For the last 19 years Ms Shields has worked in the marine sector, most recently as Director of Strategic Planning and Development at the Marine Institute since 2004. In this role she had responsibility for oversight and management of the National Marine Research Programme, EU and International Policy and Programmes, Ocean Energy, Marine Technology and the Marine Data and Information Services Group of the Marine Institute.

Prior to this she held the position of Director of Science and Technology at the Marine Institute with responsibility for Research Vessel Operations, the National Seabed Survey, Oceanographic Services and the National Data Buoy Network. In addition she has worked in the marine tourism, aquaculture and private-forestry sectors.

A mature student from the Galway Mayo Institute of Technology is taking part in the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group's Ship Surveys Programme.

Irish Weather Online reports that Enda McKeogh is on board the Marine Institute's research vessel Celtic Explorer off the west coast of Scotland, where he has already made a number of sightings of whales and dolphins.

He said: "I expected to be sea sick most of the time and not to see many cetaceans but this has proven not to be the case so far."

McKeogh is recording is sightings in a diary on the IWDG website HERE.

This was the RV Keary's first INFOMAR survey leg of 2011 and it was also the first time that both vessels have worked in tandem. The mapping of the estuary was from an area just west of the city's Rice Bridge to the open sea at the mouth of Waterford Harbour.

The estuary was mapped before in 2007 using the Marine Institutes larger vessel the RV Celtic Voyager, which covered the harbour approaches from the 10m contour to greater depth offshore. Both RV Keary and RV Geo overlapped their coverage with this previous data, producing a comprehensive and seamless seabed map of the area.

RV Keary is constructed of marine grade aluminium and was custom built in 2008 for the (GSI) by Veecraft Marine of Capetown, South Africa.
The 15m craft with a draft of just 2m is equipped with an extensive range of highly sophisticated technology. She has an open working area at the aft-deck to conduct operations and is licensed to carry up to 12 personnel. For further vessel characteristics click HERE.

The 34-tonne craft made her 7,000 mile delivery voyage from the African continent to Europe. She was firstly transported on the deck of a cargoship to Rotterdam. After unloading at the Dutch port the 22-knot capable craft set off with several calls along the UK south coast to include loading bunkers before finally reaching Dun Laoghaire, from where she entered service in April 2009.

Two mussel dredger-trawlers made a rare transit of Dalkey Sound, last Friday, writes Jehan Ashmore.

The sound which is located to the south of Dublin Bay is not used by commercial traffic but is frequented by pleasure-craft, local fishing boats from Dun Laoghaire. In addition to occasional traffic by the Irish Naval Service, Marine Institute research vessel RV Celtic Voyager, the GSI's RV Keary and foreign tall-ships.

The vessels were making a southerly direction as they headed across Dublin Bay towards Dalkey Island. Mytilus lowered a mussel cage bucket into the sound which was dragged on two separate occasions over a short distance running parallel between the island and the coast.

The operation was all too brief as the Mytilus then proceeded into Killiney Bay followed closely astern by Branding. Upon entering the neighbouring bay, both vessels conducted dredging activity before continuing south beyond Bray Head.

Mussel grounds are located throughout certain hotspots in the Irish Sea and earlier this month, it is reported that there was a notable increase in mussel dredgers in Bangor, Northern Ireland. The dredgers were the Mytilus and Branding which berthed at the Co. Down harbour after a lengthy period of relative inactivity.

Mytilus was built in The Netherlands by Scheepwerf Van Os Yerseke B.V. and appeared in an episode of the successful BBC TV series 'Coast'. At the time of the broadcast she was registered at Beaumaris, Anglesey and was seen working in the northern approaches of the Menai Straits. The fishery grounds are ideally suited for the growing processes required in farmed mussel production.

Branding was also built by a Dutch shipyard, Kooieman in 1988 and her design is typical of the mussel dredgers based in Wexford. The market for mussels is mainly from the northern European countries of Belgium, France and the Netherlands.

Prince Albert's visit to the Marine Institute headquarters in Oranmore will be held on the final day of the visit on 6 April. Prior to that the prince will hold meetings with An Taoiseach, Enda Kenny, minister for the marine, Simon Coveney, minister for the environment, Phil Hogan and Dublin's Lord Mayor, Gerry Breen.

The Head of Monaco will open an exhibition in honour of his late mother at Farmleigh House and the prince will host a reception to highlight Irish literature and art. In addition to honouring the royal visit a state dinner will be held by President Mary McAleese.

The world's second smallest state is home to the Musée Océanographique de Monaco which has an impressive collection of aquariums. Though the principality is more synonymous with the hosting of Formula 1 Grand Prix. The event is at the end of May and is expected to attract a higher than usual number of cruiseships totalling 12 cruise-calls.

Mostly they will be on charter and accompanied by mega-yachts which are to dock at the outer pier or anchor offshore and along the French Riviera at Villefranche, Nice and Cannes. At the far side of summer Monte Carlo's Port Hercule is also to host the Monaco Yacht Show in September.

These figures compare favourably with our European counterparts, reflecting a high level of activity on national and international research and monitoring programmes.

Work duties in 2011 for the Galway based vessels will range from fisheries surveys to underwater mapping and from climate studies to deepwater surveys with the remotely operated submersible ROV Holland 1. The work schedule will facilitate training missions and to carry out essential maintenance work on Ireland's network of data buoys that, in parallel to their research function, supply the vital information on which weather and shipping forecasts are based.

The increased activity of the research vessels reflects the growing imperative to understand and sustainably manage the economic potential of our offshore marine territories, an area over ten times that of Ireland itself.

A major role of the ships' workload will be commercial fish stock assessments. Together they are to devote 141 days on stock surveys in support of the sustainable management of Ireland's fisheries.

The RV Celtic Voyager will conduct underwater television surveys of valuable prawn stocks off the Aran Islands, the Irish and Celtic Seas, working on blue whiting, a survey of herring stocks in the north-west. In addition a comprehensive 54-day annual Irish Groundfish Survey which will take place in stages all around the Irish coast from September to December.

The survey will be the largest undertaken by an Irish research vessel and is essential to providing the scientific data used to inform the annual quota negotiations required in Brussels each year.

For the 2011 schedule for both vessels is available to view by clicking HERE and the Maritime Institute website click this link.

At 65.5m RV Celtic Explorer (2,425grt) accommodates 35 personnel and up to 21 scientists and 31.4m RV Celtic Voyager (340grt) with up to 8 scientists and a maximum endurance of 14-day days. For detailed technical specifications of the Dutch built vessels, RV Celtic Explorer, click here to download a PDF file and for the RV Celtic Voyager click here

For further information contact: Dr John Joyce, Communications Manager of Marine Institute on 087 2250871

The Bursary programme is a work experience scheme aimed at undergraduates of Universities, Institutes of Technology and National Institutes for Higher Education. The Bursary Scheme is strictly limited to undergraduates who have completed 2 years study in a relevant discipline. Below is a description of the positions and other details.

IMDO – Maritime Economics (2)

Two students are required to provide direct assistance in the key programmes of the Irish Maritime Development Office. The key programme areas include Business Development and Shipping Market Analysis supported by a strategic marketing programme. Two students will be required to co-ordinate research on market and economic issues in the Irish maritime industry and analyse data on competitor maritime jurisdictions.

The successful students will gain a broad knowledge of the maritime industry, international trade, maritime finance, and national shipping development. They will also gain a valuable insight into the national and international maritime transport sector and associated business services, along with experience in collating information and critical analysis.

The student should have good communication and analytical skills. An interest in international trade, business, economics or shipping and logistics is desirable but not essential. The student should be able to work independently and also as part of a team. The bursary will be based in MI-Harcourt Street.

For further information on the busary scheme you can download a PDF file from here and also download a PDF application form here. In addition information in general about the IMDO can be found by logging onto www.imdo.ie and the Marine Institute at www.marine.ie

I had to read the figures twice to make sure that I was seeing them correctly. The second reading made me even more angry than the first.

They were, at last, a definitive figure of how much the stupidity of Irish politicians and the ignorance and disregard of the maritime sphere by the Government have cost this nation – over a billion Euros in one year.

There is no way the Government can weasel its way out of this revelation, nor any excuse the un-named civil servants responsible can make to avoid the accusation that this is a massive economic waste.

The Marine Institute is the Government's own respected authority on maritime affairs, the voice of the State on marine research and it has valued the total available catch of fish off Ireland last year at €1.18 billion, for a total of 994,155 tonnes.

That is an enormous figure, indicating huge potential wealth for this cash-strapped nation in the middle of an economic disaster. But of this total value of seafood, Ireland was only entitled to catch €0.19 billion. Foreign fishing fleets had exclusive rights to take the rest of the fish from Irish waters.

No wonder I had to read the figures a second time to make sure I was seeing them correctly at a time when the value of our food exports has been shown to be one of the top earners for the nation. How much more could have been earned if Irish fishermen could catch all that fish and have it processed in Ireland, creating onshore jobs in ancillary businesses as well as at sea?

The total value for 2010 could be even higher than €1.18 billion because the Institute prepared its figures in advance of the annual fisheries negotiations in Brussels in December. Ireland as a nation and the country's fishing industry in particular are likely to have lost out even more heavily to other EU countries.

Effectively, Ireland handed over around €1billion of its natural economic resources to other EU countries. Mark McCarthy, Editor of The Marine Times, the national fishing industry paper, described the figures as "truly frightening."

"This is a nation with some of the richest fishing grounds in the world where the coastal communities are being financially starved and frustrated through their inability to catch their own fish, because they are not allowed to do so."

It is hardly any wonder that Irish fishermen, forced to tie up their boats at the quaysides of Irish fishing ports and watch as foreign vessels unload into those ports, are bitter and frustrated.

Ebbie Sheehan of Castletownbere, Chairman of the Irish Fishermen's Organisation, asks why fishermen are "so badly treated when we look at the economic situation today?"

The Marine Institute, our national maritime scientific and research organisation, says that its estimate of the value of fishing opportunities in Irish waters is "conservative" and that, in order to prepare the figures in early December, it based them on 2009 values

That would make the total value even higher and the Institute pointed out that of the total catch of 994,155 tonnes, Ireland's fishermen were entitled to take only 18 per cent of the catch. This was only 16 per cent of the total value.

"These figures exclude valuable inshore fisheries, such as lobster and whelk which are not currently managed by total allowable catches within the Common Fisheries Policy," the Institute pointed out.

As Mark McCarthy described it, when one considers the importance of using our natural resources for the benefit of Irish people and the failure of our political leaders to see and understand this, what has been revealed is "truly frightening".

• This article is reprinted by permission of the EVENING ECHO newspaper, Cork, where Tom MacSweeney writes maritime columns twice weekly. Evening Echo website: www.eecho.ie

Marine scientists yesterday welcomed President Mary McAleese on a visit to the Marine Institute headquarters in Oranmore, Co Galway.

The President met many of those involved in the SmartBay project, a network of buoys that uses remote sensing technology to collect and relay data on ocean conditions over long distances.

Institute staff also briefed the President on its programmes to sustainably manage wild fish stocks, ensure seafood safety and protect the marine environment.

“As the resources of the ocean become ever more implicated in the future development of high technologies sectors like energy, ICT, medical and pharma, they will be a key part of Ireland’s future economic story,” said the President.

Dr Peter Heffernan, CEO of the Marine Institute, also highlighted "Ireland’s reputation as an emerging centre of excellence in marine science".

He said this was "validated" by the announcement of €23 million in EU funding for marine research groups and enterprises involved in pioneering areas such as ocean energy and biotechnology.

The Marine Institute's specialist research library, Oceanus with has over 5,000 books relating to marine, natural and life sciences is now open online. The institute's extensive collection of scientific literature relating to marine and freshwater resources is available to browse in advance of visiting the library in person to access the material.

"The foundations of the Marine Institute Library collection began with materials acquired by the Fisheries Branch of the Department of Agriculture and Technical Instruction for Ireland, which was established in 1899," said Dr. Peter Heffernan, Chief Executive of the Marine Institute.

According to Anne Wilkinson, the Institute's Library and Information Manager, "Our unique archive material, dating from c. 1890, is an important element of this collection. The archive includes scientific reports, books and publications prepared by Irish and international marine researchers, including copies of Fishery Ireland Acts dating from the late 1800s and Reports of the Inspectors of Irish Fisheries and Sea and Inland Fisheries Ireland from the same period."

The Library archive has a microfiche reader to facilitate access to some of this material. In addition there are many research reports prepared by Marine Institute scientists and marine related publications issued by the EU, the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES), and the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO).

For an appointment at the Oceanus Library which is open to the public you can contact the library Tel: (091) 38700 or email: [email protected]. The Marine Institute headquarters is located at Rinville, Oranmore, Co. Galway.