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Fishing Organisations Clarify "Confusion" Over Outcome of Meeting with Russian Ambassador over Military Exercises off South-West Coast

28th January 2022
Map showing the area (in red) where Russia plans to conduct military manoeuvres from next week
Map showing the area (in red) where Russia plans to conduct military manoeuvres from next week

Two fishing industry organisations have sought to clarify what they describe as “confusion” in some media outlets over their talks with Russian ambassador Yuriy Filatov on the forthcoming Russian military exercises off the south-west Irish coast.

Irish South and West Fish Producers’ Organisation (ISWFPO) chief executive Patrick Murphy and Irish Fish Processors and Exporters’ Association (IFPEA) Brendan Byrne issued the statement on Friday morning, the day after what they described as a “successful and positive meeting” with the ambassador in Dublin.

The Irish Times reported that the Russian embassy has disputed claims by Irish fishing industry representatives that the ambassador gave them “an absolute guarantee” that their fishing grounds will not be affected by the military exercises 240 km off the Cork coast.

“There was no discussion of guarantees of any kind,” the embassy’s spokesman Nikita Isakin said in a statement.

However, Murphy and Byrne said that they were " referring to the areas known as the Porcupine Bank and the Porcupine Sea Bight - fishing grounds immediately north and northwest of the area in which the naval drill is scheduled to take place in early February".

“The confusion has arisen in that some media outlets believed the traditional fishing grounds and the naval drill area to be one and the same area,” they said.

“ This is not the case, they are two specific areas that adjoin one another, “ they said.

“The Russian Ambassador made it clear to the fishing delegation that the naval exercises would only take place within the exclusion zone as notified to Ireland, therefore it is self-evident that no impact or intrusion will occur into the areas known as the Porcupine Bank and the Porcupine Sea Bight,” they said.

“Both the IS&WFPO and the IFPEA are again at pains to stress that fishing activity is guaranteed to be uninterrupted or negatively impacted in the traditional fishing grounds of these two areas namely the Porcupine Bank and Porcupine Sea Bight. The naval drills and exercises will take place within the notified area south of these traditional fishing areas,” Murphy and Byrne said.

“Both the fishing vessels and the Russian Navy can co-exist for the duration of these exercises at safe distance apart while both go about their respective tasks and routines,” the fishing industry organisations said.

Published in Naval Visits
Lorna Siggins

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Lorna Siggins

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Lorna Siggins is a print and radio reporter, and a former Irish Times western correspondent. She is the author of Search and Rescue: True stories of Irish Air-Sea Rescues and the Loss of R116 (2022); Everest Callling (1994) on the first Irish Everest expedition; Mayday! Mayday! (2004); and Once Upon a Time in the West: the Corrib gas controversy (2010). She is also co-producer with Sarah Blake of the Doc on One "Miracle in Galway Bay" which recently won a Celtic Media Award

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Naval Visits focuses on forthcoming courtesy visits by foreign navies from our nearest neighbours, to navies from European Union and perhaps even those navies from far-flung distant shores.

In covering these Naval Visits, the range of nationality arising from these vessels can also be broad in terms of the variety of ships docking in our ports.

The list of naval ship types is long and they perform many tasks. These naval ships can include coastal patrol vessels, mine-sweepers, mine-hunters, frigates, destroyers, amphibious dock-landing vessels, helicopter-carriers, submarine support ships and the rarer sighting of submarines.

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It can make even more interesting for visitors when a flotilla arrives, particularly comprising an international fleet, adding to the sense of curiosity and adding a greater mix to the type of vessels boarded.

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