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Displaying items by tag: Cork

#Rowing: Irish composite crews had good wins on the first day of the World Masters Regatta in Bled in Slovenia. The Irish B eight (average age 36 or more), which is formed from six clubs won. Two fours in the E class (average age 55 or more) also won – the Galway/Neptune combination by just .26 of a second. The decision was initially given to their German opponents.

World Masters Regatta, Bled, Slovenia, Day One (Selected Results; Irish interest; all heats of 1,000 metres, winners only)

Men

Eight, B (avg 36 or more) – Heat Five: Galway, Commercial, Shandon, Clonmel, Neptune, Cork 3:05.51.

Four, E (avg 55 or more) – Heat One: Galway, Neptune 3:26.26.

Heat Four: Waterford, Neptune, Commercial, Belfast BC 3:28.1

Published in Rowing

#PortOfCork - The Port of Cork has secured the former Irish Fertiliser Industries Plant at Cobh in a public-private partnership deal that will see a significant expansion of its cargo handling facilities.

According to the Irish Examiner, the circa €6 million deal with Wexford-based Lanber Holdings gives the port a 40% stake in the site of the Marino Point plant, which closed in 2002 with the loss of 220 jobs.

Port of Cork chief executive Brendan Keating said the partnership will “explore every business opportunity for the site”.

He added: “We will focus initially on cargo handling and new trading opportunities, such as fertiliser and animal feed importation.”

The news follows the announcement of a new project to ship more than €300 million worth of natural gas from Texas to Cork, as reported yesterday on Afloat.ie.

It also comes as stakeholders in Cork Harbour propose moving the long-mooted International Shipping Services Centre to Leeside, and alongside plans for an improved cruise liner terminal on Cobh.

Published in Port of Cork
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#Rowing: Niall Beggan and Andrew Goff gave Gary and Paul O’Donovan a good battle in the Division One double sculls at Cork Regatta today. The Ireland under-23 lightweights, drawn from UCD and Commercial, placed second behind the Ireland senior lightweight double, ahead of Shane O’Driscoll and Mark O’Donovan.

NUIG won the men’s fours and the Skibbereen/UCC composite the women’s four by convincing margins. Cork won the women’s double, while Lee’s juniors took second.

Cork Regatta, National Rowing Centre, Cork, Day Two (Selected Results)

Men

Four – Div One – A Final: 1 NUIG (sen) 6:16.41. Four, coxed – Div Two – A Final: 1 Queen’s B (club two) 6:53.69, 2 St Michael’s (jun 18B) 6:56.53; 6 Presentation, Cork (jun 16) 7:33.61.

Sculling, Double – A Final: 1 Skibbereen (G O’Donovan, P O’Donovan; sen) 6:25.51, 2 Commercial, UCD (N Beggan, A Goff; sen) 6:27.62, 3 Skibbereen (M O’Donovan, S O’Driscoll; sen) 6:37.997; 5 Three Castles A (jun 18A) 6:49.76. B Final: St Michael’s (inter) 6:51.20.

Single – Div Two – A Final: 1 Three Castles (A Keogh; jun 16) 7:29.64, 2 Cappoquin (S Landers; club two) 7:35.39; 6 Killorglin (J McCarthy; Jun 18B) 7:52.86.

Women

Four – Div One – A Final: 1 Skibbereen, UCC (N Casey, E Hegarty, A Keogh, D Walsh; sen) 6:59.0. B Final: Col Iognaid (jun 18A) 7:39.68.

Sculling, Double – Div One – A Final: 1 Cork (inter) 7:19.591, 2 Lee (jun 18A) 7:23.45. B Final: 2 Carlow (club one) 7:40.31.

Published in Rowing

#Rowing: Irish crews had a very successful second day at the Metropolitan Regatta at Dorney Lake. Monika Dukarska of Killorglin and the Skibbereen double of Denise Walsh and Aoife Casey won in the top single and double sculls races, but other crews also impressed. NUIG’s women’s eight finished third in the A Final in Tier One – the crew, which has a number of novice rowers, had also taken third in the morning time trial. Trinity, UCC, Shandon, Galway, Cork and UCD were amongst the crews which also came away with encouraging results over the weekend.

Metropolitan Regatta, Dorney Lake, Day Two (Selected Results; Irish interest)

Men

Eights – Tier One, Final B: 2 NUIG A, 3 UCD (A). Final C: 1 Trinity 6:07.65. Final D: 2 UCD. Final F: 1 NUIG (B) 6:25.61. Final I: 2 Trinity (D), 3 UCD (C).

Four – Tier Three Final: 1 UCC 6:36.53.

Four, coxed – Championship Final: 3 NUIG (B).

Pair – Tier Two Final: 2 UCC

Sculling, Double

Tier Two Final: 2 Shandon

Women

Eight – Tier One – Final A: 3 NUIG (A). Final B: 2 Commercial. Final C: 3 Galway. Final D: 2 NUIG.

Four, coxed – Tier Three: 3 Galway Rowing Club.

Pair - Tier One Final: 2 Cork (G Collins, L Dilleen)

Sculling, Double – Tier One Final: 1 Skibbereen 7:17.56.

Single – Tier One: 1 Killorglin (M Dukarska); 3 UCD (A Crowley).

Published in Rowing

#MarineWildlife - Cork residents near the River Lee are urged to be report any sightings of coypu after one of the large rodents was seen in Cork city last week.

The invasive species was released within the last two years in the Curraheen River, a tributary of the Lee, with the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) trapping 10 of the large river rats since then, according to the Irish Examiner.

But the NPWS now seeks the public’s help in identifying how far beyond the Curraheen they might have spread, with possible sightings on the Cork-Bandon road, at Monkstown on Cork Harbour and in streams north of the city.

The situation is a far cry from two years ago, when fears of a coypu invasion of Ireland’s inland waterways were dismissed upon the news of a single three-foot rodent found in a Tipperary stream, as previously reported on Afloat.ie.

Also known as nutria in the United States, the rodents are regarded as a destructive invasive species and pest, posing a threat to the stability of river banks and even coastal defences.

The Irish Examiner has more on the story HERE.

Published in Marine Wildlife

#RNLI - The RNLI’s Cork city fundraising branch is one of 10 charities shortlisted for Douglas Court Shopping Centre’s charity partner of the year.

Votes on Facebook will be tallied after the closing date this Friday 3 March for a prize to the winning charity that includes a €1,000 shopping voucher and collection days at the shopping centre throughout the year.

Votes can also be cast at the centre’s information desk for those not on social media.

Published in RNLI Lifeboats
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#Rowing: UCC’s senior eight set an excellent time of 10 minutes four seconds for the course length of approximately three kilometres at the Muckross Head of the River at the National Rowing Centre. The young crew, stroked by Ciarán Higgins, was far and away the fastest crew of the day. The Skibbereen/UCC women’s composite eight set a time of 11 minutes 56 seconds, three seconds faster than that of Cork Boat Club. Conditions were excellent, especially in the morning. SEE ATTACHED RESULTS.

Muckross Head of the River, Selected Results

Men

Eight – Senior: UCC 10 minutes 4 seconds; Commercial 10:42; Cork/UCC 11:12. Club One: Commercial 11:43. Club One/Masters: Castleconnell, Shandon, Univ of Limerick 11:43. Junior 18: Commercial 11:01.  

Four – Senior: Cork 11:23.

Pair – Senior: Commercial (Acheson) 11:52. Inter: Commercial (Beggan) 11:46.

Sculling – Quadruple: Shandon/UCC 11:21. Junior 18: Castleconnell 11:35. Jun 16, coxed: Shandon 11:23.

Single: UCC (R Byrne) 12:08.

Women

Eight – Skibbereen/UCC 11:56. Junior 18: Lee 13:28

Sculling - Quadruple – St Michael’s 13:13

Double – St Michael’s 12:46.

Single - Senior: Skibbereen (O Hayes) 13:48. Junior 18: Lee (M Cremen) 13:51.  

 

 

Published in Rowing

#Diving - The SCUBA diving community in Cork is raising funds for a hyperbaric chamber to treat divers with decompression sickness, as the Irish Examiner reports.

Otherwise known as ‘the bends’, the potentially fatal condition is contracted when nitrogen bubbles form in the bloodstream of divers who surface from deep dives too quickly.

However, there is only one hyperbaric chamber required for the necessary oxygen therapy that caters for diving emergencies in the Republic, located in Galway.

That’s prompted the creation of the Munster Hyperbaric Chamber Project, to provide emergency facilities for affected divers in Ireland’s south-west in time for the 2017 diving season. The Irish Examiner has more HERE.

In other diving news, two English SCUBA clubs have shared a top award for their expedition to Ratlin Island off the Causeway Coast, according to the Bury Times.

Divers from Bury and Wigan in the greater Manchester area were awarded the Expedition Trophy at the British Sub-Aqua Club Diving Conference recently for their reef and shipwreck dives out of Ballycastle — including one visit to a cruiser torpedoed during the First World War.

Published in Diving

#Rowing: Ronan Byrne came home fastest of over 200 scullers to win  the Cork Sculling Ladder time trial at the Marina in Cork. The UCC man, the outright sculling ladder winner for the two seasons and time trial winner 12 months ago, won in a time of seven minutes 12 seconds from Dan Begley of Shandon, and joint-third placed Stephen O’Sullivan (Shandon) and Barry O’Flynn (Cork BC).

 Margaret Cremen of Lee Rowing Club – also the ladder winner last season – won the women’s section. She recorded a time of eight minutes and .8 of a second. Aoife Lynch (Lee) was second and Elma Bouanane of Fermoy third.

 The ladder continues until the April 2nd, 2017.

 Cork Sculling Ladder 2016 Time Trial: Results

Men

1 Ronan Byrne, UCC.  7: 12.00

2 Dan Begley, Shandon BC. 7: 14.7

3= Stephen O’Sullivan, Shandon BC. 7: 23.6

3= Barry O’Flynn, Cork BC. 7: 23.6

5 Colm Hennessy, Shandon BC. 7: 29.7

6 Jack Casey, Shandon BC. 7: 31.8

7  Andy Harrington, Shandon BC. 7: 33.6  

Women

1 Margaret Cremen, Lee RC. 8: 00.8

2 Aoife Lynch, Lee RC. 8: 31.3

3 Selma Bouanane, Fermoy RC. 8: 32.5

4 Aoife Higgins, Cork BC. 8: 43.4

5 Clara O’Sullivan, Cork BC. 8: 44.1

Published in Rowing

#RNLI - Lifeboat volunteers with Wicklow RNLI responded to two callouts over the weekend, assisting a lone yachtsman and a person in the water.

The first came on Saturday 17 September as the all-weather lifeboat Annie Blaker launched at 2.55pm to assist a small yacht south of Wicklow harbour.

The vessel, with one person on board, had developed mechanical problems near the horseshoe buoy. With light winds, he was unable make his way back to Wicklow Harbour.

English yacht Amica, which was passing, made contact and attempted to tow the vessel back to Wicklow. However, with the tide against him and strong currents, they were unable to make much headway around Wicklow Head.

The lifeboat, under the command of coxswain Nick Keogh, located the vessel off Wicklow Head and a towline was quickly established. The yacht and the lone sailor were brought safely alongside the East Pier shortly after 3.45pm.

The second callout came yesterday morning (Sunday 18 September) at 6:45am after the Irish Coast Guard received a report of a person in the water at Wicklow Harbour. The inshore lifeboat crew arrived on scene at the South Quay a short time later.

Lifeboat volunteer Ian Thompson entered the water to rescue the casualty, who was disorientated and injured.

Thompson was able to assess and reassure the casualty before bringing him to a nearby ladder and, with the assistance of gardaí, the person was lifted to safety and transferred to a waiting ambulance for medical treatment.

This multi-agency rescue operation involved the the coastguard, Wicklow RNLI, Wicklow Garda and the Wicklow Ambulance Service.

Elsewhere, the body of a man was recovered from the River Lee in Cork city last night hours after a car was reportedly seen entering the water at Kennedy Quay. BreakingNews.ie has more on the story HERE.

Published in RNLI Lifeboats
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Page 5 of 26

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