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In Amsterdam, a city council moves to 'keep' cruise ships out of the city-centre, according to Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA), the world's largest cruise industry trade association.

As Tradewinds reports, Amsterdam is certainly looking to prevent massive sized cruise ships from berthing in close proximity to the centre of the city. This would reduce in port terminal based air pollution and hinder partygoers in their thousands from laying siege upon residential areas.

But CLIA in a press release said that city officials do not plan to ban outright cruise ships from calling to the popular tourist destination, as some media reports have suggested, among them BBC coverage as featured previously.

On Thursday, the city’s Local Council approved a proposal however, to relocate the 600m quay Passenger Terminal Amsterdam (PTA) to a less central area within the city, to be determined.

CLIA also in their statement said “We are aware of the media reports about the future of cruise in Amsterdam".

“As the port has publicly stated, cruise ships have not been banned from Amsterdam.”

CLIA added that the Port of Amsterdam and the PTA have pledged to invest millions in port infrastructure with upgrades and shoreside electricity “for the long-term”, but the terminal may get moved to a less central area within the city.

Since 2016 there have been discussions on its relocation outside of the city centre and that talks are still ongoing.

For more, Tradewinds has the story.

Published in Cruise Liners

In the Dutch capital, cruise ships have been banned from the city-centre by Amsterdam's council, as it tries to limit visitor numbers in addition to curb on pollution.

According to politicians, the vessels were not in line with the city's sustainable ambitions.

The ban will mean that the central cruise terminal (Passenger Terminal Amsterdam) on the River Ij near Amsterdam's main 'Centraal' train station will close. The PTA caters for around 200,000 visitors annually.

The move marks the latest measure to clamp down on mass tourism affecting the city where the 600m quayside facility also used by naval ships is 14kms from the open sea.

More on the story from BBC News which reports that the cruise ships have become a symbol of the problem, as the capital receives more than 100 such vessels berthing every year.

Published in Cruise Liners

#Rowing: Trinity’s senior eight were the fastest crew at the re-fixed Erne Head of the River in Enniskillen today. It was their fourth consecutive win, achieved this year in rainy conditions. Junior crews did well: Enniskillen RBC’s junior men’s eight were third fastest overall and the fastest women’s crew was the host club’s junior eight.

 In Amsterdam, UCC’s men’s eight were the best Irish crew at the Heineken Roeivierkamp. They took 32nd in the men’s race over 2,500 metres in seven minutes 36.8 seconds.

Erne Head of the River, Saturday (Selected Results)

Overall: 1 Trinity men’s senior eight 19 minutes 17 seconds, 2 Commercial sen eight 19:50, 3 Enniskillen jun eight 20:04, 4 Trinity inter eight 20:27, 5 Neptune club two eight 20:49, 6 Lagan senior quadruple 20:57: 17 Enniskillen women’s junior eight 22:39.  

Men

Eight – Senior: Trinity 19:17. Inter: Trinity 20:27. Club Two: Neptune 20:49. Nov: Trinity A 21:26. Junior: Enniskillen 20:04. Masters: Commercial (D) 21:42. Jun 16: Col Iognaid 22:20.

Four – Jun, coxed: Commercial 22:35.

Sculling, Quadruple – Sen: Lagan Scullers 20:57. Inter: Belfast 21:53. Nov, coxed: Commercial 27:13. Jun: Neptune A 21:12. Jun 16, coxed: Bann 23:17. Masters, coxed: City of Derry (E) 24:31.  

Women

Eight – Inter: Trinity 22:48. Club One: Bann 22:46. Club Two: Carlow 25:59. Jun: Enniskillen 22:39. Jun 16: Enniskillen A 23:53. Masters: Portora (D) 30:27.

Four – Sen: Trinity 24:25. Inter, coxed: Trinity 26:35.

Sculling, Quadruple – Jun: Col Iognaid 25:22. Jun 16, coxed: Carlow 25:08. Masters, coxed: City of Derry, Lagan, Offaly (C) 29:42.

Roeivierkamp, Amsterdam (Selected Result)

Men, 2500 metres: 1 Nereus 1e Eight 6:48.6; 8 Nereus 2e Eight 7:10.8; 32:UCC 2e Eight 7:36.8.

Published in Rowing

#ROWING: The Afloat Rower of the Month for August is Sanita Puspure. The Old Collegians oarswoman took fourth place at the World Rowing Championships in Amsterdam in the single sculls, just outside the medals in this elite discipline. She had won her heat, placed second in the quarter-final and third in a semi-final where conditions were very difficult.

The performance topped off an outstanding season for this gritty competitor. She started her run with silver medals on both days of the Memorial Paolo d’Aloja regatta in Italy in April. She took a bronze medal at the European Championships – a breakthrough for an Ireland heavyweight woman – and then made the A Final at the World Cup regatta in Aiguebelette, and won the B Final at Lucerne.

Rower of the Month awards: The judging panel is made up of Liam Gorman, rowing correspondent of The Irish Times and David O'Brien, Editor of Afloat magazine. Monthly awards for achievements during the year will appear on afloat.ie and the overall national award will be presented to the person or crew who, in the judges' opinion, achieved the most notable results in, or made the most significant contribution to rowing during 2014. Keep a monthly eye on progress and watch our 2014 champions list grow.

Published in Rower of Month

#ROWING: Sanita Puspure secured an A Final place for Ireland with an admirable performance in difficult conditions in the semi-final of the women’s single sculls at the World Championships in Amsterdam today. Puspure fought her way into third place behind the impressive Emma Twigg of New Zealand and Magdalena Lobnig of Austria early on and held this down the course in choppy water. She refused to yield to a strong challenge from Genevra Stone of the United States and closed up on Lobnig in the run to the line.

The Ireland women’s double of Helen Hannigan and Monika Dukarska finished sixth in a record-breaking semi-final. Sally Kehoe and Olympia Aldersey of Australia won in a new world’s best time. Ireland started quite well, but were not in real contention for a place in the A Final.

There was also a new record in the lightweight men’s four semi-final. Denmark ousted their own country’s great crew of the 1990s from the record books while second-placed Britain, with the Chambers brothers, Peter and Richard, in the two and three seats, also came in under the old record.

World Rowing Championships, Amsterdam, Day Six (Irish interest, selected results)

Men

Lightweight Four – Semi-Final (First Three to A Final): 1 Denmark 5:43.16 (world best time), 2 Britian (M Aldred, P Chambers, R Chambers, C Bartley) 5:43.97, 3 New Zealand 5:47.95.

Lightweight Pair – B Final (Places 7 to 12): 1 China (Zhenwei Hou, Fangbing Zhang) 6:28.29, 2 Bulgaria 6:30.40, 3 Netherlands 6:31.01, 4 Ireland (M O’Donovan, N Kenny) 6:34.06, 5 Austria 6:37.65, 6 Chile 6:43.01.

Women

Four – B Final (Places 7 to 10): 1 Netherlands 6:28.95, 2 Italy 6:35.51, 3 Germany 6:37.90, 4 Ireland (M O’Neill, E Tormey, A Keogh, B O’Brien) 6:43.62.

Double – A/B Semi-Final (First Three to A Final; rest to B Final) 1 Australia (O Aldersey, S Kehoe) 6:37.31 (new World Best Time), 2 Lithuania (D Vistartaite, M Valciukaite) 6:30.34, 3 New Zealand (F Bourke, Z Stevenson) 6:43.34; 4 Netherlands 6:46.40, 5 Ukraine 6:59.20, 6 Ireland (H Hannigan, M Dukarska) 7:14.75.

Lightweight Double Sculls – C Final (Places 13 to 18): 1 Russia (D Stepochkina, O Arkadova) 6:58.21, 2 Ireland (C Lambe, D Walsh) 7:00.11, 3 Denmark 7:03.49, 4 Switzerland 7:03.51, 5 Belarus 7:09.08, 6 Greece 7:14.20.

Single – A/B Semi-Final (First Three to A Final; rest to B Final): 1 New Zealand (E Twigg) 7:18.68, 2 Austria (M Lobnig) 7:23.93, 3 Ireland (S Puspure) 7:25.61; 4 United States 7:29.18, 5 Lithuania 7:33.09, 6 Czech Republic 7:43.150.

Published in Rowing

#ROWING: Ireland’s men’s lightweight pair finished fourth in their B Final, 10th overall, at the World Rowing Championships in Amsterdam today. China won in a fast time in tailwind conditions, with Bulgaria and the Netherlands battling each other and finishing second and third. Ireland’s Niall Kenny and Mark O’Donovan were fifth through the middle stages but won their own battle with Austria to take a clear fourth.

The women’s four of Marie O'Neill, Emily Tormey, Aifric Keogh and Barbara O'Brien were fourth in their B Final, behind the Netherlands, who won impressively from Italy, with Germany third.

World Rowing Championships, Amsterdam, Day Six (Irish interest, selected results)

Men

Lightweight Pair – B Final (Places 7 to 12): 1 China (Zhenwei Hou, Fangbing Zhang) 6:28.29, 2 Bulgaria 6:30.40, 3 Netherlands 6:31.01, 4 Ireland (M O’Donovan, N Kenny) 6:34.06, 5 Austria 6:37.65, 6 Chile 6:43.01.

Women

Four – B Final (Places 7 to 10): 1 Netherlands 6:28.95, 2 Italy 6:35.51, 3 Germany 6:37.90, 4 Ireland (M O’Neill, E Tormey, A Keogh, B O’Brien) 6:43.62.

Lightweight Double Sculls – C Final (Places 13 to 18): 1 Russia (D Stepochkina, O Arkadova) 6:58.21, 2 Ireland (C Lambe, D Walsh) 7:00.11, 3 Denmark 7:03.49, 4 Switzerland 7:03.51, 5 Belarus 7:09.08, 6 Greece 7:14.20.

Published in Rowing

#ROWING: Ireland’s lightweight double scull of Claire Lambe and Denise Walsh came second to Russia in their C Final at the World Rowing Championships in Amsterdam this morning. The Russian crew of Diana Stepochkina and Olga Arkadova led all the way down the course, with Ireland snapping at their heels. But the Irish fell short by just under a boat length. The result places Lambe and Walsh 14th overall in this Olympic-class event.

World Rowing Championships, Amsterdam, Day Six (Irish interest, selected results)

Women

Lightweight Double Sculls – C Final (Places 13 to 18): 1 Russia (D Stepochkina, O Arkadova) 6:58.21, 2 Ireland (C Lambe, D Walsh) 7:00.11, 3 Denmark 7:03.49, 4 Switzerland 7:03.51, 5 Belarus 7:09.08, 6 Greece 7:14.20.

Published in Rowing

#ROWING: Paul O’Donovan gave Ireland its first A Final place at the World Rowing Championships in Amsterdam today with a stirring performance which yielded second place in the lightweight single sculls semi-final. The UCD man lagged the field in the early stages; he was sixth at 500 metres as Zhao Jingbin of China and Marcello Miani of Italy commanded the race. By halfway O’Donovan was marginally in third place, but still over three seconds behind the leaders. As Miani moved clear in the final 1,000 metres, O’Donovan chased down and passed the Chinese. In a close finish, O’Donovan and Perry Ward of Australia took second and third, with Zhao Jingbin pushed into fourth and the B Final.

The Ireland lightweight men’s pair of Mark O’Donovan and Niall Kenny finished sixth in their semi-final and must settle for a B Final place. This was an exciting and fast race where all the boats were in with a chance of qualification until the very final stages, Switzerland, France and Australia took the A Final spots.

World Rowing Championships, Day Five (Irish interest; selected results)

Men

Lightweight Pair – A/B Semi-Final One (First Three to A Final; rest to B Final): 1 Switzerland (S Niepmann, L Tramer) 6:38.67, 2 France (A Mouterde, T Baroukh) 6:41.22, 3 Australia (A Foot, D Purcell) 6:42.39; 4 Bulgaria 6:44.00, 5 Netherlands 6:45.00, 6 Ireland (M O’Donovan, N Kenny) 6:46.60.

Lightweight Single Scull – A/B Semi-Final One (First Three to A Final; rest to B Final): 1 Italy (M Miani) 7:02.00, 2 Ireland (P O’Donovan) 7:03.59, 3 Australia (P Ward) 7:04.10; 4 China 7:04.99, 5 Denmark 7:08.21, 6 Hungary 7:15.08.

Women

Pair – A/B Semi-Final Two (First Three to A Final; rest to B Final): 1 United States (M Kalmoe, K Simmonds) 7:16.35, 2 New Zealand (L Trappitt, R Scown) 7:22.12, 3 Australia (C Sutherland, L Stephan) 7:30.02; 4 Serbia 7:34.92, 5 Ireland (L Kennedy, L Dilleen) 7:35.18, 6 Czech Republic 7:45.68.

Lightweight Double Sculls - C/D Semi-Final (First Three to C Final; rest to D Final): 1 Denmark 7:25.98, 2 Ireland (C Lambe, D Walsh) 7:26.35, 3 Russia 7:26.65; 4 Argentina 7:27.24.

Published in Rowing

#ROWING: Paul O’Donovan put in a brilliant second 1,000 metres to secure a semi-final place in the lightweight single sculls at the World Rowing Championships in Amsterdam today. O’Donovan needed to finish in the top three of the quarter-final to progress, but he was was fifth at half way, over one-and-a-half seconds behind third-placed Steffen Jensen of Denmark, with Russia’s Alexandr Tufanyuk fighting it out with Lars Hartig of Germany at the head of the field. O’Donovan turned it on in the second half. As the Russian faded, the Irishman took over in third behind Hartig and Jensen, and then passed the Dane to take second – just over a second behind Hartig.

 In a major shock, the World Under-23 champion, Andrew Campbell Jr of the United States, made his exit when he fell out of the boat in the immediately preceding heat.

World Rowing Championships, Day Four (Selected Results; Irish interest)

Men

Lightweight Single Sculls – Quarter-Final (First Three to A/B Semi-Finals; rest to C/D Semi-Finals): 1 Germany (L Hartig) 7:13.67, 2 Ireland (P O’Donovan) 7:14.76, 3 Denmark (S Jensen) 7:33.91; 4 Azerbaijan 7:25.84, 5 Russia 7:33.91, 6 Algeria 7:43.76.

Published in Rowing

#ROWING: The new Ireland women’s double scull of Monika Dukarska and Helen Hannigan (neé Walshe) took fourth in their heat at the World Rowing Championships in Amsterdam today. Lithuania and the Ukraine fought it out at the head of the field, with Lithuania pulling away at the end. Ireland were in third at 1500 metres but yielded this to Denmark at the finish.

The Ireland women’s four were off the pace in their heat and finished fifth. The New Zealand four were extremely impressive in their win, and France held off Canada to take the second qualification spot for the A Final.

World Rowing Championships, Amsterdam, Day Two (Selected Results, Irish interest)

Men

Lightweight Pair – Heat Two (First Two to A/B Semi-Finals; rest to Repechage): 1 Ireland (M O’Donovan, N Kenny) 6:53.54, 2 China (Zhenwei Hou, Fanbing Zhang) 6:54.57; 3 Switzerland 7:03.74, 4 Australia 7:10.31, 5 Bulgaria 7:13.05, 6 Austria 7:19.39.

Women

Four – Heat One (First Two to A Final; rest to Repechage): 1 New Zealand 6:46.42, 2 France 7:01.16; 3 Canada 7:03.68, 4 Italy 7:09.17, 5 Ireland (M O’Neill, E Tormey, A Keogh, B O’Brien) 7:19.28.

Double Sculls – Heat One (Winner to A/B Semi-Finals; rest to Repechage): 1 Lithuania (D Vistartaite, M Valciukaite) 7:05.28; 2 Ukraine 7:09.74, 3 Denmark 7:24.04, 4 Ireland (H Walshe, M Dukarska) 7:24.59, 5 Austria 7:29.06, 6 Bulgaria 7:49.72.

Published in Rowing
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Irish Fishing industry 

The Irish Commercial Fishing Industry employs around 11,000 people in fishing, processing and ancillary services such as sales and marketing. The industry is worth about €1.22 billion annually to the Irish economy. Irish fisheries products are exported all over the world as far as Africa, Japan and China.

FAQs

Over 16,000 people are employed directly or indirectly around the coast, working on over 2,000 registered fishing vessels, in over 160 seafood processing businesses and in 278 aquaculture production units, according to the State's sea fisheries development body Bord Iascaigh Mhara (BIM).

All activities that are concerned with growing, catching, processing or transporting fish are part of the commercial fishing industry, the development of which is overseen by BIM. Recreational fishing, as in angling at sea or inland, is the responsibility of Inland Fisheries Ireland.

The Irish fishing industry is valued at 1.22 billion euro in gross domestic product (GDP), according to 2019 figures issued by BIM. Only 179 of Ireland's 2,000 vessels are over 18 metres in length. Where does Irish commercially caught fish come from? Irish fish and shellfish is caught or cultivated within the 200-mile exclusive economic zone (EEZ), but Irish fishing grounds are part of the common EU "blue" pond. Commercial fishing is regulated under the terms of the EU Common Fisheries Policy (CFP), initiated in 1983 and with ten-yearly reviews.

The total value of seafood landed into Irish ports was 424 million euro in 2019, according to BIM. High value landings identified in 2019 were haddock, hake, monkfish and megrim. Irish vessels also land into foreign ports, while non-Irish vessels land into Irish ports, principally Castletownbere, Co Cork, and Killybegs, Co Donegal.

There are a number of different methods for catching fish, with technological advances meaning skippers have detailed real time information at their disposal. Fisheries are classified as inshore, midwater, pelagic or deep water. Inshore targets species close to shore and in depths of up to 200 metres, and may include trawling and gillnetting and long-lining. Trawling is regarded as "active", while "passive" or less environmentally harmful fishing methods include use of gill nets, long lines, traps and pots. Pelagic fisheries focus on species which swim close to the surface and up to depths of 200 metres, including migratory mackerel, and tuna, and methods for catching include pair trawling, purse seining, trolling and longlining. Midwater fisheries target species at depths of around 200 metres, using trawling, longlining and jigging. Deepwater fisheries mainly use trawling for species which are found at depths of over 600 metres.

There are several segments for different catching methods in the registered Irish fleet – the largest segment being polyvalent or multi-purpose vessels using several types of gear which may be active and passive. The polyvalent segment ranges from small inshore vessels engaged in netting and potting to medium and larger vessels targeting whitefish, pelagic (herring, mackerel, horse mackerel and blue whiting) species and bivalve molluscs. The refrigerated seawater (RSW) pelagic segment is engaged mainly in fishing for herring, mackerel, horse mackerel and blue whiting only. The beam trawling segment focuses on flatfish such as sole and plaice. The aquaculture segment is exclusively for managing, developing and servicing fish farming areas and can collect spat from wild mussel stocks.

The top 20 species landed by value in 2019 were mackerel (78 million euro); Dublin Bay prawn (59 million euro); horse mackerel (17 million euro); monkfish (17 million euro); brown crab (16 million euro); hake (11 million euro); blue whiting (10 million euro); megrim (10 million euro); haddock (9 million euro); tuna (7 million euro); scallop (6 million euro); whelk (5 million euro); whiting (4 million euro); sprat (3 million euro); herring (3 million euro); lobster (2 million euro); turbot (2 million euro); cod (2 million euro); boarfish (2 million euro).

Ireland has approximately 220 million acres of marine territory, rich in marine biodiversity. A marine biodiversity scheme under Ireland's operational programme, which is co-funded by the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund and the Government, aims to reduce the impact of fisheries and aquaculture on the marine environment, including avoidance and reduction of unwanted catch.

EU fisheries ministers hold an annual pre-Christmas council in Brussels to decide on total allowable catches and quotas for the following year. This is based on advice from scientific bodies such as the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea. In Ireland's case, the State's Marine Institute publishes an annual "stock book" which provides the most up to date stock status and scientific advice on over 60 fish stocks exploited by the Irish fleet. Total allowable catches are supplemented by various technical measures to control effort, such as the size of net mesh for various species.

The west Cork harbour of Castletownbere is Ireland's biggest whitefish port. Killybegs, Co Donegal is the most important port for pelagic (herring, mackerel, blue whiting) landings. Fish are also landed into Dingle, Co Kerry, Rossaveal, Co Galway, Howth, Co Dublin and Dunmore East, Co Waterford, Union Hall, Co Cork, Greencastle, Co Donegal, and Clogherhead, Co Louth. The busiest Northern Irish ports are Portavogie, Ardglass and Kilkeel, Co Down.

Yes, EU quotas are allocated to other fleets within the Irish EEZ, and Ireland has long been a transhipment point for fish caught by the Spanish whitefish fleet in particular. Dingle, Co Kerry has seen an increase in foreign landings, as has Castletownbere. The west Cork port recorded foreign landings of 36 million euro or 48 per cent in 2019, and has long been nicknamed the "peseta" port, due to the presence of Spanish-owned transhipment plant, Eiranova, on Dinish island.

Most fish and shellfish caught or cultivated in Irish waters is for the export market, and this was hit hard from the early stages of this year's Covid-19 pandemic. The EU, Asia and Britain are the main export markets, while the middle Eastern market is also developing and the African market has seen a fall in value and volume, according to figures for 2019 issued by BIM.

Fish was once a penitential food, eaten for religious reasons every Friday. BIM has worked hard over several decades to develop its appeal. Ireland is not like Spain – our land is too good to transform us into a nation of fish eaters, but the obvious health benefits are seeing a growth in demand. Seafood retail sales rose by one per cent in 2019 to 300 million euro. Salmon and cod remain the most popular species, while BIM reports an increase in sales of haddock, trout and the pangasius or freshwater catfish which is cultivated primarily in Vietnam and Cambodia and imported by supermarkets here.

The EU's Common Fisheries Policy (CFP), initiated in 1983, pooled marine resources – with Ireland having some of the richest grounds and one of the largest sea areas at the time, but only receiving four per cent of allocated catch by a quota system. A system known as the "Hague Preferences" did recognise the need to safeguard the particular needs of regions where local populations are especially dependent on fisheries and related activities. The State's Sea Fisheries Protection Authority, based in Clonakilty, Co Cork, works with the Naval Service on administering the EU CFP. The Department of Agriculture, Food and Marine and Department of Transport regulate licensing and training requirements, while the Marine Survey Office is responsible for the implementation of all national and international legislation in relation to safety of shipping and the prevention of pollution.

Yes, a range of certificates of competency are required for skippers and crew. Training is the remit of BIM, which runs two national fisheries colleges at Greencastle, Co Donegal and Castletownbere, Co Cork. There have been calls for the colleges to be incorporated into the third-level structure of education, with qualifications recognised as such.

Safety is always an issue, in spite of technological improvements, as fishing is a hazardous occupation and climate change is having its impact on the severity of storms at sea. Fishing skippers and crews are required to hold a number of certificates of competency, including safety and navigation, and wearing of personal flotation devices is a legal requirement. Accidents come under the remit of the Marine Casualty Investigation Board, and the Health and Safety Authority. The MCIB does not find fault or blame, but will make recommendations to the Minister for Transport to avoid a recurrence of incidents.

Fish are part of a marine ecosystem and an integral part of the marine food web. Changing climate is having a negative impact on the health of the oceans, and there have been more frequent reports of warmer water species being caught further and further north in Irish waters.

Brexit, Covid 19, EU policies and safety – Britain is a key market for Irish seafood, and 38 per cent of the Irish catch is taken from the waters around its coast. Ireland's top two species – mackerel and prawns - are 60 per cent and 40 per cent, respectively, dependent on British waters. Also, there are serious fears within the Irish industry about the impact of EU vessels, should they be expelled from British waters, opting to focus even more efforts on Ireland's rich marine resource. Covid-19 has forced closure of international seafood markets, with high value fish sold to restaurants taking a large hit. A temporary tie-up support scheme for whitefish vessels introduced for the summer of 2020 was condemned by industry organisations as "designed to fail".

Sources: Bord Iascaigh Mhara, Marine Institute, Department of Agriculture, Food and Marine, Department of Transport © Afloat 2020