European Union fisheries talks remained deadlocked last night after a group of countries, including Ireland, rejected the Commission's latest compromise proposal to conserve fish stocks.
The Commission has drawn back from its initial demand that quotas for cod should be cut by almost 80 per cent but Irish fishing representatives insist they still have a "major problem" with proposals to cut cod quotas.
Earlier today, EU Fisheries Commissioner Mr Franz Fischler said he would be able to recommend a 65 per cent cut in the TAC (total allowable catch) for cod, as long as ministers agreed to hefty reductions in the number of days vessels could spend at sea.
Mr Fischler has threatened emergency action, such as closing off certain species to fishing altogether, if ministers fail to agree some degree of curb on fleet activity this week.
Commenting on the proposal the chief executive officer of the Killybegs Fishing Organisation (KFO), Mr Sean O'Donughue, who was speaking from Brussels, said that it appeared that a majority of EU countries would be against Mr Fischler's proposals.
He said the KFO's main concern was that fishing vessels would only be allowed to fish seven days out of every month regardless of whether they had caught cod or not.
Also, once a fishing vessel has been logged as catching cod at anytime in its past it too, will fall under the seven-day rule even if the fishermen intend to catch non-endangered species of fish.
This was described by Mr O'Donoghue as "illogical".
Mr O'Donoghue added that it was a priority for fishermen that there were sustainable fish stocks. "There is no future in fishing if there are not sustainable stocks.
The KFO are calling on the EU to close access to cod spawning waters so that young fish can grow and develop. In Irish waters, cod spawning takes place between mid-February and late April.
They also want net sizes increased so as to allow smaller and younger cod to escape instead of being killed and then discarded.
Mr O'Donughue said that he would like to see the Irish operated cod recovery programme updated and modified. He said that in three to five years time, cod stocks would be above cautionary levels and would continue to be so if the programme was adopted and modified.