Fishermen in Dingle continued to blockade the Co Kerry port over the weekend, preventing Spanish and French vessels from landing their catches. A truck was parked across the pier to block access to offloading facilities.
It is estimated that, while only a handful of French and Spanish vessels were directly refused access to the port, up to 20 vessels in all may have been redirected away from the ports of Dingle and of Castletownbere while they were out fishing off the south-west coast.
The Dingle Harbour Commissioners passed a unanimous motion at a meeting on Saturday to support Mr Ahern, the Minister for the Marine, in his efforts to retain the restrictions and strengthen controls on entry to the 50-mile box.
Mr Tom Fitzgerald, former senator and chairman of the commissioners, said that, while he supported the fishermen, he did not support a blockade of the harbour.
"I don't want to see confrontation. It would be wrong to prevent anyone landing. A harbour by its very name indicates a safe haven," Mr Fitzgerald said.
He also feared there would be repercussions for Irish vessels and Irish trucks abroad if the confrontation worsened. But he was totally opposed to opening up the Irish box.
EU countries had benefited hugely from Irish fish already, Mr Fitzgerald said. The idea to share natural resources was entirely selective. It was also hypocritical to open up grounds while conservation measures were begin proposed also.
Mr Lorcán O Cinnéide, chief executive designate of the Irish Fish Producers' Organisation, said the blockade in Dingle was "a spontaneous reaction by individual fishermen. It shows the depths of their anger."
The IFPO did not organise the blockade, but it supported the fishermen, Mr O Cinneide said. He supported their right to protest and shared "their concerns and their reasoning".
Rather than opening up restricted grounds, the EU should be extending the exclusive zones from the current 12 to 24 miles, if the EU were serious about true fisheries policy reform.
The proposal to open the box was one of a number of "crude" instruments put forward over the last number of weeks, in advance of the negotiations on the Common Fisheries Policy which are to culminate in December, said Mr O Cinneide.
"If the EU is serious about reform and about the state of fish stocks we need a lot more fundamental changes and a completely different approach. The whole basis of the fish quotas based on historic positions needs to be reformed," he added.