EU fisheries ministers have failed to agree on the future of the Irish Box and have abandoned negotiations on the issue until Italy assumes the EU Presidency next month.
The ministers rejected a proposal from the Fisheries Commissioner, Dr Franz Fischler, to resolve the dispute between Ireland and Spain over fishing rights in the conservation zone, which stretches 80km from the Irish coast.
Ireland and Spain both opposed the deal, which would have replaced the Irish Box with an area about a quarter of its size off the south and west coast for the protection of young hake. Spain wants full access to Irish coastal waters, while the Government wants a larger conservation area and restrictions on fishing a greater number of species.
The Commission's proposal was doomed when France, Britain and Portugal opposed it for various reasons.
The Minister for the Marine, Mr Ahern, said he was pleased that the Irish viewpoint had been taken into account and he expressed the hope that a satisfactory deal would be agreed when ministers meet in July.
"What is on the table now offers promise, but it is not the full answer," he said.
Observers at the meeting in Luxembourg yesterday said that Portugal played an important role in shifting the balance against the Commission's proposal.
Impressed by Ireland's success in resisting the complete abolition of the Irish Box, Lisbon appears determined to fight moves to give Spanish trawlers greater access to Portuguese waters.
Irish fisheries representatives expressed satisfaction at yesterday's outcome, noting that it meant, at the very least, a month-long postponement of the opening up of Irish waters.