Menu

Ireland's sailing, boating & maritime magazine

Displaying items by tag: Enniskillen

#InlandWaters - That new Enniskillen Blueway water activity zone located beside Erneside footbridge will be opening soon.

A range of family-friendly water activities including canoeing, kayaking and stand-up paddle boarding will be offered at the zone developed by Waterways Ireland with the support of Fermanagh & Omagh District Council, Fermanagh Lakeland Tourism and Enniskillen BID.

If you would prefer to captain your own boat and enjoy a leisurely experience around Ireland’s only island town, you might be more interested in one of the ‘wee red boats’ from Erne Boat Hire.

There is also a new heritage boat tour taking in the monastic and heritage sites around Enniskillen including Devenish Island, and the Erne Water Taxi for a more exhilarating blast around Lough Erne.

Waterways Irelad hopes the new water activity zone will play a role in encouraging young people to access the water, engage in water sports and make a connection with Lough Erne.

The activity zone also forms part of ongoing blueway developments on Lough Erne, the first of which will be a canoeing trail from Bellanaleck to Troy, taking in Enniskillen town and the new activity zone.

Published in Inland Waterways

#RNLI - Just two days before Carrybridge RNLI’s new inshore lifeboat had its naming ceremony, boat and crew launched to assist a cow that had fallen from a steep bank on Upper Lough Erne.

The lifeboat and rescue water craft launched at 3.30pm on Thursday afternoon (7 June) arrived to the cow and its owner, who had been trying to recover the animal from the Arney River without success.

Weather conditions had southerly Force 2 winds, with good visibility and cloudy skies.

After speaking with the farmer, the volunteer crew kept the animal close to the bank and helped to steer the cow towards a part of the bank where it would be able to get out.

After some careful coaxing, the cow was assisted in getting out of the river by the crew and the farmer’s family. The crew were thanked by the owners and the lifeboat and rescue water craft departed the scene at 4.14pm.

Then on returning to station, the RNLI crew were requested to aid a vessel which had broken down nearby. The crew assisted in towing this boat back to its private slipway.

“We are always happy to help the local community in situations where there is risk to both the public and animals,” said Tom Bailey, lifeboat operations manager at Carrybridge RNLI.

“We also advise everyone working close to the edge of water to take the necessary precautions. In this instance we were delighted that the cow was able to be recovered without injury.”

Elsewhere, Enniskillen RNLI launched yesterday afternoon (Saturday 9 June) to assist a 23ft Bayliner that has lost engine power at the entrance into the River Erne which leads to Belleek.

The charity’s inshore lifeboat Joseph and Mary Hiley and rescue water craft arrived at the casualty vessel which had three people onboard, all of whom were safe and well.

The volunteer crew set up a tow to the lifeboat and towed the vessel to Aughinver.

Speaking following the callout, Enniskillen RNLI helm Aidy Kelly said: “It was a very successful recovery with our crew using the benefits of their winter training to recover the vessel and all onboard safely to Aughinver.”

Published in RNLI Lifeboats

#Rowing: Irish crews took a full set of medals – gold, silver and bronze – in Championship finals on another excellent day at the British National Schools’ Regatta on Dorney Lake on Sunday. The Fermoy pair of Ellie O’Reilly and Gill McGirr powered away from their opponents in the second half of the Championship Pair A Final, while Enniskillen’s Nathan Timoney and Odhran Donaghy took a comfortable second in the men’s race. Aaron Christie of Bann held out well to hold on to third in the Championship Singles. Enniskillen also took a gold medal in the junior 16 girls’ pair, through Zoe McCutcheon and Maeve Donnelly.

British National Schools’ Regatta, Dorney Lake (Selected Results; Irish interest)

Saturday

Boys

Championship/Non-Championship Eight – B Final: 3 Enniskillen RBC.

Girls

Championship/Non-Championship Eight – B Final: 2 Galway 7:35.72; 3 St Michael’s 7:45.46.

Junior 16 Four, coxed – A Final: 2 Enniskillen RBC 8:22.68.

Sculling, Double – Championship A Final: 2 Workmen’s (A O’Donoghue, C Browne) 8:06.37.

Single – Championship A Final: 7 Workmen’s (C Moynihan) 9:10.40. B Final: 1 Coleraine Grammar School (M Curry) 8:43.03.

Sunday

Boys

Championship Pair: 2 Enniskillen (O Donaghy, N Timoney) 7:19.06.  

Sculling, Championship Singles: 3 Bann (A Christie) 7:39.46.

Girls

Championship Pair: 1 Fermoy (E O’Reilly, G McGirr) 8:11.17.

Junior 16 Pair: 1 Enniskillen (M Donnelly, Z McCutcheon) 8:08.80

Published in Rowing

#Rowing: The Workmen’s junior women’s double took a silver at the National Schools’ Regatta at Dorney Lake in England today. In the Championship Doubles, Annie O’Donoghue and Ciara Browne finished one and a half lengths down on Latymer Upper School. Ciara Moynihan of Workmen’s finished seventh in the A Final of the Championship Singles, while Molly Curry of Coleraine Grammar School took control of the B Final and won.

 Enniskillen took silver in the Boys’ Non-Championship Eights, and their girls’ junior 16 coxed four matched them in their A Final. Ireland clubs placed second and third in the B Final of the Girls’ Championship/Non Championship Eights.

British National Schools’ Regatta, Dorney Lake (Selected Results; Irish interest)

 

Saturday

Boys

Championship/Non-Championship Eight – B Final: 3 Enniskillen RBC.

Girls

Championship/Non-Championship Eight – B Final: 2 Galway 7:35.72; 3 St Michael’s 7:45.46.

Junior 16 Four, coxed – A Final: 2 Enniskillen RBC 8:22.68.

Sculling, Double – Championship A Final: 2 Workmen’s (A O’Donoghue, C Browne) 8:06.37.

Single – Championship A Final: 7 Workmen’s (C Moynihan) 9:10.40. B Final: 1 Coleraine Grammar School (M Curry) 8:43.03.

Published in Rowing

#Rowing: The under-23 lightweight pair of David O’Malley and Shane Mulvaney were the most emphatic of winners on the first day of the Ireland trial at the National Rowing Centre in Cork, while Philip Doyle won the men’s single sculls – in the absence of Queen’s University clubmate Sam McKeown, who has gone to the British system.

Emily Hegarty and Aifric Keogh teamed up well in a women’s pair and Monika Dukarska was untroubled in a fine win in the women’s single sculls. Sanita Puspure is overcoming a back injury and Aileen Crowley, who has partnered Keogh in a pair, has tendonitis. Denise Walsh has tonsilitis.

Andrew Goff was the best of a talented, ambitious, group of lightweight single single scullers.

The junior ranks were vibrant and drew praise from Ireland high performance director Antonio Maurogiovanni. Fermoy’s Eliza O’Reilly and Gill McGirr confirmed their preeminence in the women’s pair, while Enniskillen’s Odhran Donaghy and Nathan Timoney were the best junior men’s pair. Aoibhinn Keating of Skibbereen was the top junior women’s sculler and Jack Dorney looked strong as he raced away to win the junior men’s single.

Ireland Assessment, National Rowing Centre (Selected Results; senior results not published)

Men – Junior

Pair – A Final: 1 O Donaghy, N Timoney (Enniskillen) 7:30.94, 2 S O’Neill, W Ronayne (Shandon) 7:36.03, 3 O’Donovan, Mulready (Castleconnell) 7:48.19. B Final: P Murphy, J Kennedy (Enniskillen) 7:48.76. Single – A Final: 1 J Dorney (Shandon) 7:45.34, 2 J Keating (Carlow) 7:53.06, 3 A Byrne (Shandon) 7:54.13. B Final: T Murphy (Lee) 8:00.55.

Women - Junior

Pair – A Final: 1 E O’Reill, G McGill. Single – A Final: 1 A Keating (Skibbereen) 8:46.75, 2 R Carson (Bann) 8:50.84, 3 C Moynihan (Workmen’s) 8:54.71. B Final: C O’Brien (Castleconnell) 8:46.50.

Published in Rowing

#Rowing: Jack Dorney was an impressive winner of the Junior 18 men’s single sculls final at the Ireland Assessment at the National Rowing Centre today. The Shandon man moved into a clear lead by the 1500 metre mark and won well from Jack Keating of Carlow, who finished well.

Odhran Donaghy and Nathan Timoney of Enniskillen won the Junior men’s pairs final from Sam O’Neill and William Ronayne of Shandon, who gave them a good battle to the line.

The Fermoy women’s junior pair of Gill McGirr and Eliza O’Reilly also won well in the women’s junior pair, while Aoibhinn Keating of Skibbereen won an exciting final of the Junior women’s single.

Published in Rowing

#Rowing: Enniskillen RBC had two outstanding results at the Schools’ Head of the River in London. The girls’ eight won their category, the First Eights, and were fifth overall. The boys’ eight finished second in the equivalent category behind Bedford. When the revised results were published this placed them 10th overall, the best placing by an Irish crew at the event since 2010, when Bann Rowing Club finished ninth and 2011 when Portora (now Enniskillen) matched this. Enniskillen finished seventh in an event shortened due to weather in 2017.

Schools’ Head of the River, London (Selected Results; Irish interest; REVISED)

Men, Schools First Eight: 1 Bedford 17 min 15.1 sec; 2 Enniskillen Royal Boat Club (S Balcombe, R Mills, M McBrien, P Murphy, O Donaghy, J McDade, J Kennedy, N Timoney; cox: R Farragher) 17:18.4; 16 Methodist, Belfast A 19:10.2

First Junior 16 Eight: 9 Methody 19:44.4. 

Sculling, Quadruple – Championship: 17 Methody 19:15.6.

Women, Schools First Eight: 1 Enniskillen RBC (T McComb, A Corry, V Wilson, C Leonard, Z McCutcheon, M Donnelly, J Long; C Fee; cox: S Dolan) 19:01.3; 13 Methody 21:49.7.

 

Published in Rowing

#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 two heads of the river scheduled for this Saturday have fallen foul of the weather, although both are set to be rescheduled. The Erne Head, at Enniskillen, had drawn a top-class entry. But while conditions at Enniskillen might well be rowable on Saturday, travel to the venue, especially on Friday, would prove difficult at best because of snow and high winds. The organisers hope to run the event on March 10th. Cork Head has also been cancelled, and organisers say the are also hoping to have it held on a new date.

Published in Rowing

#Rowing: Molly Curry and Aobhinn Keating had the fastest time in a women’s double at the Ireland junior trial at the National Rowing Centre in Cork. The Coleraine Grammar School and Skibbereen combination covered the 2,000 metres in seven minutes and 45.13 seconds. We apologise for having got this wrong in the original report.

Published in Rowing
Page 6 of 10

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