It was a busy scene at Dun Laoghaire Harbour on Monday morning as four modern Belgian trawlers tied up at the town's Carlisle Pier after a successful Irish Sea fishing trip.
Belgian fishing trawlers have continued to use the convenience of the port on the Irish East Coast to land their Irish Sea catches since Brexit.
Nets were dried, refrigerated trucks arrived on the pier as the trawlers entered berths two and three from 7 am.
The Harbour’s strategic location as an EU port in the middle of the Irish Sea may have been overlooked by commercial fishing fleets for years but since Brexit, it appears Belgian fishermen have been quick to see the advantage of the Dublin Bay port.
As regular Afloat readers know, the Belgian fleet has been returning since their first arrival back in 2021.
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 a convenient and well-serviced location.
The Carlisle Pier provides easy access for trucks to take the catch to market. And it's not the only port the Belgians are accessing; they are also landing fish in Cork, according to local sources.
