Irish fishing boats are planning to peacefully disrupt military exercises by the Russian navy, Patrick Murphy, chief executive of the Irish South and West Fish Producers Organisation, said Tuesday.
The military drills are to take place in international waters 240 kilometers off Ireland’s southwest coast next month. But Irish fishermen are claiming that the drills threaten a crucial area for marine life and an important fishing region. According to the Russian ambassador to Ireland, Yuri Filatov, the drill would be “a small exercise — maybe three or four ships, not more.”
Fishermen are not impressed.
“This is the livelihoods of fishermen and fishing families all around the coastline here,” Murphy told RTE radio Tuesday. “It’s our waters. Can you imagine if the Russians were applying to go onto the mainland of Ireland to go launching rockets, how far would they get with that?”
According to Murphy, there are half a billion tonnes of blue whiting in the area where the Russian military drills would take place. He also fears seismic shocks that could be created by missiles fired during the drills as they could change the migration pattern of tuna for years.
Read more:
https://www.politico.eu/article/irish-fishermen-plan-disrupt-russia-navy-excercise/