Five crewmen reported dead. Two tuna vessels arrested. One ship aground temporarily in Galway Bay. The Irish coastline has not been an hospitable place this week for the Japanese flag.
Even as the naval patrol ship, LE Aisling, was steaming to assist the Taisei Maru some 240 miles off Galway last night, the names of the five Japanese crew who lost their lives had been released in Tokyo. The latest in a series of incidents involving a tuna fleet off Ireland, it comes as no small shock to the world's leading fishing nation. Sympathies have been expressed by the Minister for the Marine and fishing industry representatives here.
Yet, in the midst of tragedy, ironies abound. A fleet of up to 30 Japanese 200 foot tuna vessels on the 200 mile exclusive fishery limit has been ranged against the State's fishery protection services over the last five days - part of a 200 strong Japanese fleet in the north Atlantic. The second of two vessels had 89 tonnes of bluefin tuna on board. With gear, that is worth almost £1 million - and only a quarter of what the ship can catch.
Japan, with one of the world's largest fish markets, has a voracious appetite for this most valuable species - the bluefin tuna which swims in thermal currents affected directly by our Gulf Stream. With a population half that of the US living in an area the size of Montana, and only 16 per cent of arable land, it is small surprise that it has become one of the world's top fish importers. Ireland supplies it with large quantities of herring roe.
Under pressure to find new fishing grounds, partly due to environmental factors, Japan and Korea have obviously identified the Irish west coast. The news has elicited a mixture of admiration and resignation from fishermen here. Some 25 years after US marine scientists advised the State to make the most of tuna, exploratory trials by Bord Iascaigh Mhara (BIM) scientists eventually led to development of a 20 strong Irish albacore tuna fleet. It had been doing well, earning at least £3 million on a seasonal fishery with no quota restrictions. Then came a dispute with Spain two years ago, supposedly over environmental factors, and the EU intervened with questionable restrictions which made it uneconomic for many of the Irish boats.
Japan has no licence to fish here, as a non EU member, but the Department of the Marine has confirmed this week that representations have been made to gain access to these waters. A precedent with a non community member has already been set with Norway. Any decision would have to be taken at Brussels level, but it is not inconceivable that at some point a deal could be struck.
Which begs the question. Why has this government abandoned a potential earner. And how, under increasing pressure, can a sea area which is ten times our land area, be controlled? The acquisition of two Casa fishery patrol planes for the Air Corps has proved its worth this week, as has the computerised surveillance system developed by the Naval Service in Cork. But how can physical detentions be made indeed, how can large fleets be monitored - when the Naval Service is losing numbers due to low morale? And when it has a mere seven small ships?