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#Rowing; Trinity won the Gannon Cup with a fine performance today. The Colours races were run on a reverse of the Trinity Regatta course above the weir for safety reasons. There was a strong east wind and a powerful flow.

 UCD took a one-length lead in the Gannon Cup at the first bend, but Trinity came back to lead and held on. Trinity’s senior women won the Corcoran Cup with a commading performance.

 The novice women’s title (the Sally Moorhead Trophy) was won easily by UCD. The closest race of the day was the novice men’s race, which was a thrilling contest. Trinity led past the boat clubs, but UCD overtook them and led by a length. Trinity came back to retake the lead … only for UCD to overhaul them right at the finish line.   

Colours Races 2018, Islandbridge (raced above the weir because of bad weather)

Senior Men (Gannon Cup): Trinity (B Cronin, D Butler, W Doyle, G Moore, A Liadov, D Pierse, T Hughes, M Quigley; cox: R Hamilton) bt UCD, ¾ l.

Novice Men (Dan Quinn Shield): UCD bt Trinity 2ft.

Senior Women (Corcoran Cup): Trinity  (D Maguire, S Kelly, A Byrne, J Hogg, A Corcoran, C Dempsey, L McHugh, S Higgins; cox: M Jungmann) bt UCD easily.

Novice Women (Sally Moorhead Cup): UCD bt Trinity easily

Published in Rowing

#Rowing: Trinity had a good run in the early set of finals at Neptune Regatta in Islandbridge today. Their senior coxed four – with a strong set of rowers in Patrick Moreau, Mark Kelly, Liam Hawkes and David Butler, beat UCD, and Michael Corcoran won the senior single sculls. Monika Dukarska of Killorglin took on and beat Breanna Larsen in a semi-final and Jacqueline Ryan in the final of the women’s single.

Neptune Regatta, Islandbridge Saturday (Selected Results)

Men

Eight – Club One: Commercial B bt St Michael’s 2l, 3:44. Novice: Trinity bt UCD, disq. Junior 18: Neptune bt Commercial 1¾ l, 3:40.

Four – Senior: Trinity bt UCD 1¼ l, 3:50. Intermediate, coxed: Trinity bt Commercial 2l, 4:23. Masters, coxed: Carlow, Athlone, Northridge bt Neptune 3l.

Sculling, Quadruple – Jun 16, coxed: Commercial bt Castleconnell, disq

Double – Jun 16: Killorglin bt Graiguenamanagh easily, 4:25. Jun 15: Three Castles bt Blackrock easily, 4:34.

Single – Senior: Trinity (M Corcoran) bt Neptune (K Coughlan), 2l 4:23. Club Two: Trinity (S Addison) bt Clonmel (J McKenna) 3l, 4:40. Jun 18: Graiguenamanagh (A Lennon) bt Commercial (N Beggan) 1½ l.

Women

Eight – Club One: Commercial bt Trinity 1l, 4:20. Novice: UCD bt Trinity B 4l, 4:22. Jun 16: Portora bt Carlow easily, 4:28.

Sculling, Quadruple – Jun 18: Commercial bt Belfast RC easily, 4:50. Jun 15, coxed: St Michael’s A bt Offaly 6l, 4:56.

Single – Senior: Killorglin (M Dukarska) bt Garda (J Ryan) easily, 4:42. Club Two: Garda (Ryan) bt Garda (Moore) easily, 5:14.

Jun 16: Belfast RC (A Hall) bt Castleconnell (L Mulligan) easily, 5:22.

Published in Rowing
1st April 2016

Neptune Draw Changed

#Rowing: The Neptune Regatta on Saturday at Islandbridge has revised its draw, moving a number of crews around on the schedule. The overall shape of the regatta, which runs from 8.30am until just after 6pm, remains in place. There are men’s senior eight semi-finals scheduled for 4.24 and 4.27, with the final set for 5.42.

 The changes are highlighted in yellow in the attached draw.

Published in Rowing

#ROWING: Commercial Regatta got back on track after a six-year break with a relatively small event in excellent weather at Islandbridge today. The host club provided the bulk of the entry, but Trinity supplied the two eights which competed in the women’s senior eights final, where the B crew beat the A crew. The men’s senior single sculls final saw Michael Maher beat his Commercial clubmate Colm Dowling.

Commercial Regatta, Islandbridge, Sunday (Selected Results)

Men

Eight – Intermediate: Commercial A bt Commercial B. Club One: Commercial A bt Commercial B.

Four – Intermediate, coxed: Trinity bt UCD

Sculling, Quadruple – Club One: Commercial bt Trinity. Junior 16, coxed: Three Castles bt Commercial A. Junior 15, coxed: Commercial A bt Commercial C.

Double – Senior: Commercial A bt Commercial B. Junior 15: Commercial bt Three Castles

Single – Senior: Commercial (M Maher) bt Commercial (C Dowling). Intermediate: Commercial (N Gahan) bt Commercial (F O’Toole). Junior 16: Three Castles (O Clune) bt Three Castles (D Gilheany). Junior 15 – Final One: Commercial (A Holton) bt New Ross (J Becker). Final Two: Commercial (K Browne) bt New Ross (L Sutton).

Women

Eight – Senior: Trinity B bt Trinity A. Club One: Trinity bt Neptune. Novice: Commercial bt Trinity A. Junior 16: Commercial bt Athlone.

Four – Intermediate, coxed: Commercial bt Trinity B.

Sculling, Quadruple – Club One, coxed: Neptune bt Commercial A. Novice, coxed: Carlow bt Commercial. Junior 16, coxed: Commercial bt Athlone B. Junior 15, coxed: New Ross bt Commercial.

Double – Junior 18: Neptune A bt Athlone. Junior 16: Commercial bt New Ross B.

Single – Intermediate: Trinity (H O’Neill) bt Three Castles (A Feely). Club One: Commercial (C Edwards) bt Commercial (S O’Neill). Junior 15 - Final One: Commercial (A Keogh) bt New Ross (C Flanagan). Final Two: Three Castles bt Commercial (Dolan). Final Three: New Ross (A Coughlan) bt New Ross (L Brown).

 

Race No.TimeGroupEventRoundNorth StationSouth StationNext Race
19:30WC1WC1 4X+QF1Commercial ACommercial B16
29:35MJ16XMJ16 1XQF1Commercial, Lynch, MCommercial, Meehan, E39
39:40MJ16XMJ16 1XQF23 Castles, Clune, O3 Castles, Quinn, R39
49:45MJ16XMJ16 1XQF33 Castles, Irwin, A3 Castles, McKnight, T40
59:50WJ16XWJ16 4X+SF1Athlone BNewRoss41
69:55WJ16XWJ16 4X+SF2Athlone ACommercial41
710:00WIW Int 4+SF1CommercialDULBC A43
810:05WIW Int 4+SF2CarlowDULBC B43
910:10MXM Int 1XQF1Commercial, Gahan, NUCDBC, Toland, S33
1010:15MXM Int 1XQF2UCDBC, Griffin, ACommercial, Groome, F33
1110:20MXM Int 1XQF3Commercial, O'Toole, FCommercial, Joyce, D34
1210:25MXM Int 1XQF4Commercial, Healy, JCommercial, Baskerville, R34
1310:30MC1 MC1 8+SF1Commercial AUCDBC69
1410:35WC1XWC1 1XSF1Commercial, Edwards, CNewRoss, Janet, W47
1510:40WC1XWC1 1XSF2Commercial, O'Neill, SNewRoss, Doyle, J47
1610:45WC1WC1 4X+SF1Commercial AAthlone49
1710:50WC1WC1 4X+SF2CarlowNeptune49
1810:55MJ16XMJ16 4X+SF1Commercial ANewRoss50
1911:00MJ16XMJ16 4X+SF2Commercial B3 Castles50
2011:05WJ15 WJ15 4X+SF1NewRossCarlow65a
2111:10WJ15 WJ15 4X+SF2CommercialAthlone65a
2211:15WJ16XWJ16 2XSF1NewRoss ACommercial51
2311:20MSXMS2XSF1Commercial BUCDBC67
2411:25MSXMS2XSF2Commercial ACommercial C67
2511:30WNWN 8+SF1DULBC ADULBC B64
2611:35MJ15XMJ15 4X+SF1Commercial CNewRoss67a
2711:40MJ15XMJ15 4X+SF2Commercial BCommercial A67a
2811:45WSWS4+FDULBCCommercial 
2911:50MC1 MC1 4+FUCDBCCommercial 
3011:55MS MS 2-FNeptuneBelfast RC 
3112:00WJ18 XWJ18 2XSF1Neptune ANeptune B52
3212:05WJ18 XWJ18 2XSF2AthloneCommercial52
3312:10MXM Int 1XSF1Commercial, Gahan, NCommercial, Groome, F59
3412:15MXM Int 1XSF2Commercial, O'Toole, FWinner 1259
3512:20WJ14WJ14 4X+F1AthloneNewRoss1,000m
3612:25WJ14WJ14 4X+F2CommercialCarlow1,000m
3712:30MJ14MJ14 1XFCommercial, Hanley, RCommercial, Keane, R1,000m
3812:35WC1WC1 8+SF1CommercialDULBC65
3912:40MJ16XMJ16 1XSF1Commercial, Meehan, E3 Castles, Clune, O66
4012:45MJ16XMJ16 1XSF23 Castles, McKnight, T3 Castles, Gilheany, D66
4112:50WJ16XWJ16 4X+FAthlone BCommercial 
4212:55W Int 1XW Int 1XFDULBC, O'Neill, H3 Castles, Feeley, A 
4313:00WIW Int 4+FCommercialDULBC B 
4413:05MC1 MC1 4X+FDUBCCommercial 
4513:10MJ15XMJ15 2XFCommercial3 Castles 
4613:15WNWN 4X+FCarlowCommercial 
4713:20WC1XWC1 1XFCommercial, Edwards, CCommercial, O'Neill, S 
4913:30WC1WC1 4X+FCommercial ANeptune 
5013:35MJ16XMJ16 4X+FCommercial A3 Castles 
5113:40WJ16XWJ16 2XFCommercialNewRoss B 
5213:45WJ18 XWJ18 2XFNeptune AAthlone 
5313:50WJ15 WJ15 1XF1Commercial, Keogh, ANewRoss, Flanagain, C 
5413:55WJ15 WJ15 1XF23 Castles, Darker, SCommercial, Dolan, K 
5514:00WJ15 WJ15 1XF3NewRoss, Brown, LNewRoss, Coughlan, A 
5614:05M IntM Int 4+FUCDBCDUBC 
5714:10MJ168MJ16 8+FCommercial ACommercial B 
5814:15WS8WS 8+FDULBC ADULBC B 
5914:20MXM Int 1XFCommercial, Gahan, NCommercial, O'Toole, F 
6014:25MJ15XMJ15 1XF1Commercial, Holton, ANewRoss, Becker, J 
6114:30MJ15XMJ15 1XF2Commercial, Browne, KNewRoss, Sutton, L 
6214:35WJ14WJ14 2XF1NewRoss ACarlow1,000m
6314:40WJ14WJ14 2XF2NewRoss BAthlone1,000m
6414:45WNWN 8+FDULBC ACommercial 
6514:50WC1WC1 8+FDULBCNeptune 
65a14:55 WJ15 4X+FNewRossCommercial 
6615:00MJ16XMJ16 1XF3 Castles, Clune, O3 Castles, Gilheany, D 
6715:05MSXMS2XFCommercial BCommercial A 
67a15:10 MJ15 4X+FCommercial CCommercial A 
6815:15WJ168WJ16 8+fCommercialAthlone 
6915:20MC1 MC1 8+FCommercial ACommercial B 
7015:25MSXMS 1XFCommercial, Maher, MCommercial, Dowling, C
Published in Rowing

# ROWING: The Dublin Head of the River finished in a dead heat on Saturday, the first time this has happened in exactly 60 years. A big composite crew built around the Commercial senior four and with with members of three other clubs finished with the same time as UCD in cold and clear conditions. The college crew rested their senior oarsmen for the event.

 The only other dead heat in the 69 years of the event came in 1953 when UCD and Trinity dead-heated in an event which featured only nine crews. An impressive number of crews – 32 – took on the sometimes choppy water this year, but the boats set off at sometimes very long intervals, dulling some of the competitive edge.

UCD’s senior women won their battle with Trinity, covering the course from the Ha’penny Bridge to Islandbridge nine seconds faster than their rivals.

One negative note was the break-in and theft from three cars in the UCD car park.

Dublin Head of the River (Selected Results)

Overall: 1= UCD senior eight; Commercial/Grainne Mhaol/ Old Bones/University of Limerick 10 minutes 32.0 seconds; 3 UCD intermediate eight 11:02.0, 4 Trinity novice eight 11:17.0, 5 UCD intermediate eight 11:25.0, 6 Neptune junior eight 11:35.0.

Graded Results

Men, Eight – Senior: 1= UCD and Commercial/Grainne Mhaol, Old Bones/University of Limerick 10:32.0. Intermediate: 1 UCD 11:02.0, 2 UCD B 11:25.0, 3 Commercial 11:41.0. Novice: 1 Trinity 11:17.0, 2 Queen’s 11:39.0, 3 Trinity 12:09.0. Junior: 1 Neptune 11:35.0, 2 Blackrock College 12:27.0, 3 Neptune B 14:49.0.

Four – Senior: 1 Commercial B 12:35.0, 2 Commercial 31:18.0. Masters: Commercial 13:28.0. Quadruple – Novice: Trinity 13:49.0.

Women – Eight, Senior: 1 UCD 12:04.0, 2 Trinity 12:13.0. Intermediate: 1 Commercial 12:56.0, 2 UCD 12:58.0. Novice: 1 UCD 13:34.0, 2 Trinity 13:57.0, 3 Trinity B 14:08.0. Junior: 1 Commercial 14:00.0, 2 Commercial B 15:33.0.

Four – Senior: Trinity 14:47.0.

Published in Rowing

# ROWING: Dave Neale of UCD won the time trial of the Dublin Sculling Ladder at Islandbridge on Saturday. The Offalyman, who also won the Tullamore Time Trial last weekend, headed up the list of 180 contestants with a time of six minutes 51.82 seconds. Albert Maher of Commercial was second and the best junior of the day, Andrew Griffin of UCD came in an impressive third.

The best junior woman, Sally O’Brien of Trinity, also excelled – she was less than three seconds slower than women’s open winner, Amy Bulman of UCD.

Dublin Sculling Ladder Time Trial, Saturday, Islandbridge

Overall: 1 D Neale (UCD) 6 mins 51.82 seconds, 2 A Maher (Commercial) 7:01.58, 3 A Grffin (UCD) 7:14.10, 4 M Bailey (UCD) 7:15.9, 5 P Hughes (Trinity) 7:16.72, 6 P Flaherty (Trinity) 7:19.99.

Men - Open: 1 Neale 6:51.92, 2 Maher 7:01.58, 3 Bailey 7:15.9, 4 Hughes 7:16.72, 5 Flaherty 7:19.99, 6 C Dowling (Commercial) 7:20.51. Junior: 1 Griffin 7:14.10, 2 S Mulvaney (Neptune) 7:40.61, 3 C Flynn (Neptune) 7:44.85.

Women – Open: 1 A Bulman (UCD) 8:09.11, 2 S Foreman (Old Collegians) 8:12.18, 3 G Foley (Commercial) 8:22.97. Junior: 1 S O’Brien (Trinity) 8:11.71, 2 A Rodger (Commercial) 8:28.13, 3 P Mulligan (Portora) 8:32.16.

Published in Rowing

#ANGLING - The first wild Atlantic spring salmon of 2012 was caught Sunday on the River Liffey in exceptional circumstances, The Irish Times reports.

Though the river is closed for salmon fishing as stocks are currently below sustainable levels, Inland Fisheries Ireland sanctioned a special catch-and-release club event for survey reasons at Islandbridge in the capital.

Declan Briggs – a 47-year veteran of the Dublin and District Salmon Anglers' Association - landed the 8.5lb beauty using a wooden Devon lure at 9.50am.

“This is my first time to catch the first fish. I’m absolutely delighted," he said.

Elsewhere in Ireland, Briggs' catch was mirrored by Tyrone man Ian Martin, who caught the northern region's first salmon on the year on the River Drownes near Bundoran.

The Irish Times has more on the story HERE.

Published in Angling
The annual Liffey Descent canoe race has been pushed back by a month - due to a lack of water.
The Irish Canoe Union (ICU) announced that due to significantly low water levels in the ESB reservoirs that provide the flood for the race, the event has been postponed till 8 October.
Organisers said they were left with the "difficult decision" to either postpone the event or run the things as scheduled on 10 September without the flood.
"“It is considered that the running of the race in the absence of the excitement generated by a flood would detract from its value as the premier Irish canoeing event," said a statement from the ICU.
The Liffey Swim has been an institution since 1960, atracting canoeists from around the world every September for the run from Kildare to Islandbridge.
The Irish Times has more on the story HERE.

The annual Liffey Descent canoe race has been pushed back by a month - due to a lack of water.

The Irish Canoe Union (ICU) announced that due to significantly low water levels in the ESB reservoirs that provide the flood for the race, the event has been postponed till 8 October.

Organisers said they were left with the "difficult decision" to either postpone the event or run the things as scheduled on 10 September without the flood.

“It is considered that the running of the race in the absence of the excitement generated by a flood would detract from its value as the premier Irish canoeing event," said a statement from the ICU.

The Liffey Swim has been an institution since 1960, atracting canoeists from around the world every September for the run from Kildare to Islandbridge.

The Irish Times has more on the story HERE.

Published in Canoeing

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