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| The Banff trawler Carina towing at Rockall. (Photo: Sean Glackin) |
Irish and Scottish commercial fishermen working the Rockall grounds this week have reacted with anger and frustration after learning, only days beforehand, that a 140-nautical-mile stretch of Atlantic water around Rockall will be closed to them from tomorrow for a major UK-US military exercise.
Skippers and their representative bodies argue the exercise could have been sited away from grounds fleets have relied on for generations. French and Spanish gill-netters are also active in the area at this time of year, with Japanese and South Korean bluefin tuna vessels working nearby.
What is Atlantic Thunder 26?
The exercise, Atlantic Thunder 26 (AT26), is a joint Royal Navy and US Navy live-fire exercise running daily from 17 to 21 September. Its centrepiece is the sinking of the decommissioned US frigate USS Klakring, which will be targeted with missiles and bombs in a coordinated live-fire demonstration. The hulk is expected to settle in water deeper than 1,900 metres, far beyond the reach of trawl gear, so the wreck itself is not expected to become a hazard to the fishing grounds. The real hazard is the week of live firing beforehand: a danger zone spanning 140 nautical miles, centred close enough to Rockall that the islet and its surrounding banks fall well inside it, not merely near its edge.
