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Displaying items by tag: Racice

#Rowing: Ireland’s junior men’s quadruple took fourth in their heat and the junior women’s double fifth at the World Junior Championships at Racice in the Czech Republic.

 Two boats qualified for the semi-finals from the heats of the quadruple, and Switzerland, New Zealand and Italy vied for these places in the second half of the race, with Italy missing out. Ireland were next in line.

 Greece were convincing winners of their heat of the women’s double, grabbing hold of the one semi-final place on offer. Ciara Moynihan and Ciara Browne held fifth through the race.

 Earlier, the Ireland junior men’s coxed four qualified from their heat. The junior women’s pair took fourth and face into a repechage.

 The schedule was brought forward and races run at five-minute intervals because of the forecast of very high temperatures in the middle of the day.  

World Junior Championships, Racice, Czech Republic (Irish interest)

Men

Four, coxed – Heat One (First Three to A/B Semi-Finals; rest to Repechage): 2 Ireland (C Mulready, J O’Donovan, F Driscoll, E Gaffney; cox: E Finnegan) 6:39.91.

Quadruple – Heat One (First Two to A/B Semi-Finals; rest to Repechage): 3 Ireland (L Hayes Nally, A Byrne, J Dorney, J Keating) 6:13.31.

Women

Pair – Heat Three (First Three to A/B Semi-Finals; rest to Repechage): 4 Ireland (G McGirr, E O’Reilly) 7:54.87

Double – Heat Two (First to A/B Semi-Final; rest to Repechage): 5 Ireland (C Moynihan, C Browne) 7:47.20.

Published in Rowing

#Rowing: Ireland had a good start to their campaign in the World Junior Championships. The Ireland coxed four of Conor Mulready, James O’Donovan, Fintan O’Driscoll, Eoin Gaffney and cox Eoin Finnegan took a good second place in their heat, comfortably qualifying for their semi-finals as the second of three qualifiers. Canada won and Russia came through in third.  

 In the women’s junior pair, Gill McGirr and Eliza O’Reilly took fourth in their heat and will face into a repechage. The United States won – by an extraordinary margin – from Canada, while Britain came through in their own battle for third with Ireland.

World Junior Championships, Racice, Czech Republic (Irish interest)

Men

Four, coxed – Heat One (First Three to A/B Semi-Finals; rest to Repechage): 2 Ireland (C Mulready, J O’Donovan, F Driscoll, E Gaffney; cox: E Finnegan) 6:39.91.

Women

Pair – Heat Three (First Three to A/B Semi-Finals; rest to Repechage): 4 Ireland (G McGirr, E O’Reilly) 7:54.87

Published in Rowing

#Canoeing: Ireland’s Jenny Egan finished 10th in the women’s K1 5,000 metres at the canoe sprint World Championships in Racice in the Czech Republic today. In a dramatic race, Dora Bodonyi of Hungary came out with the gold medal after a long battle with Tabea Medert of Germany, who took silver. Lani Belcher of Britain gritted it out as she found her way through the field and won bronze – near the end she clashed with Iuliana Salakhova of Russia, leaving the Russian in the water and out of the race.

 Egan’s chances suffered in rough-and-tumble early stages. She fought hard through the race but could not catch up with the leading group.  

Canoe Sprint World Championships, Racice, Czech Republic (Irish interest)

Women

K1 5000 Final: 1 Hungary 23 min 17.862 sec, 2 Germany 23:19.214, 3 Britain 23:28.236; 10 Ireland (J Egan) 24:34.562.

Published in Canoeing

#Canoeing: Patrick O’Leary finished ninth in the A Final of the KL3 200 metres at the Paracanoe World Championships in Racice in the Czech Republic. The race was won by Serhii Yemelianov of the Ukraine.

 Jenny Egan finished eighth in her semi-final of the K1 200 at the Canoe Sprint World Championships, also at Racice. She missed out on an A or B Final place. Egan is set to compete in the K1 5,000 metres on Sunday.

Published in Canoeing

#Canoeing: Jenny Egan has qualified for the semi-finals of the K1 200 metres at the Canoe Sprint World Championships. The Irish paddler finished seventh in her heat this morning in Racice in the Czech Republic, taking a place as one of the fastest losers. Her semi-final is secheduled for 2.44 Irish time on Saturday.

 Ireland’s Patrick O’Leary will compete in the A Final of the KL3 200, part of the Paracanoe World Championships, also in Racice. O’Leary finished third in his semi-final. His final is scheduled for 1.30 Irish time on Saturday.  

Published in Canoeing

#Rowing: Mark O’Donovan and Shane O’Driscoll took advantage of the good conditions on the beautiful course to win their exhibition race in the men’s lightweight pair at the European Rowing Championships in Racice. The race counts in the allocation of lanes in the final, and Britain, represented by Joel Cassells and Sam Scrimgeour, and Ireland shot it out the last time this happened, at the World Cup in Belgrade. However, this time Ireland were in command from halfway, tested only by Italy, who finished second.

European Championships, Racice, Czech Republic, Day One (Selected Results; Irish interest)

Men

Lightweight Pair – Exhibition (Race for Lanes): 1 Ireland (M O’Donovan, S O’Driscoll) 6:57.77, 2 Italy 6:59.82, 3 Russia 7:01.75, 4 Britain (J Cassells, S Scrimgeour) 7:03.39.

Lightweight Double Sculls – Heats (Winner to A/B Semi-Finals; rest to Repechages) – Heat One: 1 France (P Houin, J Azou) 6:26.97. Heat Two: Germany (L Schaefer, J Osborne) 6:37.53.

Heat Three: 1 Poland 6:25.93, 2 Ireland (G O’Donovan, P O’Donovan) 6:32.15, 3 Russia 6:36.38, 4 Switzerland 6:40.60, 5 Austria. Heat Four: 1 Italy 6:30.77.

Women

Lightweight Single Sculls – Heat One (First Three to Semi-Finals; rest to Repechage): 1 Ireland (D Walsh) 7:44.85, 2 Denmark (A Runge Holmegaard) 7:49.49, 3 Poland (J Dorociak) 7:49.90; 4 Czech Republic 8:05.07, 5 Portugal 8:08.19. Heat Two: 1 Switzerland 7:42.510. Heat Three: 1 Sweden 7:39.52.

Published in Rowing

#Rowing: Denise Walsh put in an impressive performance to win her heat of the lightweight single sculls at the European Rowing Championships in Racice in the Czech Republic. The bright sunshine had abated, but the Skibbereen woman took full advantage of the duller, tailwind conditions. She took a strong lead in the second half and was never truly tested from there. The small Ireland crowd cheered her over the line.

denise walsh winningDenise Walsh crosses the line first in Racice this morning

European Championships, Racice, Czech Republic, Day One (Selected Results; Irish interest)

Women

Lightweight Single Sculls – Heat One (First Three to Semi-Finals; rest to Repechage): 1 Ireland (D Walsh) 7:44.85, 2 Denmark 7:49.49, 3 Poland 7:49.90; 4 Czech Republic 8:05.07, 5 Portugal 8:08.19.

 

Published in Rowing

#ROWING: Ireland will send two crews to the European Junior Championships, the men’s quadruple and double sculls. The quad of Colm Hennessey, Eoghan Whittle, Patrick Munnelly and Andrew Goff won gold at last year’s Coupe de la Jeunesse, a European junior tournament, and will again represent Ireland in the Coupe this season. The double of Shane O’Connell and Ronan Byrne did well in recent testing. The European Junior Championships will be held at Racice in the Czech Republic on May 23rd and 24th.

Published in Rowing

#CANOEING: Jenny Egan brought Ireland a first senior medal at the European Canoe Sprint Championships when she took bronze in the Women’s K1 5,000 metres in Racice in the Czech Republic today. Egan, from the Salmon Leap club in Leixlip, was part of a successful breakaway at 1,000 metres with Maryna Litvinchuk of Belarus, who took gold, and Irene Burgo of Italy, the silver medallist. Less than two-thirds of a second divided the three.

Ireland paracanoeist Patrick O’Leary finished fourth in his KL3 200 metre final. Robert Oliver of Britain took gold. O’Leary was just a third off a second of taking bronze.

European Canoe Sprint Championships, Racice, Czech Republic (Selected Results; Irish interest)

Saturday

Men

K2 200 – Heat Three (First Three to A Final; 4-7 to B Final; rest out): 1 Serbia 31.676; 8 P Egan, S Dobrovolskis 34.808.

C1 200 - Heat Three (Winner to Final; second to seventh to semi-final): 1 Portugal (H Silva) 39.236; 7 A Jezierski 43.220. Semi-Final: Jezierski did not start.

K1 200 – Heat Two: 6 T Brennan 37.596. Semi-Final (First Three to A Final, 4-7 to B Final): 1 Latvia (A Rumjancevs) 36.072; 7 T Brennan 37.852

Paracanoe KL3 – A Final: 1 Britain (R Oliver) 40.88; 4 P O’Leary 42.536.

Women

K1 200 – Heat Three (Winner to Final; second to seventh to semi-final): 1 Serbia (N Moldovan) 40.236; 7 J Egan 43.384. Semi-Final (First Three to A Final, 4-7 to B Final): 1 Russia (N Podolskaya) 42.196; 7 Egan 45.344.

Sunday

Men

K1 200 – B Final: 5 T Brennan (14th overall)

K1 5,000 – A Final: 18 P Egan 22:58.09.

Women

K1 5,000 – A Final: 1 Belarus (M Litvinchuk) 22 mins 19.25 seconds, 2 Italy (I Burgo) 22:19.68, 3 Ireland (J Egan) 22 mins 19.9 seconds.

K1 500 – B Final 6 J Egan 2:00.376. (15th overall)

K1 200 – B Final: 7 J Egan 44.896 (16th overall)

Published in Canoeing

#CANOEING: Andrzej Jezierski and Jenny Egan both finished seventh in 200m heats and must get through semi-finals if they are to reach the final at the European Canoe Sprint Championships in Racice in the Czech Republic. Both Jezierski and Egan must finish in the top three in the afternoon semi-final to make the A Final. Places four to seven would qualify them for the B Finals.

European Canoe Sprint Championships, Racice, Czech Republic (Selected Results; Irish interest)

Men

C1 200 - Heat Three (Winner to Final; second to seventh to semi-final): 1 Portugal (H Silva) 39.236; 7 A Jezierski 43.220

Women

K1 200 – Heat Three (Winner to Final; second to seventh to semi-final): 1 Serbia (N Moldovan) 40.236; 7 J Egan 43.384.

Published in Canoeing
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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