Yet another Belgian fishing trawler arrived into Dun Laoghaire Harbour today, tripling the sporadic arrival of such visits last year.
The trawlers are using the town's Carlisle Pier, a wharf that has seen very little shipping in recent times.
Seven of the 38-metre European boats have now made use of Dun Laoghaire's relatively deepwater berths (of approximately six metres depth) in the past fortnight.
As Afloat reported previously, the trawlers, that catch Whitefish, on Cardigan Bay off the Welsh coast used to land in Liverpool but current Brexit arrangements are causing difficulties leading to the requirement for deepwater alternatives.
The six-metre draft of the trawlers is just too deep for other east coast ports (other than Dublin) so Dun Laoghaire Harbour is proving a convenient and well-serviced location.
The Carlisle Pier provides easy access for trucks to take the catch to market.
The main fishing grounds of the Belgians are the southern and central North Sea, accounting for 44 per cent of total catches. Other important fishing grounds are the English Channel (26 per cent), the Celtic Sea (18 per cent) and the Irish Sea (8 per cent).