. on Thursday.
He said he returned to the area yesterday morning, thinking the Spanish would have left, but was quickly surrounded by four Spanish vessels shortly after shooting his nets at around 6 a.m.
"They were just going across our stern and preventing us from going ahead. We just had to move out of their way." The Ardent was forced to pull in its nets and, as it did, a Spanish skipper made threats, said Mr Orpen. "He threatened us with hand signals that he would go over our ropes if we didn't get out of their way."
He said the Ardent was forced to move four miles away to avoid the Spanish vessels. The incident highlighted the need for the Naval Service to provide greater protection for Irish boats against bigger Spanish vessels.
"The only answer is more protection from the Navy; they'd want to keep more of an eye on the Spaniards. Surely we should be given some more support by our own Naval Service when we're being intimidated like this?"
A Naval Service spokesman confirmed yesterday that the LE Emer had been dispatched to the area. The Service was due to take statements from Mr Orpen and other members of his crew on board the Ardent. A Casa aircraft had arrived at the scene at around 1 p.m. and had been monitoring the area before the arrival of the LE Emer.
He said the Naval Service had the power to board all vessels within the 200-mile EU fishery limits but could only take statements from captains and crew on incidents if they were volunteered.