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#Rowing: Ireland’s Monika Dukarska took silver at the World Coastal Rowing Championships in Thonon on Lake Geneva in France. The Killorglin woman held second for virtually the entire race behind Diana Dymchenko of Ukraine, who shot into an early lead and held it all the way to the end to take gold. The two fought a battle at the front of the field, but Dukarska could not close the clearwater gap Dymchenko had opened.  

 Earlier, Castletownbere had finished 14th in the women's coxed quadruple - they were moved up one place in the revised resutls.

World Coastal Rowing Championships, Thonon, France, Day Two (Selected Results; Irish interest)

Men

Solo – A Final: 1 Italy (Padova; S Martini) 28:13.67; 18 Ireland (Arklow; J Casey) 32:12.72; 20 Ireland (Castletownbere; A Sullivan-Greene) 33:14.91; 21 Ireland (Bantry; A Hurley) 34:22.78.

Women

Quadruple, Coxed – A Final (Revised Result): Greece (Nautical Club of Thessaloniki)  27 min 34.98, 2 Italy (CC Saturnia) 27:41.49, 3 Germany (Erster Kieler RC v 1862e V) 27:49.29; 15: Ireland (Castletownbere: E Hanley, C O’Regan, O Gilsenan, M Sheehan; cox: C Connolly) 30:42.58. B Final: 1 Ireland (Galley Flash) 20:46.06, 2 Ireland (Cairndhu) 20:56.34.

Double – B Final: 2 Arklow 21:08.80.

Solo – A Final: 1 Ukraine (Concord; D Dymchenko) 29:58.40, 2 Ireland (Killorglin; M Dukarska) 30:30.78, 3 France (Team Chablais Aviron; E Alfred) 30:54.44; 15 Ireland (Arklow; S Healy) 34:16.49. B Final: 2 Ireland (Killorglin: J Lee) 23:39.30.

 

Published in Rowing

#Rowing: Castletownbere, representing Ireland, finished 14th in the A Final of the women’s coxed quadruple at the World Coastal Rowing Championships in Thonon on Lake Geneva in France.  

 Greece won an exciting race, recovering from a mistake to take over the lead from Germany by the eighth buoy. Italy pushed into second, while Germany clung on to third. They held off Russia, who had led early in the race, by .36 of a second.  Galley Flash won the B Final, and Cairndhu finished second.  

Jessica Lee had finished second in the B Final of the women’s solo.

World Coastal Rowing Championships, Thonon, France, Day Two (Selected Results; Irish interest)

Women

Quadruple, Coxed – A Final: Greece (Nautical Club of Thessaloniki)  27 min 34.98, 2 Italy (CC Saturnia) 27:41.49, 3 Germany (Erster Kieler RC v 1862e V) 27:49.29; 14: Ireland (Castletownbere: E Hanley, C O’Regan, O Gilsenan, M Sheehan; cox: C Connolly) 30:42.58. B Final: 1 Ireland (Galley Flash) 20:46.06, 2 Ireland (Cairndhu) 20:56.34.

Solo – B Final: 2 Killorglin (J Lee) 23:39.30.  

Published in Rowing

#Rowing: Ireland gold medallists Paul O’Donovan, Shane O’Driscoll and Mark O’Donovan arrived back in Ireland today from the World Rowing Championships in Florida. They flew from Orlando to Dublin where family and friends greeted them. They were accompanied by Gary O’Donovan, an Olympic medallist in 2016 and reserve for the World Championships team. This evening they will be honoured at a reception in Skibbereen.  

Published in Rowing

#Rowing: The Ireland gold medallists Mark O’Donovan and Shane O’Driscoll and Paul O’Donovan are due to arrive back in Ireland tomorrow (Sunday). They are due  in Dublin Airport at about 10 o’clock. They will travel to Skibbereen for a special event in the evening.

 Gary O’Donovan, who took a silver medal at the Olympic Games but missed the World Rowing Championships in Florida through illness, will also be flying in.

Published in Rowing

#Rowing: Sanita Puspure finished fourth in the A Final of the women’s single sculls at the World Rowing Championships in Sarasota-Bradenton in Florida.

 Switzerland’s Jeannine Gmelin prospered in the difficult conditions, taking gold ahead of Victoria Thornley of Britain. Austria’s Magdalena Lobnig held off a late sprint by Puspure to take bronze. Puspure was just .35 of a second behind.

 The lanes had been redrawn because of wind, placing Puspure in lane four. She had been drawn in two, but the higher-numbered lanes were thought to have an advantage. Lobnig, who has shown herself to be a good performer in choppy water, survived a wobble in the middle of the race when her oar did not make proper contact with the water.

World Rowing Championships– Irish interest

Women

Single Sculls – A Final: 1 Switzerland (J Gmelin) 7:22.58, 2 Britain (V Thornley) 7:24.50, 3 Austria (M Lobnig) 7:26.56; 4 Ireland (S Puspure) 7:26.91, 5 Netherlands 7:32.69, 6 Canada 7:35.93.

 

Published in Rowing

#Rowing: Ireland’s lightweight pair of Mark O’Donovan and Shane O’Driscoll took a brilliant gold medal at the World Rowing Championships in Sarasota-Bradenton in Florida. They got a tough challenge from Italy and Brazil, but O’Donovan and O’Driscoll produced a stunning row, with a stroke rate of well into the 40s right through the race. They took over the lead at 750 metres and never gave it up, despite concerted challenges by, first, Brazil and then Italy, who took second, with the South Americans taking bronze.  

Published in Rowing

#Rowing: Denise Walsh took an excellent first place in her semi-final at the World Rowing Championships in Sarasota Bradenton in Florida today, making it two wins out of two races for Ireland on the day.

 The Skibbereen lightweight sculler took a slight lead over Mary Jones at half way, with Emma Fredh of Sweden in third. These three then moved away from the rest. Walsh would not let either challenger head her – at the finish the trio finished in the same order, with less than a second covering them.  

Kirsten McCann of South Africa won the first semi-final from Patricia Merz of Switzerland.

 Earlier, Paul O’Donovan had won his semi-final of the lightweight men’s single sculls.

World Rowing Championships, Sarasota-Bradenton, Day Five – Irish interest:

Men

Lightweight Single Sculls – A/B Semi-Final One (First Three to A Final; rest to B Final): 1 Ireland (P O’Donovan) 6:55.30, Switzerland (E Schmid) 6:59.04, 3 Brazil (U Batista) 7:00.47.

Semi-Final Two: 1 Norway (K Brun) 6:54.02, 2 New Zealand (M Dunham) 6:55.68, 3 Germany (L Wichert) 6:57.11.

Women

Lightweight Single Sculls – A/B Semi-Final Two (First Three to A Final; rest to B Final): 1 Ireland (D Walsh) 7:45.89, United States (M Jones) 7:46.54, Sweden (E Fredh) 7:46.78.

Semi-Final One: 1 South Africa (K McCann) 7:39.55, 2 Switzerland (P Merz) 7:39.63, 3 The Netherlands (M Keijser) 7:49.17.

Published in Rowing

#Rowing: Paul O’Donovan took first in his semi-final and qualified for the A Final at the World Rowing Championships in Sarasota Bradenton in Florida today. The Skibbereen man came through in a race with an exciting finish. Michael Schmid of Switzerland led through halfway, but O’Donovan tracked him and drew level at 1500 metres. He passed him in the next few strokes and went on to win by over a length. Behind the two, Uncas Batista of Brazil took the final qualification spot – after Poland’s Artur Mikolajczewski completely ran out of steam approaching the line.  

World Rowing Championships, Sarasota-Bradenton, Day Five – Irish interest:

Men

Lightweight Single Sculls – A/B Semi-Final (First Three to A Final; rest to B Final): 1 Ireland (P O’Donovan) 6:55.30, Switzerland (E Schmid) 6:59.04, 3 Brazil (U Batista) 7:00.47.

Published in Rowing

#Rowing: Sanita Puspure won her repechage to qualify for the A/B Semi-Finals of the women’s single sculls at the World Rowing Championships in Sarasota-Bradenton today. The Ireland sculler was out on her own for virtually the entire 2,000 metres. She had three lengths over Lucie Zabova of the Czech Republic in the middle of the race and extended it to four by the finish. Both qualified.

 In a major surprise Juan Dingli of China could only finish third in the second repechage and misses out on the chance of an A or B Final appearance.

 The Ireland women’s pair of Aifric Keogh and Aileen Crowley finished fourth in their repechage, and will compete in the B Final. They were up with the leaders in the first 500 metres, but Britain and then Germany moved away from them and took the qualification places for the A Final. In the third quarter, China passed Ireland and held on to third despite a good finish by Crowley and Keogh.   

 

World Rowing Championships, Sarasota-Bradenton, Florida – Day Four – Irish Interest:

Women

Pair – Repechage (First Two to A Final; rest to B Final): 1 Britain 7:25.99, 2 Germany 7:3.34; 4 Ireland (A Keogh, A Crowley) 7:41.13.

Single Sculls – Repechage (First Two to A Final; rest to B Final): 1 Ireland (S Puspure) 7:36.16, 2 Czech Republic (L Zabova) 7:45.98.

Published in Rowing

#Rowing: The Ireland pair of Fionnán McQuillan-Tolan and Patrick Boomer finished fifth in their repechage today at the World Rowing Championships in Florida. They will compete in the C Final. The top three secured places in the A/B Semi-Finals. Serbia were impressive winners, taking over from Spain in the middle stages. These two held the top spots to the finish. Behind them the United States clung on to third.

 Ireland pushed fourth-placed Argentina hard in the third quarter, but it was the South Americans who finished best – they came close to ousting the United States and taking the crucial third spot. The host country held on by just .35 of a second.

World Rowing Championships, Sarasota-Bradenton, Florida – Day Three (Irish interest):

Men

Pair – Repechage (First Three to A/B Semi-Final; rest to C Final): 1 Serbia 6:38.05, 2 Spain 6:40.24, 3 United States 6:41.46; 5 Ireland (F McQuillan-Tolan, P Boomer) 6:47.01.

Published in Rowing
Page 15 of 76

Aquaculture Information

Aquaculture is the farming of animals in the water and has been practised for centuries, with the monks farming fish in the middle ages. More recently the technology has progressed and the aquaculture sector is now producing in the region of 50 thousand tonnes annually and provides a valuable food product as well as much needed employment in many rural areas of Ireland.

A typical fish farm involves keeping fish in pens in the water column, caring for them and supplying them with food so they grow to market size. Or for shellfish, containing them in a specialised unit and allowing them to feed on natural plants and materials in the water column until they reach harvestable size. While farming fish has a lower carbon and water footprint to those of land animals, and a very efficient food fed to weight gain ratio compared to beef, pork or chicken, farming does require protein food sources and produces organic waste which is released into the surrounding waters. Finding sustainable food sources, and reducing the environmental impacts are key challenges facing the sector as it continues to grow.

Salmon is the most popular fish bought by Irish families. In Ireland, most of our salmon is farmed, and along with mussels and oysters, are the main farmed species in the country.

Aquaculture in Ireland

  • Fish and shellfish are farmed in 14 Irish coastal counties.
  • Irish SMEs and families grow salmon, oysters, mussels and other seafood
  • The sector is worth €150m at the farm gate – 80% in export earnings.
  • The industry sustains 1,833 direct jobs in remote rural areas – 80% in the west of Ireland
  • Every full-time job in aquaculture creates 2.27 other jobs locally (Teagasc 2015)
  • Ireland’s marine farms occupy 0.0004% of Ireland’s 17,500Km2 inshore area.
  • 83% of people in coastal areas support the development of fish farming
  • Aquaculture is a strong, sustainable and popular strategic asset for development and job creation (Foodwise 2025, National Strategic Plan, Seafood
  • Operational Programme 2020, FAO, European Commission, European Investment Bank, Harvesting Our Ocean Wealth, Silicon Republic, CEDRA)
    Ireland has led the world in organically certified farmed fish for over 30 years
  • Fish farm workers include people who have spent over two decades in the business to school-leavers intent on becoming third-generation farmers on their family sites.

Irish Aquaculture FAQs

Aquaculture, also known as aquafarming, is the farming of aquatic organisms such as fish, crustaceans, molluscs and aquatic plants, and involves cultivating freshwater and saltwater populations under controlled conditions- in contrast to commercial fishing, which is the harvesting of wild fish. Mariculture refers to aquaculture practiced in marine environments and in underwater habitats. Particular kinds of aquaculture include fish farming, shrimp farming, oyster farming, mariculture, algaculture (such as seaweed farming), and the cultivation of ornamental fish. Particular methods include aquaponics and integrated multi-trophic aquaculture, both of which integrate fish farming and plant farming.

About 580 aquatic species are currently farmed all over the world, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), which says it is "practised by both some of the poorest farmers in developing countries and by multinational companies".

Increasing global demand for protein through seafood is driving increasing demand for aquaculture, particularly given the pressures on certain commercially caught wild stocks of fish. The FAO says that "eating fish is part of the cultural tradition of many people and in terms of health benefits, it has an excellent nutritional profile, and "is a good source of protein, fatty acids, vitamins, minerals and essential micronutrients".

Aquaculture now accounts for 50 per cent of the world's fish consumed for food, and is the fastest-growing good sector.

China provides over 60 per cent of the world's farmed fish. In Europe, Norway and Scotland are leading producers of finfish, principally farmed salmon.

For farmed salmon, the feed conversion ratio, which is the measurement of how much feed it takes to produce the protein, is 1.1, as in one pound of feed producing one pound of protein, compared to rates of between 2.2 and 10 for beef, pork and chicken. However, scientists have also pointed out that certain farmed fish and shrimp requiring higher levels of protein and calories in feed compared to chickens, pigs, and cattle.

Tilapia farming which originated in the Middle East and Africa has now become the most profitable business in most countries. Tilapia has become the second most popular seafood after crab, due to which its farming is flourishing. It has entered the list of best selling species like shrimp and salmon.

There are 278 aquaculture production units in Ireland, according to Bord Iascaigh Mhara (BIM) *, producing 38,000 tonnes of finfish and shellfish in 2019 and with a total value of €172 million

There are currently almost 2,000 people directly employed in Irish aquaculture in the Republic, according to BIM.

BIM figures for 2019 recorded farmed salmon at almost 12,000 tonnes, valued at €110 million; rock oysters reached 10,300 tonnes at a value of €44 million; rope mussels at 10,600 tonnes were valued at €7 million; seabed cultured mussels at 4,600 tonnes were valued at €7 million; "other" finfish reached 600 tonnes, valued at €2 million and "other" shellfish reached 300 tonnes, valued at €2 million

Irish aquaculture products are exported to Europe, US and Asia, with salmon exported to France, Germany, Belgium and the US. Oysters are exported to France, with developing sales to markets in Hong Kong and China. France is Ireland's largest export for mussels, while there have been increased sales in the domestic and British markets.

The value of the Irish farmed finfish sector fell by five per cent in volume and seven per cent in value in 2019, mainly due to a fall on salmon production, but this was partially offset by a seven per cent increased in farmed shellfish to a value of 60 million euro. Delays in issuing State licenses have hampered further growth of the sector, according to industry representatives.

Fish and shellfish farmers must be licensed, and must comply with regulations and inspections conducted by the Sea Fisheries Protection Authority and the Marine Institute. Food labelling is a function of the Food Safety Authority of Ireland. There is a long backlog of license approvals in the finfish sector, while the Department of Agriculture, Food and Marine says it is working to reduce the backlog in the shellfish sector.

The department says it is working through the backlog, but notes that an application for a marine finfish aquaculture licence must be accompanied by either an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) or an Environmental Impact Assessment Report (EIAR). As of October 2020, over two-thirds of applications on hand had an EIS outstanding, it said.

The EU requires member states to have marine spatial plans by 2021, and Ireland has assigned responsibility to the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government for the National Marine Planning Framework (NMPF). Legislation has been drawn up to underpin this, and to provide a "one stop shop" for marine planning, ranging from fish farms to offshore energy – as in Marine Planning and Development Management Bill. However, the Department of Agriculture, Food and Marine confirmed last year that it intends to retain responsibility for aquaculture and sea-fisheries related development – meaning fish and shellfish farmers won't be able to avail of the "one stop shop" for marine planning.

Fish and shellfish health is a challenge, with naturally occurring blooms, jellyfish and the risk of disease. There are also issues with a perception that the sector causes environmental problems.

The industry has been on a steep learning curve, particularly in finfish farming, since it was hailed as a new future for Irish coastal communities from the 1970s – with the State's Electricity Supply Board being an early pioneer, and tobacco company Carrolls also becoming involved for a time. Nutrient build up, which occurs when there is a high density of fish in one area, waste production and its impact on depleting oxygen in water, creating algal blooms and "dead zones", and farmers' use of antibiotics to prevent disease have all been concerns, and anglers have also been worried about the impact of escaped farmed salmon on wild fish populations. Sea lice from salmon farmers were also blamed for declines in sea trout and wild salmon in Irish estuaries and rivers.

BIM says over 95% of all salmon farmed in Ireland are certified organic. Organically grown salmon are only fed a diet of sustainable organic feed. They are also raised in more spacious pens than traditional farmed salmon. The need to site locations for fish farms further out to sea, using more robust cages for weather, has been recognised by regulatory agencies. There is a move towards land-based aquaculture in Norway to reduce impact on local ecosystems. The industry says that antibiotic use is declining, and it says that "safe and effective vaccinations have since been developed for farmed fish and are now widely used". Many countries are now adopting a more sustainable approach to removing sea lice from salmon, using feeder fish such as wrasse and lumpsucker fish. Ireland's first lumpsucker hatchery was opened in 2015.

BIM says over 95% of all salmon farmed in Ireland are certified organic. Organically grown salmon are only fed a diet of sustainable organic feed. They are also raised in more spacious pens than traditional farmed salmon. The need to site locations for fish farms further out to sea, using more robust cages for weather, has been recognised by regulatory agencies. There is a move towards land-based aquaculture in Norway to reduce impact on local ecosystems. The industry says that antibiotic use is declining, and it says that "safe and effective vaccinations have since been developed for farmed fish and are now widely used". Many countries are now adopting a more sustainable approach to removing sea lice from salmon, using feeder fish such as wrasse and lumpsucker fish. Ireland's first lumpsucker hatchery was opened in 2015.

Yes, as it is considered to have better potential for controlling environmental impacts, but it is expensive. As of October 2020, the department was handling over 20 land-based aquaculture applications.

The Irish Farmers' Association has represented fish and shellfish farmers for many years, with its chief executive Richie Flynn, who died in 2018, tirelessly championing the sector. His successor, Teresa Morrissey, is an equally forceful advocate, having worked previously in the Marine Institute in providing regulatory advice on fish health matters, scientific research on emerging aquatic diseases and management of the National Reference Laboratory for crustacean diseases.

BIM provides training in the national vocational certificate in aquaculture at its National Fisheries College, Castletownbere, Co Cork. It also trains divers to work in the industry. The Institute of Technology Carlow has also developed a higher diploma in aqua business at its campus in Wexford, in collaboration with BIM and IFA Aquaculture, the representative association for fish and shellfish farming.

© Afloat 2020

At A Glance - Irish Aquaculture

  • Fish and shellfish are farmed in 14 Irish coastal counties
  • Salmon is the most popular fish bought by Irish families. 
  • In Ireland, most of our salmon is farmed, and along with mussels and oysters, are the main farmed species in the country.
  • The industry sustains 1,833 direct jobs in remote rural areas – 80% in the west of Ireland
  • Every full-time job in aquaculture creates 2.27 other jobs locally (Teagasc 2015)
  • Ireland’s marine farms occupy 0.0004% of Ireland’s 17,500Km2 inshore area.
  • 83% of people in coastal areas support the development of fish farming

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