The Marine Institute will be exhibiting at two stands at the Irish Skipper Expo this Friday 23 and Saturday 24 February at the University of Limerick.
Firstly, the institute’s shellfish team will present the work it carries out on data collection, assessment and advice on shellfish species.
The newly published Shellfish Stocks and Fisheries Review for 2023 will be available both in hard copy and online, with data reported for all major shellfish species that the inshore fishing fleet rely on.
Its online equivalent, the Shellfish Fisheries App, will be launched providing online access to shellfish surveys and assessments undertaken by the shellfish team.
The industry provides much of the data going into the shellfish assessments and the stand provides an opportunity for both parties to discuss inputs and outputs from this important programme for the inshore fishing fleet in Ireland.
In addition to all issues relating to commercially fished shellfish around the Irish coast, the Marine Institute will be on hand to talk about the current inshore Vessel Monitoring System (iVMS), the ICeco (Irish Coastal Ecosystem) survey and the skipper self-sampling programme, currently out for tender, which is an opportunity for skippers to get involved and be paid for reporting of data on crab and lobster fisheries to the Marine Institute.
The EMFAF (European Maritime Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund) Marine Biodiversity and Marine Knowledge Schemes team will also attend the Irish Skipper Expo to showcase to industry and stakeholders the priorities being implemented under these schemes.
These include contributing to the protection and restoration of aquatic biodiversity and strengthening sustainable sea and ocean management. Marine Institute staff will be available to provide information on the implementation of the EMFAF operational programmes and the projects funded and implemented by the institute.
‘The biodiversity scheme under Ireland’s EMFAF programme helps provide the science and evidence basis to support a sustainable seafood production programme’
“In order for seafood production to be sustainable it is important that not only is the resource carefully managed, but the impacts of harvesting that resource on the wider ecosystem are also considered,” director of fisheries Ciaran Kelly said.
“The biodiversity scheme under Ireland’s EMFAF programme helps provide the science and evidence basis to support a sustainable seafood production programme that also protects and restores marine biodiversity.”
The Marine Knowledge Scheme, meanwhile, aims to enable the collection, management, analysis, processing and use of marine data to improve the knowledge on the state of the marine environment and inform a sustainable blue economy.
An important goal is to contribute to the achievement of climate change objectives. The scheme will improve understanding of impacts of climate change on marine activities and on the environment.
EMFAF has many projects under way at the moment under both schemes, including the assessment of the crayfish fishery to restore the crayfish stocks and protect critically endangered species.
In addition, the data and digital services programme enables the collection and analysis of marine data covering the full breadth of marine activities and ensuring delivery on national obligations relating to marine spatial planning, marine environment, fisheries data, marine renewable energy and climate.
Climate projects being implemented are contributing to climate change mitigation and adaptation in fisheries and aquaculture. This will help to deliver on Ireland’s Climate Action Plan 2023. The focus of these includes the highly skilled areas of remote sensing and climate change projections. It means that Government and other stakeholders have a solid evidence base available to formulate decisions.
The EMFAF Marine Biodiversity and Marine Knowledge Schemes are cofunded by the Irish Government and the European Maritime Fisheries & Aquaculture Fund (EMFAF) 2021-2027. The schemes are established under Priority 1 (Sustainable Fisheries) and Priority 2 (Sustainable Aquaculture) and Priority 4 (Strengthen Ocean Governance) of Ireland’s Operational Programme (OP) under the EMFAF.