Fishermen are braced for another round of devastating cuts today, as the annual haggling over catches gets under way in Brussels.
Up to three days of talks will be required to thrash out the ever-dwindling share of dangerously-depleted stocks the fleets will be allowed to catch next year.
The Minister for the Marine, Mr Ahern, sounded a pessimistic note last night as he left for Brussels, warning that negotiations would be "particularly difficult".
He said Ireland believed in striking a balance between conserving stocks and maintaining a viable fishery.
The Minister is due to meet the EU Agriculture and Fisheries Commissioner, Mr Franz Fischler, this morning before the negotiations begin.
The European Commission has stopped short of recommending a total ban on cod fishing in the North Sea, Irish Sea and off the west coast of Scotland, despite the advice of experts.
But the alternative plan on the table - another round of deep cuts in permitted catches and more vessel lay-offs - is almost as bad for fishing fleets suffering from years of enforced belt-tightening.
The International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) says nothing short of closure of key fishing grounds will do after years of failed conservation schemes which have not led to the promised revival of stocks.
But Mr Fischler - normally a stickler for the scientific advice - says closure is too tough for fishing communities to stand.
Instead, he says, they must accept a new fisheries recovery plan involving drastic reductions of up to 65 per cent in annual permitted catches for species such as hake and sole, and further limits on the number of days vessels can stay at sea.