European Commission fishery management proposals for 2004 include extending a controversial "days at sea" restriction to the Irish Sea fleet.
The measure could shut down activity in fishing harbours for all but 10 to 15 days a month in ports extending from the Inishowen peninsula in Co Donegal to Howth, Co Dublin, and to Dunmore East, Co Waterford.
The restriction - the latest EU management tool in a series of failed attempts to manage European fish stocks - has already had a serious impact on vessels and industry in the Inishowen port of Greencastle, Co Donegal, since it was imposed there a year ago as part of measures to conserve cod.
Among the ports affected could be Clogherhead, Co Louth, in the constituency of the Minister for the Marine, Mr Ahern.
"The Minister must resist this and must ensure that this measure is not extended further around the Irish coastline if there is to be any future for this industry," said Mr Lorcan Ó Cinnéide, chief executive of the Irish Fish Producers' Organisation (IFPO) in Brussels yesterday.
Cuts in most fish species, and increases in haddock and monkfish, are among the quota proposals published yesterday in Brussels by the European Commission. In the Irish Sea, a proposed 45 per cent quota cut for plaice could affect the Irish beam trawler fleet, while a 36 per cent cut in sole is already recommended.
A 79 per cent increase in haddock "reflects what fishermen have been saying about this stock, and what scientists have finally acknowledged," Mr Ó Cinnéide said.
Cuts of 58 per cent in cod, 40 per cent in plaice and 55 per cent in whiting quotas are among the proposals for the Celtic Sea, while a 17 per cent increase in monkfish is advocated.
A proposed 8 per cent cut in the mackerel quota is "completely unjustified", Mr Seán O'Donoghue, chief executive of the Killybegs Fishermen's Organisation (KFO) said.
"The International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) said it was one of the healthiest stocks in its report in October and had recommended a slight increase," he said. Horse mackerel is also down substantially, but blue whiting is up.
Two vessel-owners who won't be able to avail of any quotas under the Government's new fishing vessel licensing policy yesterday accused the Department of the Marine of misrepresenting their position. The new vessels, Sarah David and Ronan Ross, were built at a combined cost of €16 million, but have been tied up to the quay since their arrival in the south-west port of Castletownbere, Co Cork.
The owners - Mr Neil Mininhane and his son, David, and Mr John D. O'Sullivan - face bankruptcy as they are liable for repayments on the vessels of €30,000 per month. The two owners said yesterday they had been advised in the autumn that the licences would be granted.