Today there is likely to be a confrontation between representatives of the fishing industry and government in the port of Kołobrzeg. Areas of dispute include the position of Poland in EU negotiations as well as the costs for the industry of protecting cod.
The industry feels that the government has betrayed it by giving up on a transit period in which Polish waters would be protected from EU trawlers. They are now being backed by a parliamentary commission which is aiming to have the demand for a transit period reinstated. Extending the period of protection in which cod cannot be fished by three months may have put up to 700 jobs at risk according to sector spokespeople.
If the fishermen do not get their way then they are threatening to block ports as a protest. They may even go further. Militants are warning that they may resume fishing for protected species which would mean that Poland was no longer respecting its international obligations. And that would be highly embarrassing for a government which is trying to put forward its serious international credentials.