Sightings of rare marine species will increase Ireland’s “scientific and biological knowledge bank”, the Sea-Fisheries Protection Authority (SFPA) has said in an appeal during Science Week.

The SFPA says it is encouraging the public - and particularly those in the fishing community - to get involved in its ongoing efforts to build up that knowledge bank on Ireland’s marine life as part of overall conservation efforts.

Biologist and SFPA senior port officer in Howth Declan Quigley, says that although 577 species have been recorded to date in Irish seas, more information is sought as part of conservation monitoring efforts

Quigley is author of over 450 fisheries-related papers.

A recent UN Food and Agricultural (FAO) report highlighted that nearly a quarter of species monitored across the globe are at risk of overexploitation or on the verge of depletion, he notes.

Ireland is not alone in facing challenges in this area as once commonly sighted species such as skates and rays are now facing difficulties owing, in the main, to the impact of climate change, he says.

“Of the 33 recorded species of skates and rays in Irish waters, nine are currently regarded as threatened and a further six as near threatened,” Quigley says.

“Tracking this decline is a challenge and one of the main difficulties in assessing the on-going conservation status, specifically of threatened skates and rays, is the previous lack of reliable species-specific data,”he says.

“ Commercial fishers, recreational anglers, citizen scientists, and public aquaria have a very important role to play in contributing to the conservation of these threatened species in Irish waters,” he adds.

“In addition to surveying patterns in declining fish species, the public is being asked to keep a look-out for species new to Irish waters because much of the current knowledge bank relates to ‘over the counter fish species’ in fishmongers and supermarkets and fished commercially,” the SFPA says.

“We really want to build our knowledge base around the non-commercial fish species in Irish waters and to establish the biology behind these species of fish that are an important part of our national marine biodiversity and of the overall marine ecosystems,” Quigley said.

“There is a wonderful opportunity for people, who regularly explore our coastline, for those who are in our seas such as the recreational scuba divers, not to mention our 2,000 strong commercial fishing community and nearly half a million recreational fisheries to be part of this great initiative to map and record what species are visiting our shores. Their contributions will complement the work of Ireland’s marine scientists,”he says.

The SFPA can be contacted at SFPA.ie