The Government has flatly rejected as "ludicrous and nonsensical" European Commission plans to scrap fishing ground restrictions and permit Spanish trawlers to operate up to 12 miles from Ireland's coastline.
The Minister for the Marine and Natural Resources, Mr Dermot Ahern said the proposed regulation, published today, was "an affront to Ireland's ongoing discussions and negotiations with its European partners on the issue of access to the Irish Box."
He said the planned rule would allow the more than 200-strong Spanish fleet to fish up to the 12-mile limit, instead of the 40 allowed into Irish waters at any one time under current arrangements.
The Irish Box extends for 50 miles from the Irish coast and Mr Ahern said: "Its justification is set out in the regulations of the mid-1990s which created it, and the rationale has not changed. If anything, it has become more pressing."
Mr Ahern claimed that the EU appeared to be blithely ignoring the fact that the Irish Box was a highly-sensitive fishing ground and had proved to be exceptionally hard to police, even at present fishing levels.
He said the new proposal would have direct negative impacts for Ireland's fishing industry as it envisaged new limits on days at sea, which would substantially cut back on the fishing activity of Irish vessels.
Mr Ahern said: "The commission's proposal is ludicrous and nonsensical.
"The Commission recognises that the Irish Box is a sensitive zone and is proposing to allow five times as many vessels to fish the zone.
"To add insult to injury, the Irish industry will be made to pay for this by cutting back on their own number of days spent fishing."
The minister met fishing industry representatives to brief them on the latest EC development, and reported that the Irish government had raised the issue of open access to the Irish Box with other European Union ministers.
PA