Ricardo Arias Garcia, the exhausted sole survivor of yesterday's fishing vessel accident off the west coast, could hardly believe his luck when he felt rocks under his feet, dragged himself up and saw the light of the Irish Coastguard Sikorsky helicopter shining over him.

Along with the three fishermen rescued from Sunday's sinking of a French vessel off the Clare coast, Mr Garcia, from Galicia in Spain, owes his life to the Irish marine rescue services - and to the airline traffic which picked up the distress signals in tandem with Valentia Coast Radio. However, the loss of 20 lives in two separate incidents off the west coast within three days is a stark reminder of the pressures under which fishermen now work.

Rising fuel prices, crew shortages, stocks under pressure due to mismanagement by the European Union - these are just some of the difficulties facing an industry which already has to cope with the daily challenge of bad weather. Both vessels were at sea in severe conditions, with gales having been forecast last weekend when the first - the French-registered An-Orient - sank 87 miles west of Loop Head.

Among the eight lost, including six French and one Portuguese, was Mr Tomas Kelly of Fenit, Co Kerry. Mr Kelly was an experienced skipper who had part-owned his own vessel until some months ago. He had joined the An-Orient last week after it had put into Fenit, and was assisting the crew with new gear.

Ironically, Mr Kelly - fondly known as "Irish Kelly" to the French skipper who survived - had been very involved in the Fenit lifeboat station. oid O Donnchadha.

The British-registered Spanish vessel Arosa from Milford Haven was running for shelter when it hit the Skerd rocks 17 miles south-east of Slyne Head yesterday morning. It was one of about 150 Spanish flagships working in Irish and British waters, and had been boarded by the Naval Service last July.

Last January, the 17 Spanish and Portuguese crew of another Spanish flagship, the Milford Eagle, had a fortunate escape when fire broke out on board, 150 miles west of Shannon and all 17 were airlifted to shore by the Shannon- and Dublin-based Sikorsky helicopters.

On that occasion, the Shannon helicopter's winchman, Mr Noel Donnelly from Armagh, swam to the life-rafts after he was lowered from the aircraft.

He reassured the crew, and remained with 13 members after the first four had been airlifted to safety. Conditions were rough, with surface winds of up to 50 knots.

Winchman Donnelly was one of the Sikorsky team, led by Capt Dave Courtney, who played a major role in the rescue efforts over the past three days.

Such incidents illustrate how many of these vessels will take enormous risks to make ends meet, continuing to fish in weather which would have many Irish skippers hove to or tied up in port.

For instance, last December the Aran Island lifeboat was called out in a force nine gale to guide a Spanish fishing vessel into Galway after the skipper had earlier turned down an offer of assistance from the Irish Coastguard's Sikorsky in storm force 10 conditions.

The skipper of the Vierasa Diez sought a tow from another vessel in the area after he developed engine trouble.

Valentia coast radio, which has Spanish-speaking staff, had advised the skipper to accept assistance from the Aran island lifeboat.

Fortunately, the vessel managed to restore power and limp into shelter - but only after the full range of emergency services had been put at its disposal, at considerable risk to everyone involved.

The Fine Gael MEP, Mr John Cushnahan, has argued repeatedly that the European Union must shoulder more of the cost of providing search and rescue off this coastline, as marine emergency services are stretched to their limit.

The risks involved are likely to get worse in spite of major technological advances in navigational equipment and fishing effort. If scientific predictions are accurate, skippers will experience storms of increasing intensity in these waters.

Dr Robert Devoy of University College Cork's Coastal Resources Centre has applied computer modelling to predict the frequency and strength of storms in the future. "Since the late 1980s it is clear that gales have been more intense," he says.