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# CANOEING: Ireland’s two senior competitors at the Canoe Marathon World Championships finished in the top 20 in their classes in Rome today. In the women’s K1, Jenny Egan had a frustrating run which included a capsize and was eventually placed 16th. This was just over seven minutes behind Renata Csay of Hungary. In the men’s K1, Peter Egan was 17th. The event was won by Spain’s Ivan Alonso.

Canoe Marathon World Championships – Day Two (Irish interest)

Men

K1 Senior: 1 Spain (I Alonso) 2 hours 11 mins 43.120 seconds; 17 P Egan 2:16:28.870.

Women

K1 Senior: 1 Hungary (R Csay) 2 hours 1 minute 2.710 seconds; 16 J Egan 2:08:05.460

Published in Canoeing

# ROWING: Niall Kenny won his repechage to qualify for tomorrow’s semi-finals of the lightweight single sculls at the World University Championships in Kazan in Russia. The 24-year-old Galway man had finished last in a difficult heat earlier, but he led through all four quarters of the semi-final, beating Rusian Momot of the Ukraine into second. Estonia’s Tamor Bakhoff took the third semi-final place.

World University Rowing Championships, Kazan, Russia – Day One (Irish interest)

Men

Four – Heat Two (First Two to A Final; rest to Repechage): 1 Netherlands 6:08,18, 2 Germany 6:08.22; 3 Italy 6:16.97, 4 Ireland (E Mullarkey, S O’Connor, S O’Driscoll, T Lynam) 6:24.25.

Lightweight Single Sculls – Heat Two (First Three to A/B Semi-Final; rest to Repechage): 1 Switzerland 7:07.60, 2 Poland 7:08.95, 3 Italy 7:09.48; 4 Ireland (N Kenny) 7:29.71. Repechage (Threee to Semi-Finals; rest to C Final): 1 Ireland (Kenny) 7:48.29, 2 Ukraine 7:50.64, 3 Estonia 8:20.69; 4 Malaysia 8:29.94.

Women

Four – Heat Two (Winner to A Final, rest to Repechage): 1 Russia 6:51.90; 2 Poland 7:04.19, 3 Ireland (A Greene, E Kerrigan, H Lavery, C McIlwaine) 7:17.07.

Lightweight Single Sculls – Heat Two (First Two to A Final, rest to Repechage): 1 Ireland (C Lambe) 7:53.86, 2 New Zealand (L Tester) 7:59.70; 3 Czech Republic 8:02.39, 4 Mexico 8:27.96, 5 Italy 8:40.06.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Published in Rowing

# ROWING: Three of the four Ireland crews are bound for repechages after the first round of competition at the World University Rowing Championships in Kazan in Russia. The men’s four finished fourth in their heat and the women’s four third in theirs. Lightweight single sculler Niall Kenny finished fourth in a heat he led for for the first 1,000 metres.

Ireland’s day started with a fine win for Claire Lambe in her heat of the lightweight single sculls and she will go into Sunday’s final as one of the favourites.

World University Rowing Championships, Kazan, Russia – Day One (Irish interest)

Men

Four – Heat Two (First Two to A Final; rest to Repechage): 4 Ireland (E Mullarkey, S O’Connor, S O’Driscoll, T Lynam).

Lightweight Single Sculls – Heat Two (First Three to A/B Semi-Final; rest to Repechage): 1 Switzerland 7:07.60, 2 Poland 7:08.95, 3 Italy 7:09.48; 4 Ireland (N Kenny) 7:29.71.

Women

Four – Heat Two (Winner to A Final, rest to Repechage): 1 Russia 6:51.90; 2 Poland 7:04.19, 3 Ireland (A Greene, E Kerrigan, H Lavery, C McIlwaine) 7:17.07.

Lightweight Single Sculls – Heat Two (First Two to A Final, rest to Repechage): 1 Ireland (C Lambe) 7:53.86, 2 New Zealand (L Tester) 7:59.70; 3 Czech Republic 8:02.39, 4 Mexico 8:27.96, 5 Italy 8:40.06.

Published in Rowing

# ROWING: Claire Lambe won her heat to qualify directly for the A Final of the lightweight single sculls at the World University Championships at Kazan in Russia this morning. The 22-year-old Dubliner is Ireland’s top hope of a medal. Niall Kenny finished fourth in his heat of the lightweight single and must compete in a repechage as must the women’s four, who finished third in their heat.

Published in Rowing

#ROWING: Two athletes who represented Ireland at senior level in the recent World Rowing Championships are part of the country’s team for the World University Rowing Championships which take place in Kazan in Russia this weekend. Claire Lambe and Niall Kenny will compete in the lightweight single sculls. Lambe finished 11th in Bulgaria and Kenny 15th.

Lambe also placed fourth at the World Under-23 Championships, and the Ireland men’s four is built around the crew which finished 11th at that event, with Shane O’Driscoll replacing Finbarr Manning. A women’s openweight four will also compete.

Ireland Team for World University Championships, Kazan, Russia

Men – Four: E Mullarkey, S O’Connor, S O’Driscoll, T Lynam. Lighweight Single Scull: N Kenny.

Women – Four: A Greene, E Kerrigan, H Lavery, C McIlwaine. Lightweight Single Scull: C Lambe.

Published in Rowing

# ROWING: Ireland’s adaptive coxed four finished fourth in their B Final, 10th overall, at the Paralympic Rowing Regatta at Eton Dorney this morning. The crew of Anne-Marie McDaid, Sarah Caffrey, Shane Ryan, Kevin du Toit and cox Helen Arbuthnot fought it out for third with Brazil, finishing just .14 of a second behind the South Americans. Canada battled with France at the head of the field and won.

Britain beat Germany in the A Final to win gold, with the Ukraine taking bronze.

Paralympic Rowing Regatta, Eton Dorney – Day Three (Irish interest)

Legs, Trunks and Arms Mixed Coxed Four – B Final (Places 7-12): 1 Canada 3:31.17, 2 France 3:32.01, 3 Brazil 3:36.58, 4 Ireland (A-M McDaid, S Caffrey, S Ryan, K du Toit; cox: H Arbuthnot) 3:36.72, 5 Russia 3:42.73, 6 Belarus 3:45.18. A Final: 1 Britain 3:19.38, 2 Germany 3:21.44, 3 Ukraine 3:23.22, 4 China 3:23.43, 5 Italy 3:27.91, 6 United States 3:30.06.

Published in Rowing

# ROWING: Ireland finished fourth in their repechage of the Legs, Trunk and Arms Mixed Coxed Four at the Paralympic Games at Eton Dorney this morning and will compete in the B Final (places seven to 12) tomorrow. There were two places on offer for the A Final and the Ukraine and China set an impressive pace and qualified in first and second, holding off Canada and Ireland, with Russia fifth.

Canada were A Finalists in Beijing, but the standard in this event has improved radically: Italy won gold in Beijing with a time of 3:33.13, almost 10 seconds slower than Ukraine’s winning time this morning. Italy and the United States qualified for the A Final from the second repechage, where all the crews bar one were faster than the gold medal-winning time in Beijing.

Canada, Ireland and Russia will be joined by France, Brazil and Belarus in the B Final.

Paralympic Rowing Regatta, Eton Dorney – Day Two (Irish interest)

Legs, Trunks and Arms Mixed Coxed Four – Repechage One (First Two to A Final; rest to B Final): 1 Ukraine 3:23.53, 2 China 3:25.03; 3 Canada 3:28.82, 4 Ireland (AM McDaid, S Caffrey, S Ryan, K du Toit; cox: H Arbuthnot) 3:34.85, 5 Russia 3:43.84.

Published in Rowing

# ROWING: Sanita Puspure is the Afloat Rower of the Month for August. The Cork-based athlete overcame an illness prior to the Olympic Games at Eton Dorney and represented Ireland well. She was unlucky to be drawn in an extremely tough quarter-final, where she finished fourth in a race won by eventual Olympic Champion Mirka Knapkova. Puspure won the C Final well, placing her 13th overall at her first Olympic Games, and suggesting that her ambitions of climbing the world rankings are well-grounded.  

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 2012. Keep a monthly eye on progress and watch our 2012 champions list grow.

Published in Rowing

# ROWING: Ireland’s adaptive mixed coxed  four of Anne Marie McDaid, Sarah Caffrey, Shane Ryan, Kevin du Toit and cox Helen Arbuthnot will compete in a repechage tomorrow after finishing fifth in their heat at the Paralympic Games at Eton Dorney today. The Ireland coach, John Armstrong, was pleased with the Ireland performance, and they were never far off places two to four. The race was won well by the dominant crew in this discipline, Britain, who claimed the one direct qualification for the A Final. The top two crews in tomorrow’s two repechages will qualify for Sunday’s A Final.

Paralympic Rowing Regatta, Eton Dorney – Day One

Legs, Trunks and Arms Mixed Coxed Four – Heat Two (Winner Directly to A Final; rest to Repechages): 1 Britain 3:23.59; 5 Ireland 3:33.95.

Published in Rowing

# ROWING: The junior men’s pair of Chris Black and Joel Cassells were again the stars of the show for Ireland as they won the B Final at the World Championships in Plovdiv in Bulgaria this morning with the best time they have ever clocked in competition, six minutes 47.92 seconds. In a fiercely-competitive grade this crew might well have been contending for medals in the A Final, but came up against three of the best crews in the semi-final on Saturday in Romania, Germany and Greece and finished fourth. Black and Cassells then targeted a win in this morning’s race which would give them seventh overall and they brought it home in remarkable fashion. They were credited with one minute 36.29 for the first 500 metres, and the race plan set by coach Seamus Reynolds went so well that as Croatia, Poland and France fought it out behind them, the Irish were never seriously challenged, and won by almost two seconds.

Earlier, Claire Lambe finished fifth in her B Final of the lightweight single sculls, 11th overall. The Dubliner was fourth for a great deal of a fine race, which was won by Italy’s Elisabetta Sancassani ahead of China’s Miao Wang second, with outgoing World Champion Fabiana Beltrame of Brazil only capable of taking third. Early in the final quarter Lambe made ground of Beltrame and contended for third, but the Irish woman was passed late on by Alice McNamara of Australia, who took the fourth spot. Switzerland’s Pamela Weisshaupt, the World Champion in 2008 and 2009, and twice a World Cup winner this year, finished sixth.

World Championships, Plovdiv, Bulgaria, Day Five (Irish interest)

Men

Junior Pair B Final (Places 7 to 12): 1 Ireland (C Black, J Cassells) 6:47.92, 2 Croatia 6:49.81, 3 Poland 6:50.99, 4 France 6:54.82, 5 Belgium 6:56.86, 6 United States 6:57.78.

Women

Lightweight Single Scull – B Final (Places 7 to 12): 1 Italy (E Sancassani) 7:45.78, 2 China (M Wang) 7:47.60, 3 Brazil (F Beltrame) 7:47.87, 4 Australia (A McNamara) 7:49.29, 5 Ireland (C Lambe) 7:56.68, 6 Switzerland (P Weisshaupt) 8:01.59.

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