The Government has warned the European Commission that it must not agree any deal with Iceland on increasing its mackeral quotas in the north Atlantic which would be damaging to Ireland's interests.
The matter was raised in Brussels by Agriculture and Marine Minister Simon Coveney, who said the Commission must take greater account of Ireland's dependence on mackerel fishing.
Mackerel has traditionally been Ireland's most important fishery, worth about €120m annually.
Over the past two years, Iceland has unilaterally taken substantial amounts of mackerel from the north Atlantic.
The government in Reykjavik has argued that this is justified because the fish are increasingly spending time in Icelandic waters during summer months.
At a meeting of EU marine ministers today, Mr Coveney expressed concern at the proposed resumption of talks with Iceland this September on its total allowable mackerel catch.
The minister told the meeting that "...any scenario which would reward the unsustainable and opportunistic mackerel fishing by Iceland should not be supported."
Ireland argues that Iceland is taking a disproportionate share of the mackerel stock, which is unjustified by either scientific evidence or historic catches.
Ireland received support for its position from France, Spain and Portugal.
