Inshore Ireland Vol 6 nr 4 Aug-Sep 2010

News from the coast and inland waterways

€2.50/£2.00 Bi-Monthly

August/September 2010 Vol 6 Issue 4

Climate Change Special Pages 12-15

Ireland’s potential as world seafood leader threatened by delays over Habitats Directive News...................................... page 2-4 Comment................................. page 5 Your View................................ page 6

page 2-3

Interview with IFI Chief........ page 8-9 Water 2010....................... page 16-17 Marine R&D...................... page 20-22

Salmon fishery pilot may be in breach of EU Habitats Directive John Hearne

C

ritics of the pilot scheme in Castlemaine Harbour say that it conflicts with government’s own scientific advice and have dubbed it a ‘vote getting exercise’ in a marginal rural constituency. They fear that it will lead to the re-establishment of a mixed stock fishery in the area. The government closed mixed stock fisheries in 2007 to bring Ireland in line with advice from the International Council for the Exploitation of the Seas (ICES) and the North Atlantic Salmon Conservation Organisation (NASCO).

According to Inland Fisheries Ireland, harvest fisheries are now only allowed on stocks that are shown to have

a surplus of fish over the conservation limit. Fisheries in estuaries are only permitted provided the stocks from individual rivers entering the estuaries are meeting conservation limits.

Last May however, Conor Lenihan, Minister of State at the Department of Communications, Energy & Natural Resources (DCENR), announced that under section 18 of the Fisheries Act 1980, a pilot fishery ‘would be permitted in a particular area of Castlemaine Harbour to determine how a salmon fishery might be operated on salmon stocks in the harbour, maximising the opportunities for commercial fishing while ensuring that stocks are not over-exploited.’

The fishery commenced on June 10 and will run until the last week of August.

According to information supplied to Inshore Ireland by Inland Fisheries Ireland, 154 salmon were caught from the

beginning of the pilot to July 16.

GENETIC ANALYSIS In a statement to Inshore Ireland, the DCENR says the pilot fishery will identify the proportion of salmon in catches from the Laune, Maine and other rivers entering Castlemaine. As part of the exercise, additional genetic analysis on the salmon populations on the Behy and Emlagh rivers will be undertaken to confirm if both stocks are discrete from stocks in other rivers. In all, the pilot carries a catch limit of 800 salmon.

In 2008, the Minister for Communications, Energy & Natural Resources, Eamon Ryan, introduced a by-law to prohibit the taking of all salmon by all means from Castlemaine Harbour.

At the time, he stated: “I am mindful of the advice of the Standing Scientific »» page 2

»» page 2

Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Sean Connick TD and Dr Richard Fitzgerald, NUI Galway, examine cod broodstock specifically designed for the Irish environment. Full story page 3.

(Photo: Aengus McMahon).

2 INSHORE IRELAND August/September 2010

NEWS »» from page 1

Committee (of the National Salmon Commission) that mixed stock fisheries pose a particular threat to the attainment of conservation limits in all rivers. In this regard, a fishery operating in Castlemaine Harbour outside of the river estuaries must be considered a mixed stock fishery as it is potentially exploiting fish from each of the rivers which flow into the harbour.”

He added that interpreting the regulations, it was his view the precautionary principle must be adhered to.

PROPOSAL REJECTED In 2008 when the minister received a proposal from the South Western Regional Fisheries Board to open a fishery in Castlemaine Harbour on a restricted basis, he rejected the proposal, citing the advice of the Standing Scientific Committee (SSC).

“The scientific advice I received, generally speaking, is that the harvest of fish should be contained to estuaries and rivers [that] are meeting their conservation limits. In the

case of bays into which two or more rivers flow, the SSC, in specifying the available surplus for harvest, requires that all rivers meet their conservation limits. If it is the case that harvest is going to take place on the mixed stock, an appropriate reduction of the available surplus is made.

The Maine and Behy rivers, two of the rivers that flow into Castlemaine Harbour, are not meeting their conservation limits,” he said.

In 2008, some commercial fishermen attempted to have this by-law overturned in the High Court. Justice Hedigan however upheld the law, stating it was necessitated by the State’s obligations under European law. Since the by-law was enacted, the Maine river has exceeded its conservation limit; both the Behy and the Emlagh however, which also flow into Castlemaine Harbour, remain well below their limits.

In a report on the status of Irish salmon stocks published last year, the SSC reported that the Emlagh river was at 55% of its conservation limit and that the Behy was at 73%.

These are, it should be noted, much smaller rivers than either of the other three that flow into Castlemaine Harbour.

Critics of the pilot point out however that it is not only salmon from the five rivers that run into the Harbour which are at risk of being netted there.

In a statement to Inshore Ireland, Salmon Watch Ireland said: ‘It is quite probable that salmon from other parts of the country and from rivers which are below their conservation limit may turn up in catches in the scientific pilot fishery and this is the very reason that mixed stock fishing was banned

by Government decision in November 2006...

‘It must be remembered that currently the by-law is still in place and the pilot fishery is being sanctioned for scientific purposes only. It is the contention of Salmon Watch Ireland that the fishery must cease immediately if salmon are taken from any river which is below conservation limit as set by the SSC.’ John Murphy of Salmon Watch Ireland told Inshore Ireland he believed the pilot

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has come about as a result of political pressure.

“If this fishery is reopened it will be a breach of our obligations to the EU in relation to the Habitats Directive and clear indication that Ireland has for political reasons allowed the indiscriminate exploitation of a protected species, namely Atlantic salmon, to take place.”

Articles in the national press which made similar accusations have drawn a robust defence from local politicians and commercial fishery interests in the southwest.

The Department denies that the pilot runs counter to the SSC’s advice.

“While the pilot fishery is being operated within the parameters of the scientific advice, circumstances have changed since the SSC advice. At the time the Maine was judged to be below its conservation limit. A surplus of over 220 salmon was identified for the Maine for the 2010 season,” a spokesperson told Inshore Ireland.

He added: “I would point out that in the case of the pilot fishery in Castlemaine

harbour, the specified quota has been limited to a harvest of 800 fish (on the basis of a Laune surplus of 5000+) and that based on additional information, the Maine has been determined as exceeding its conservation limits. The purpose of the exercise is to identify if and where within the harbour it is possible to harvest fish without impacting on the stocks of the Behy and Emlagh or indeed other rivers which are not meeting their conservation limits.”

SUBJECT TO REVIEW Asked if this pilot amounts to a change in government policy in relation to the north Atlantic salmon, the department spokesman said: “There are no plans to change Government policy in relation to the conservation of wild salmon stocks although like all policies this is kept under review. A fishery would only be established if it is shown to comply with government policy and the Habitats Directive.”

Dr Malcolm Windsor, secretary of the North Atlantic Salmon Conservation

Organisation said that in a recent review of fisheries management actions by each of NASCO’s jurisdictions, Ireland received a very favourable assessment of the measures it has put in place in the light of the scientific advice.

He told Inshore Ireland however that if the pilot turns out to be “a step backwards in conservation, then there would be concerns at the next international review”, and highlighted the NASCO guidelines relating to mixedstock fisheries: “Fisheries on mixed-stocks, particularly in coastal waters or on the high seas, pose particular difficulties for management, as they cannot target only stocks that are at full reproductive capacity if there are stocks below conservation limits within the mixed-stock being fished.

“Conservation would be best achieved if fisheries target stocks that have been demonstrated to be at full reproductive capacity.

Fisheries in estuaries and especially rivers are more likely to meet this requirement.”

Corrib Gas partners seek new consents to complete pipeline Shay Fennelly

S

hell E & P Ireland Ltd is seeking new consents to complete the Corrib gas pipeline and has started a drilling survey on the pipe, which is to be tunnelled under the Sruwaddacon estuary.

This is in a Special Area of Conservation and is designated as a Special Protection Area for wintering wildfowl species, in particular for Brent geese which are listed on Annex II of the EU Birds directive.

According to SEPIL the geotechnical work programme involves drilling a series of boreholes in the bay to determine the under conditions.

The information gathered will be used to finalise the details of the proposed tunnel which are currently before An Bord Pleanála. The Foreshore Licence required for the survey was issued by the Coastal Zone

Division of the Department of Environment, Local Government and Heritage.

On July 6 last, SEPIL applied for a foreshore licence to work onshore at Glengad; the Sruwaddacon Bay and offshore from 12 miles to the landfall site.

NEW CONSENT REQUIRED The entire pipeline between the gas field and the terminal received Ministerial Consent under Section 40 of the Gas Act in April 2002; however a new consent is now required under the Gas Act in order to implement the proposed modifications to the onshore pipeline route. This is because there is no mechanism under the Gas Act to amend an existing consent.

An Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) has been prepared and the public can make submissions to the Department of the Environment.

The application may also be

viewed on www.corribgaspipelinefs.ie.

The closing date for receipt of written submissions, comments or questions is 17:30hrs on August 30 next.

SEPIL is also seeking approval from the DCENR for a revision of the extant Plan of Development and the approaching expiry of the previous plan approved in April 2002. The 2002 plan was subject to conditions, the first of which [related to] was commencement of commerical production operations in January 2004.

SEPIL is also seeking approval from the DCENR for a revision to the 2002 Plan of Development – because of the new changes above – and the approaching expiry of the plan approved in April 2002. A condition of the 2002 plan was commencement of commerical production which was due to begin in January 2004.

INSHORE IRELAND August/September 2010

3

NEWS

Significant opportunities for cod farming in Ireland are unveiled

A

project to establish and operate a cod broodstock programme specifically designed for the Irish environment and to bolster the fish farming industry, received a significant boost earlier this week when Sean Connick, T.D., Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food visited the state-of-the-art cod breeding facility at the National University of Ireland, Galway, in Carna, Connemara.

“The benefits from supporting the development of an emerging cod farming industry in Ireland are many,” remarked Minister Connick, whose department has already highlighted the need to research and develop alternative aquaculture species on a commercial and profitable scale in its recent Food Harvest 2020 report.

“In addition to the obvious socio-economic benefits accrued by coastal communities, such an industry would contribute positively to Ireland’s aquaculture and seafood sectors by offering species diversification and high

value added products,” he said.

The scientists working in NUI Galway and University College Cork on the EIRCOD project were funded under the Sea Change national marine knowledge, research and innovation strategy, co-ordinated by the Marine Institute.

“Sea Change supports a range of fishery and aquaculture projects, all designed to build a better understanding of factors that contribute to improving the competitiveness of Ireland’s marine food sector,” explained Dr Peter Heffernan of the Marine Institute. “There is a strong scientific link between the EIRCOD project and another Sea Change-funded project in Cork on fish genetics where scientists at UCC are developing new DNA tools to help identify unique strains of cod,” he added.

GENOMIC APPROACH According to leading geneticist and project partner, Professor Tom Cross along with his team at UCC explained they were using the latest genomic approach to assist the programme and to increase knowledge of wild stock structure: “This invokes next generation sequencing of part of the cod genome allowing

us to detect many thousand microsatellites and SNPs (as used in human forensics) and also functional genes involved with traits important in farmed production.”

As well as being partners in EIRCOD, the UCC group is also funded by the Beaufort Fish Population Genetics Award from the Irish government with Dr Phillip McGinnity as Principal Investigator.

The first three years of EIRCOD saw the transfer from NUI Galway’s Martin Ryan Institute (MRI) Carna Lab to the Trosc Teo fish farm in Connemara, Co Galway, of specially bred juvenile cod reared from eggs collected from the Celtic Sea off the south coast of Ireland.

“The parentage of these fish is known and the growth performance of the different groups is monitored up to market size with the better performing groups being selected for use in future breeding activities. These fish are being selectively bred as a specific Irish strain,” explained Majbritt Bolton-Warberg, a fish biologist at NUI Galway’s MRI facility in Carna.

“As part of this work, the researchers track and benchmark the Celtic Sea

Irish industry loses competitiveness due to protracted delay in EU approval of seafood plan

T

he AGM of the Irish Fish Processors and Exporters Association (IFPEA) took place in Dublin on May 25 and was attended by Minister of State, Sean Connnick, who gave the opening address and engaged in wide-ranging discussions with processor members from all the main seafood processing operations throughout the country.

According to the Association’s national secretary, Tom Geoghegan,

the occasion provided a very useful opportunity “at this crucial junction in the global economic downturn to review the progress of the Irish fish processing and exporting industry, in the face of very severe competitive conditions in world-wide markets for the country’s substantial export trade in fish products.”

PROTRACTED DELAY Of critical concern highlighted to Minister Connick was the “protracted delay in receiving EU approval of the Government’s National Seafood Plan (i.e. non-EU

co-funded National Seafood Operational Plan) which has already resulted in the loss of exchequer approved grant assistance for the Irish processing sector in 2009,” Mr Geoghegan added.

The delay arises from the environmental requirements of the EU Habitats Directive affecting all activities in or adjacent to Natura 2000 sites in Special Areas of Conservation and Special Protection Areas. These requirements have been under ongoing detailed discussion between DAFF and DEHLG and the Directorate General

The final product – a cod reared in Irish waters cod in the farm situation and compare performance with farmed and wild stocks in Ireland and elsewhere. It appears that these Celtic Sea cod, grown in Irish waters and at our higher water temperatures, display faster growth rates in the early years of life than those in more northerly European countries.

This gives a significant commercial competitive advantage to Ireland,” he added.

SELECTIVE BREEDING CAPABILITY According to Dr Richard Fitzgerald, senior scientist with the EIRCOD project at NUI Galway, the EIRCOD project will have had adult cod at sea for the past four years with in excess of 50 unique family groups, many of which will be

for the Environment in the EU. “Association members strongly urged that the earliest possible approval be forthcoming to incentivise the seafood processing sector as provided for in the government’s Budget of 2010. The sector is losing out competitively to seafood processing operations in

(Cushla Dromgool-Regan: Marine Institute)

reaching their sexual maturity by 2011. It will therefore be possible for researchers to selectively breed these fish for the first time; identifying and actively selecting the best performers and applying classical breeding techniques that have been used for centuries in agriculture to give a better performing stock and applying them to fish farming.

“The work of the EIRCOD partnership has underpinned the ongoing development of an innovative sustainable and profitable cod farming industry in Ireland through this strategic breeding programme,” he said.

“In addition, we are putting the final touches to a report An Economic Assessment of Cod Farming in Ireland where we have identified several opportunities for the cultivation of cod on the western seaboard of

Ireland,” he added.

The EIRCOD project is funded by the Marine Institute and the Marine Research Subprogramme of the National Development Plan and is co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund.

It is led by NUI Galway’s Martin Ryan Institute in Carna, Co. Galway with partners UCC, BIM; Irish Seafood Producers Group; Trosc Teo and Dr Ashie Norris, consultant.

The project builds on work carried out by the Martin Ryan Institute and Trosc Teo over in the past four years with the assistance of the relevant state agencies Údarás na Gaeltachta, Marine Institute, and BIM.

other member states which have been availing of grant assistance over recent years under their State’s relevant EU approved National Seafood Operational Programmes,” Mr Geoghegan emphasised.

Minister Connick undertook to prioritise efforts to expedite the relevant EU approval.

Other items discussed included the threat of increased duty free or low duty imports of fish from Third Countries to the EU; rising costs, particularly relating to local rates and water charges, and the current EU Review of the Common Fisheries Policy and issues arising therefrom.

Integrated Mapping for the Sustainable Development of Ireland’s Marine Resource

4 INSHORE IRELAND August/September 2010

NEWS

Ireland’s potential as world seafood leader threatened by delays over Habitats Directive Gillian Mills

I

FA Aquaculture has welcomed the launch of the government’s Operational Programme investment scheme to develop the fish and shellfish farming industry. Notwithstanding, it says the prolonged failure by government to meet EU rules regarding Habitats Directive areas “has resulted in blocking 80% of aquaculture companies” who operate in designated habitats areas from access to the capital investment scheme.

“Seafood companies in other EU countries who compete with us enjoy full access to the scheme, IFA Aquaculture executive secretary, Richie Flynn told Inshore Ireland.

He added that a “massive amount of work” needs to be done to re-establish Ireland as a “major” seafood producer in Europe.

“Geographically, environmentally and economically, we should be world seafood leaders. Jobs for local people, increasing exports and marketing top quality products are the key issues the government must focus on.”

INWARD INVESTMENT REQUIRED Flynn believes the “ambitious targets” set out by BIM and the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food can only happen if Ireland can attract investment into production and processing.

“Potential investors have to see clear evidence of government support for the sector in practical terms, meaning licencing and funding,” he warned.

“The sector is disappointed and frustrated that it has had to wait since 2007 for this programme to be announced, because of the long delays in implementing solutions to redress the Habitats issue.

“The fact that Ireland was found guilty by the European Court of Justice for not properly establishing measures to licence fishing and aquaculture in its marine protected areas has cost the country dearly. Unfortunately, the only sector paying for this administrative failure is the aquaculture industry.”

OUTSTANDING OBLIGATIONS Flynn added that 80% of their members will not have access to

€120m.

“The seafood sector, [comprising] indigenous operators, will have a significant role to play in Ireland’s economic recovery.

This strategy is a welcome addition to [other] strategies for the seafood sector, including Steering a New Course, Sea Change, as well as Food Harvest 2020.

of 2010 for the development of the aquaculture and processing sectors.”

He added that the programme also facilitated access to other funding from Bord Bia for marketing; Enterprise Ireland for processing, and BIM for added-value, innovation and fisheries support.

STATE BACKING

Chair of the Federation of Irish Fishermen (FIF) has welcomed the strategy, saying it represented “a credible approach” by BIM to deliver on its responsibilities towards realising the potential of the Irish seafood industry over the next three years. “ We are pleased to see the industry’s views reflected in the strategy, and dispels the misconception that the fishing industry can only decline, by identifying specific programmes that have potential for significant development and

Focusing on the National Programme, Minister of State, Sean Connick, said the measures were “the tools to enable the government and its agencies deliver on [its] objectives, placing Ireland in a “promising position” to capture emerging opportunities in international and domestic seafood markets.

“The programme envisages a significant State investment …from now until the end of 2013. A dedicated allocation of €6.5m is being made available for the remainder

this scheme because the government has yet to fulfil its obligations under the Habitats Directive.

“Until measures to carry out appropriate assessments in line with the Directive are in place, family-owned companies around the coast will be barred from access to grant aid for farm modernisation, eco-friendly production processes and marketing,” he stressed.

INDUSTRY REACTION

job creation,” said Eiblín O’Sullivan.

“The fishing industry faces enormous difficulties, but these developments show there is a positive future if there is a combined will to overcome them and the required resources and support to shape a better future,” she said.

Tom Geoghegan, national secretary for the Irish Fish Processors and Exporters Association has also welcomed the two initiatives, and envisages “significantly increased State investment” in the processing and aquaculture sectors up to 2013.

“It is particularly important to achieve the key objective of providing a basis for the differentiation of quality Irish seafood on home and export markets through eco, organic and quality labelling,” he told Inshore Ireland.

“While our competitors in Scotland, France, Spain and elsewhere have made serious progress in developing their industries under the 2007 European Fisheries Fund regulations, we are being told that work undertaken since 2007 is ineligible for aid.

“This further disincentive must be immediately reversed as there is no restriction in national or European law to disbar investment undertaken since the EU regulation was announced,” he said.

Northern Ireland city makes history

Rathlin A World away Summer 2010:Layout 1 15/03/2010 16:16 Page 1

Rathlin...

A world away for a day.

Summer 2010 Northern Ireland’s only inhabited offshore island lies just 6 miles off the coast of Ballycastle, Co. Antrim.

The tranquil island is famous for seabirds and is rich in history and natural beauty.

We’ll take you there faster and with more daily crossings than ever before.

S

eparately, the Association said the new BIM strategy launched

by Ministers Smith and Connick was an important step forward in the development of the Irish seafood sector. Launching the strategy, Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Brendan Smith attached a “high level of importance” on BIM’s transformation agenda and on the associated development measures contained within the Seafood National Programme.

He commended BIM for setting out “challenging targets” of delivery by 2012, including the creation of 600 jobs, an additional €50m in valueadded seafood sales, and greater differentiation of 40,000 tonnes of Irish seafood products worth

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Derry/Londonderry has won its bid to be the first-ever UK City of Culture, by winning the judging panel’s vote, over the three other shortlisted cities of Birmingham, Norwich and Sheffield.

Throughout 2013, the city will play host to a year-long celebration of culture, opening its doors to visitors from across the world.

Town clerk and chief executive of Derry City Council, Valerie Watts, said the city had been given a “once in a lifetime chance” not only to share its innate talent, creativity and energy with the rest of the world, but also to transform this region forever.

“This is a new chapter in our journey from plantation to peace, and its legacy will last for generations. We hoped that the judging panel would understand our bold ambition and passion to tell a new story.”

Derry/Londonderry has plans to invest more than £200m in its infrastructure to create a national cultural treasure at Ebrington and pursue World Heritage Status for the City Walls. The year of culture will ultimately create over 3,000 jobs, double visitor numbers and reach out to communities across Northern Ireland, the UK, RoI and the nine million diaspora worldwide.

JUST SAY YES - The Mayor of Derry, Councillor Colum Eastwood, with guests at the Guildhall to kick off the City winning the UK City of Culture 2013. Included are Alan Clarke, Northern Ireland Tourist Board, Gregory Campbell, MP, Valerie Watts, Town Clerk and Derry City Council Chief Executive, Declan McGonagle, director, School of Art, DIT, playwright Phil Redmond, chairman of the judging panel, Brendan McMenamin, Visual Arts officer, Derry City Council, Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness, Mark Durkan, MP, First Minister Peter Robinson, The Deputy Mayor Alderman Drew Thompson, Ed Vaizey, Minister for Culture, Communications and Creative Industries, Secretary of State Owen Paterson, Oonagh McGillion, Director of Development acting, Aideen McGinley, chief executive, ILEX, and Rosalie Flanagan, Permanent Secretary, DCAL.

inshore ireland August/September 2010

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comment

Overhaul of water governance required to ensure cross agency cooperation floodplains to absorb rainwater during a storm, it’s more likely to surge downstream, gathering force, until it finds a weak spot and breaches. We saw the tragic results of this during last winter’s flooding.

It is clear that managing our water requires an integrated approach that looks at each river catchment and all the activities in it as a whole.

Last month (July), River Basin Management Plans were being adopted by Local Authorities; these are required by EU law to take just such an approach.

It has been apparent to outside observers that this new way of managing water would require an overhaul of water governance to

ensure full co-operation between all state agencies involved in regulating activities impacting on water. The following (incomplete) roll call of agencies and government departments gives an indication of how unwieldy the current system is: Department of Environment, Heritage and Local Government Department of Agriculture Fisheries and Food 34 Local Authorities Environmental Protection Agency Inland Fisheries Ireland Office of Public Works National Parks and Wildlife Service Nevertheless, the wheels of bureaucracy turn slowly. Finally,

at the annual gathering of water managers at the EPA Water Conference in Galway in June, general agreement was reached that for the Plans to be implemented successfully, a restructuring of the currently fragmented structures of water management was urgently needed.

The Sustainable Water Network (SWAN) of environmental groups which I co-ordinate is supporting the proposed review of water governance. But a review can be an expensive, meaningless exercise unless it results in the necessary change. Whatever structure results from the review, it must have a clear RBD remit and must be provided with the resources and statutory power to oversee and

Dear Editor,

Ireland: The ‘Saudi’ for renewable energy?

Brendan Connolly Ireland depends on fossil fuels for 96% of its energy needs and imports 91%. Fossil fuels are finite and will run out and prices will rise before this happens with serious economic consequences. In addition, burning fossil fuels creates hothouse gases that influence climate change. For these reasons, developing renewable sources of energy is essential – hence the government has set a goal of being carbon neutral by a date somewhere between 2035 and 2050.

Currently, most of the approximate 4% renewable energy comes from wind power. A problem with wind power however is that it does not blow all of the time; however we nevertheless need a reliable electricity supply at all times. Another factor of wind is that it regularly blows at off-peak times such as at night. Therefore, a way is needed to store electricity generated at off-peak times so that it can be used during peak electricity demand, and when there is no wind.

a company, ‘Natural Hydro Energy’, which proposes to carry out the planning and construction of a large reservoir on the west coast of Ireland into which sea water will be pumped using electricity from wind turbines during off-peak times. This water can then be released through turbines to generate electricity during peak demand. A dam, impounding a valley, will be made from material excavated to create a channel that will run a short distance inland from the seashore.

The economics of the

Natural Hydro Energy project hinge on the fact that Ireland is windier that many other parts of Europe, hence Ireland has greater potential to generate renewable carbon-free wind powered electricity. Storing it in the form of impounded water will then enable Ireland to sell it during peak demand times, just as similar projects around the globe are already doing.

According to the organisation the power plant will have a base load of 700MW and 2,000 MW peak power. This compares to 292 MW for the Turlough Hill reservoir in Co,

Wicklow, which is Ireland’s only hydro energy reservoir.

The electricity would be used domestically or sold to Britain which is projected to run short by 2015.

Volunteers are now liaising with local residents in the area where the project may be constructed. It is planned to build it without government funding, and finance will be invited from Irish sources at first and if necessary foreign inward investment will also be accepted. Clean renewable carbon free energy could therefore become an important Irish export.

It would be a considerable distortion of the language of Oscar Wilde in the Importance of Being Earnest to comment on the loss of Ireland’s only two sail training vessels, that to lose one might be regarded as a misfortune but to lose both looks like carelessness…

In the case of Asgard II we will probably never know the truth of what happened off the coast of Brittany, and in fairness we must await the results of an inquiry into the loss of the Ocean Youth Trust of Ireland’s ketch, Lord Rank, in waters she knew so well off the coast of Co Antrim, before coming to any conclusion.

At all events, this island nation of ours is suddenly without any vehicle for the promotion of sail training at sea. In North Ireland, their sail training organisation at least remains intact while that of the Republic has been demolished with the same awful suddenness that saw the end of Asgard II and the insurance money that flashed with such dispatch into the national coffers.

Of the two situations, the ‘Southern’ one appears bleakest because there appears to be some reason for believing that in official circles, the loss of Jack Tyrrell’s classic build afforded the state an opportunity of getting shot of any responsibility for its support of the national sail training programme. It might be a long time before that official attitude is allowed to embark on its own change of course.

And therein lies the tragedy.

Tim Magennis Killiney, Co.Dublin

It was just a moment in time, but what a moment!

Three Irish tall ships under full sail heading for the sea from the Waterford Tall Ships in 2005. Asagard II leading Dunbrody and Jeannie Johnson. All seemed right with the sailing world; now only Jeannie Johnston remains in sailing condition and facing an uncertain future. Sic transit Gloria mundi.

West coast reservoir One exciting project to store wind electricity is proposed by the organisation, Spirit of Ireland (www.spiritofireland. org). This organisation is entirely made up of volunteers who give their services free of charge. They have established

enforce implementation across all relevant public bodies.

The ultimate goal of the Plans is to provide clean, healthy water for people and wildlife, with enough space for natural water processes.

This will support livelihoods; protect our health and homes and protect Ireland’s internationally renowned rivers, lakes and coastline for local communities, visitors and future generations.

To do this we must ensure that the proper governance structure is in place – a structure that overcomes the ‘stay off my patch’ attitude of certain government agencies and puts healthy water first.

Sinead O’Brien SWAN

comment

I

reland’s water is the final recipient and carrier of all the chemicals and pollutants that we release, knowingly and unknowingly, while going about our lives; making a living and producing goods and services. Some of these are absorbed and diluted by soil and water; others persist in the environment and interact in ways we don’t yet understand. Many find their way into water supplies; some are removed by water treatment; some aren’t.

Physical alterations of our rivers, dredging and infill of river-side wetlands also have a serious cumulative effect. With limited

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6 INSHORE IRELAND August/September 2010

YOURVIEW

Inshore Ireland and its publishers do not accept responsibility for the veracity of claims made by contributors. While every care is taken to ensure accuracy of information, we do not accept responsibility for any errors, or matters arising from same. Contact the editor at mills@inshore-ireland.com.

A case of protecting votes at all costs?

Martin O’Farrell

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t is now proposed to commence a ‘pilot’ salmon fishery to exploit salmon returning to the Laune and Maine rivers which discharge to Dingle Bay via Castlemaine Harbour.

It is also likely that adult salmon returning to the nearby Caragh and Behy rivers will be exploited in this fishery. All salmon harvested will be scientifically examined by State personnel who will police the pilot fishery.

At a time when economic gloom is all around us and Atlantic salmon populations are at an all time low, this initiative proposes to target an initial quota of 800 fish. Each fish will be typed genetically and its river of origin will be determined. It is hoped that most of the 800 will be Laune fish as this catchment has been assessed by the Standing Scientific Committee (SSC) of the former National Salmon Commission as being well above conservation limits.

The same is not true of the Maine – which is why the SSC has recommended that no mixed stock salmon fishery should operate in Castlemaine Harbour, outside the defined mouths of the Laune and

Maine rivers.

(Readers who are not familiar with the conservation status of Atlantic salmon in the Laune, Maine, Caragh and Behy rivers should acquaint themselves with the assessments carried out by the SSC which can be found on the website of the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources (www.dcenr. gov.ie) in the Inland Fisheries Section.)

In fairness, this area of the country is probably one of the most difficult to regulate in terms of the commercial and recreational exploitation of Atlantic salmon. Much of the non-tidal fishing rights on the Laune and Caragh are privately owned / leased to clubs while sections are also controlled by riparian owners.

The tidal fishing rights on the Laune and Caragh, and also on part of the Maine, are also privately owned and constitute several fisheries.

In the case of these rivers, it is not possible for the State to pursue its policy of preference – restricting commercial fishing to within the defined mouths of these rivers. This restriction prohibits public draft-net licence holders from fishing within the defined mouths of these rivers because any incursion would be illegal and constitute an invasion of a private several fishery. The

several fishery on the Laune continues in operation, that on the Caragh has been set aside for 2010 while that on the Maine has not been allowed to operate in recent years because of the assessed status of salmon in the River Maine.

This proposed ‘pilot’ salmon fishery will go against all the advice issued by the SSC and will obviously impact on the catch of private several fishery owners operating inside the defined mouth of the Laune.

The Kerry Fisheries District bye-law (dated 17 July 2008) is in keeping with the scientific advice of the SSC and also with Irish government policy on current and future methods and locations of salmon exploitation / harvest by commercial and recreational salmon fishermen. If the operation of a public draftnet ‘pilot’ fishery outside the defined mouths of the Laune and Maine rivers is allowed to resume, it will signal a return to the bad old days of mixed stock mismanagement of wild salmon.

Whatever about the strengths and scientific merit of the SSC assessment of the status of salmon populations in each of these rivers - and all assessments have their flaws – the onward march of salmon management here cannot be arrested by a decision to allow the resumption of

Draft-netting on the Laune Estuary, Killorglin, Co Kerry. All commercial fishing should be confined to estuaries...not common estuaries.

Photo Martin O’Farrell this fishery. Such a decision would fly in the face of all the arguments that have brought us to where we are in terms of salmon management, namely, the desirability of single stock management and the confinement of the harvest of any surplus to within the freshwater / estuarine reaches of the catchments concerned.

The ‘pilot’ fishery is good news for the members of the public draft-net fishery in Cromane who refused to accept the government buy-out offered at the end of the 2006 commercial salmon season.

But it is bad news for common

Salmon survey for Waterford Estuary

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he Waterford Estuary Fishermen’s Association in association with Inland Fisheries Ireland (IFI) has tabled a proposal to the Minister of State at the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources to survey the salmon fishery in Waterford Estuary.

The two primary objectives are to: • determine genetically the current extent of Irish river of origin salmon captured in Waterford estuary and to determine the presence, if any, of salmon from other countries in the estuary • capture salmon over an extended period in summer and autumn to determine river of origin by genetic analysis within the Barrow/Nore /Suir river complex, to provide a qualitative assessment of salmon stock abundance on the river Barrow where no stock estimate is currently available. A stock quantitative abundance estimate is available for the Nore and Suir rivers based on rod catch

According to the IFI, sampling of scales and fin clips will take place on five separate occasions at five locations between mid July and mid October, with all salmon released post survey. Officers of IFI will supervise and provide scientific support to the project, while commercial fishermen will advise in relation to fishing areas and provide the boats necessary for the survey.

Salmon management on the Barrow, Nore and Suir has raised many questions, especially since 2006 and the closure of the interceptory drift net fishery nationwide. In 2010 the Nore is open to commercial fishing and angling, while the Suir is open to angling on a catch and release basis only. The Barrow however remains closed to all fishing for salmon and sea trout.

It is expected that the results of the survey will provide information that can assist in better salmon management for these three rivers, which together have approximately 21% of the salmon spawning grounds of Ireland.

sense and the scientific and fisheries management personnel who collectively constitute the SSC. Why would a junior minister with responsibility for inland fisheries disagree with the scientific advice emanating from the SSC, which is representative of a large number of State agencies and universities etc who have expertise in this area?

The decision simply smacks of politics. Do whatever it takes to protect those votes, especially inside Dail Éireann.

Long live the Atlantic salmon in Ireland. Long live Jackie

Healy-Rae’s support for Fianna Fáil!

Is this a backward step or a sideways swipe at rational salmon management in Ireland? Probably not – more like a knife through the heart.

Why doesn’t the minister go the whole hog and establish a ‘pilot’ public drift-net fishery in Dingle Bay? He is planning one for Waterford Harbour!

When it comes to salmon management in Ireland, many of us who care are becoming cynical. Personally, I’m almost beyond caring and close to the abandonment of all interest.

Inshore Ireland asked DCENR to respond to the following questions: II: What method of catching will be used?

DCENR: All fish caught/sampled are released after scale and genetic sampling. The Waterford Estuary Salmon survey is being conducted using a multi-mesh survey net with six different mesh sizes: 2, 3, 3.5, 4, 5, 5.5 inch which is 180m long and fished as a drift net.

II: How many fishermen are likely to be involved?

DCENR: There are 10 traditional Fishermen from the locality authorised under the Section 18 of the 1980 Fisheries Act; each survey operation is supported, managed and monitored by IFI staff from the South Eastern River Basin District. A typical survey day would require the support of 6 fishermen and four IFI staff.

II: How many fish are likely to be caught?

DCENR: Sampling is to take please at five locations over five periods, with a target of 40 salmon per site on each of the five occasions giving an overall target sample size of 1000 salmon.

INSHORE IRELAND August/September 2010

7

FISHERIES

The greening of the Irish fishing industry Dominic Rihan, Myles Mulligan, BIM

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n the marine sector the introduction of manmade fibres in 1948 created a major waste problem. Along with various petroleum by-products, solvents, acids, etc that have since become commonplace, disposal of waste generated by the fishing sector has reached enormous proportions.

This waste material includes monofilament gillnet which when used irresponsibly or disposed of by means of discarding/dumping into the sea can cause irreparable damage to marine life and the surrounding environment.

For example, the cost in 2006 to dispose of fishing gear including landfill costs in the port of Dunmore East was approximately €15,000. Landfill operators are increasingly reluctant to take this type of material due to the damage it causes to waste handling machinery.

TURNING WASTE INTO PRODUCT In 2006, BIM in association with the former Department of Communications, Marine & Natural Resources and PETLON UK Recycling Group, initiated a state-funded project (W.I.R.E.D.) based in Dunmore East for which monofilament waste was collected, baled and eventually recycled into various products.

The material was re-constituted into a range of useful materials for use in engineering compounds dependent upon material quality. Some 6,000kg of nylon waste was recovered from the industry and recycled into PA35MY coloured grade nylon pellets.

In 2007 BIM developed a more permanent and economical transfer centre in Tramore; to date, over 120 tonnes of nylon waste material has been collected with approximately 30% volume already having gone through the recycling process in recycling plants in the UK and China.

The pilot project in Tramore is jointly operated by BIM and Mike Murphy of Green Marine,

which is a satellite company setup between PETLON and Stuart Nets (Ireland) to control the organization and trading of resultant recycled materials produced.

Based on a short economic appraisal of the pilot project it would seem worthwhile to extend the service, based on the benefit to the marine environment as an alternative to landfill and the positive re-use of the material in other industries.

BIM and Green Marine are looking at alternative uses for the recycled products within the marine sector in addition to simply being used to make cable ties or similar products.

Possibilities are being explored for use as trawl floats and perhaps more ambitiously as a ‘debris deflector’.

BIM considers this project to be a huge success and hope to continue to encourage industry to ‘reduce, reuse and recycle their waste.

185kg monofilament netting bales in storage at Tramore, awaiting delivery

PA6 IMPACT MODIFIED BLACK Pellets (Magnified)

Loading the first 6,000kg of netting in c.

35kg bales for recycling prior to transfer to PETLON UK in 2006

2008 – a visibly more professional approach; 185kg bales being loaded for transfer to PETLON

Register FREE now For more information and to register for free entry, visit: www.resourceireland.net

13 -14 October 2010, Simmonscourt Dublin www.resourceireland.net The Irish Water Exhibition is Ireland’s leading event for water and wastewater professionals.

Visitors can get up to speed with both Irish and European legislation and industry developments by attending the free CPD seminars organised and hosted by esai.

Leading suppliers to the water industry are displaying products, providing solutions and advice on: Municipal and industrial water and effluent treatment Flood management Pumps, valves and pipes Metering technology Water efficiency Leak detection and control

Part of Co-located exhibitions

Partners

Media partner

8 INSHORE IRELAND August/September 2010

INTERVIEW

Restructured inland fisheries ‘fit-for-purpose’ for 21st Century The establishment of Inland Fisheries Ireland (IFI) to replace the seventeen bodies – including the Central and Regional Fisheries Boards, the National Salmon Commission and the Fisheries Co-operative Societies - previously involved in the management of inland fisheries is the long-awaited signal that government is serious about protecting, conserving and developing this key resource. Its CEO, Dr Ciaran Byrne, with his youthful energy, determination and vision - combined with a rare career skill set – is an assurance too that the revamped organisation is in capable hands and off to a good start. Byrne has a degree in zoology, a post graduate diploma in statistics and a Ph.D. in fisheries parasitology from Trinity College Dublin. Following his studies he went to the Marine Institute’s catchment research facility near Newport Co. Mayo where he worked with other research scientists on the biology of trout, salmon and eels, and authored several peer-reviewed papers for a range of fisheries and parasitological journals. He then moved back to Dublin to work for a while in the private sector - along the way qualifying as a Chartered Management Accountant and picking up valuable practical business experience. A stint with the Royal Dublin Society in the area of science development and promotion was followed by a move back to fisheries as the Assistant Chief Executive Officer of what was the Shannon Regional Fisheries Board. Promotion followed quickly with senior roles in the Central Fisheries Board – first as Director of Field Services, then Director of Research & Development – and eventually to the hot seat role of CEO in 2008. Speaking to Inshore Ireland, Ciaran Byrne outlined the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead for him in motivating a staff of more than 400 and managing and conserving 70,000 kilometres of rivers and streams and nearly 145,000 hectares of lakes.

Gery Flynn

WHAT ARE THE CORE FUNCTIONS OF INLAND FISHERIES IRELAND? These are set out in Section 7 of the Inland Fisheries Act 2010 which gives IFI its authority. They are not significantly different from the core functions of the Central (CFB) and Regional Fisheries Boards (RFBs) - namely to promote, support, facilitate, and advise the Minister on the conservation, protection, management, development and improvement of inland fisheries, including sea angling.

In addition, IFI will develop and advise the Minister on policy and national strategies relating to inland fisheries including sea angling.

WHAT IS THE STRUCTURE OF IFI? The senior management structure has changed significantly from the situation

with the CFB and RFBs. We have moved from having eight CEOs and five functional Directors and an assistant CEO in each of the RBDs to having one CEO, six Heads of Function and a Regional Director in each RBD. In effect, we have moved from 20 senior management staff to 14.

WHAT BENEFITS WILL IFI BRING TO THE INLAND FISHERIES SECTOR? It is very important to recognise the excellent work of the CFB and RFBs; however we now need a structure and organisation fit for purpose in the 21st Century. IFI will build on the achievements of the past, but with the strategic focus and organisation necessary to deal with the challenges facing the sector.

One of the core strengths of IFI will be the combination of a national management structure and focus, with a very strong regional presence.

The new organisation has

a Board complement of nine. It comprises members from business; education and science; angling and agriculture, with three further members to be appointed by the Minister upon recommendation by the Oireachtas Committee and a staff representative. Other areas of expertise will no doubt be added, on the appointment of the remaining members.

This will ensure a business focus, the capacity to progress agreed national policy and rollout of that policy through a management structure that now reports to one Board only.

When compared to the previous structure of eight boards comprising 150+ members, this new set up is clearly more streamlined, cost effective and efficient.

Business Development has been added to the remit of the organisation, and to this end will look at improving angling access for all while adding value to State-owned and privately-owned fisheries.

WHAT ARE THE MAIN CHALLENGES FACING IFI? It is probably appropriate to break these down into two groups: organisational challenges and sectoral challenges. In terms of the first group, IFI is no different from any other public sector organisation in terms of significant budget reductions and a public sector recruitment embargo. We must also

amalgamate eight separate agencies – with similar but separate cultures and values – into IFI. In terms of the sectoral challenges, these are numerous and diverse, namely: water

quality issues affecting fish stocks; increasing illegal fishing; the need to attract more overseas anglers and more young people to the sport of angling, and the new threat of aquatic invasive species

The only way we can address these and other challenges is through very clear strategies and policies that are supported by the IFI Board and our parent Department (Communications, Energy and

INSHORE IRELAND August/September 2010

9

INTERVIEW resource.

To this end as part of the transition period, we are in the process of restructuring the former angling marketing division into a business development division. In addition to continuing a promotional role, this new division will also service the requirements of the sector in a much more structured and comprehensive way. The key here is to add value to our inland fisheries resource; to ensure its sustainable development; increase and improved access to angling; and to raise awareness of the valuable contribution inland fisheries makes to the economy.

WHAT ARE THE KEY BIOLOGICAL CHALLENGES? Natural Resources) and are appropriately funded.

WHAT PART WILL POLICY HAVE TO PLAY? One of the criticisms of the old structure was that it was large and unwieldy and that no clear national policies had been developed. I disagree with this statement; the structure that was in place then did not lend itself to the development of national policies. Thus, one of the core functions of IFI will be to develop a suite of national policies for all areas of the business that will identify the key goals and how we will achieve these goals while recognising resource constraints and the diversity of the various RBDs.

AS CEO WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST CHALLENGE? In the short to medium term it is to ensure the smooth transition of all staff into IFI while continuing to deliver services to all stakeholders.

Along with our parent department I will be very

much involved in updating the 1959 Consolidated Fisheries Act, which is still the principle piece of fisheries legislation.

This is going to be a huge job but it is long overdue. Inland fisheries are not only a major natural resource but are also a very important sector in the Irish economy, and it is important that we have strong and relevant legislation, fit-forpurpose and which underpins the work we do.

WHAT ABOUT ILLEGAL FISHING? This is a problem. Like many other criminal activities it appears to be more prevalent during recessionary times as people, for primarily economic reasons, are more likely to ‘give it a go’.

Unfortunately, society does appear to have become more violent, and fisheries offences are often seen as ‘soft offences’ which do not really hurt anyone especially when one compares them to the litany of offences that come before our district courts.

We consider illegal fishing as an environmental crime and will not be tolerated. It is an antisocial activity. The unfortunate reality is that it is not just ‘one or two fish in a bag’ or a ‘few coarse fish for the pot’, persistent, repeated illegal fishing can and unfortunately does damage our fisheries. IFI will be in a position to take a consistent strong national approach to enforcing fisheries legislation.

Our inland fisheries resource is part of our natural heritage, part of the very fabric of our society evidenced by the fact that almost every town in the country has an angling club, and it is incumbent upon IFI that we do our best to protect this valuable resource.

WHAT CAN ANGLERS EXPECT? Anglers are one of the most important stakeholder groups for IFI. A core role will be to work with anglers, angling clubs and federations and small business providers, to improve and develop the inland fisheries

I guess the one dark cloud on the horizon is the conjoined issues of aquatic invasive species and biosecurity. I believe the management and control of aquatic invasive species is going to be one of the biggest challenges facing the fisheries sector.

As we have seen from the introduction of Zebra Mussels (Dreissenia polymoorpha) and Curly leaved water weed (Lagarisophon major), aquatic invasive species can have serious ecological implications for a water body and can fundamentally alter its characteristics.

Public Announcement

Inland Fisheries Ireland seeks the input of stakeholders in the development of their 5 year rolling Corporate Plan.

Submissions outlining your views on what the core policy objectives and goals for Inland Fisheries Ireland should encompass over this time period are invited. Further information is available at www.fisheriesireland.ie Submissions can be made via the website above or in writing to: Mary O’Reilly Inland Fisheries Ireland, Swords Business Campus, Balheary Road, Swords, Co. Dublin.

WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY BIOSECURITY? Biosecurity is effectively implementing a set of preventative measures designed to reduce the risk of transmission of infectious diseases, quarantined pests and invasive alien species.

I am heartened by the fact that many angling clubs and commercial fishermen are taking the issue of biosecurity very seriously and are putting appropriate mitigation procedures in place, but we really must tackle this issue head on.

HOW DO YOU SEE THE FUTURE FOR THE INLAND FISHERIES RESOURCE? In my opinion the future is very bright. Despite the harsh economic realities of budget constraints and public sector recruitment embargo, the resource is in a healthy state.

Yes, there are issues that we have to tackle; however in comparison to many other European countries we are in a very good place. I am also very optimistic that with the transition to IFI there will be a

single management structure looking after the inland fisheries resource and we will be in a position to provide a consistent structured approach.

I look forward to working with the angling clubs

to ensure the resource is developed and exploited in a sustainable way for the benefit of Irish and visiting anglers - and most importantly, for future generations.

10 INSHORE IRELAND August/September 2010

FRESHWATER FOCUS

Ireland on a course to becoming a ‘viable exporter of renewable energy’

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reland’s National Renewable Energy Action Plan (NREAP), which sets a target of 16% renewables in overall energy consumption by 2020, has been submitted to the European Commission. All member States are required to publish an Action Plan outlining their strategy to meet individual national targets for renewable energy, contained in Directive 20009/28/EC. Ireland’s target is to be achieved from 40% renewables in electricity; 12% in heat and 10% in transport, according to Energy Minister Eamon Ryan who launched the programme this week. The overall target is mandatory, and the Plan,

which will be reviewed every two years, outlines how it will be met.

“This Plan is essentially a roadmap as to how Ireland will meet its ambitious renewables targets. It is flexible in its forecasting so that we can make the most of nascent technologies - particularly in wave and tidal power - as they are being developed and deployed.

“Ireland has some of the best wind and wave resources in the European Union and we are capitalising on these advantages. Government is committed to making the most of these assets and looking to a future that is not dependent on fossil fuel imports,” remarked Minister Ryan.

JOINED UP APPROACH The Plan underlines the government’s commitment to a fully ‘joined-up’ approach to delivery, ensuring essential coordination among the government departments and State bodies involved in implementing national renewable energy policy.

The Minister is to establish a robust monitoring system for implementation of the plan, and will encourage an increased understanding of the national and regional energy infrastructure needed to deliver this transformation in Ireland’s energy system, according to a press statement.

The Plan highlights a variety of actions to ensure that Ireland maximises use of wind, ocean, biomass and solar

power in the next ten years and beyond. ‘These reflect the importance of both onshore and offshore wind power in ensuring delivery of our target and build upon current policy to develop and exploit our ocean energy resources’ the statement added.

OTHER ACTIONS INCLUDE: • a more coordinated approach between the Departments of Energy, Environment and Agriculture; SEAI; Eirgrid and the CER, as well as those involved in promoting and delivering renewable energy at a regional and local level, including through participation of county and city managers

•

•

• •

at the Renewable Energy Development Group a commitment to developing a comprehensive and robust microgeneration framework for the development of a vibrant microgeneration sector, which will allow homeowners to produce and sell their own electricity an offshore (wind, wave and tidal) renewable energy development plan on which a strategic environmental assessment is being undertaken a national bioenergy roadmap improved building regulations, requiring all new-build standards to be 60% more energy efficient in 2010 than in 2005 and carbon neutral by 2013.

“We are greening Ireland’s energy supply, and are rapidly progressing towards our targets. This is more than achievable; in electricity, we are already more than a third of the way, having passed 15% this year. Our policy is working but there are of course, issues to be resolved.

“This plan sets out how we will work through the hurdles to deliver not just on the national targets, but to becoming a viable exporter of renewable energy. It sets out a cleaner, greener future for Ireland’s energy, and will be implemented in full,” he declared.

The renewable energy action plan is available on the Department’s website.

River Bush Salmon Station Open Day Wendy Scott

Minister for the Environment Edwin Poots, Garry O’Neill Senior Fisheries Officer DCAL and Culture Arts and Leisure Minister Nelson McCausland

The River Bush Salmon Station, free open day at the beginning of July was a resounding success again this year. The station is located on the picturesque North Antrim Coast, not far from the Giants Causeway, on the banks of the River Bush, in Bushmills. Visitors arrived in the glorious sunshine to meet experts from the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure (DCAL) Inland Fisheries Group to hear about the excellent work that goes on within the International Salmon Research Facility.

During the day, visitors were taken through the many facets of work being carried out at the station, including being shown firsthand the various stages of development of the young salmon, bred specifically from River Bush wild stock. These fish are used to maintain stocks and provide information on the survival of salmon in the ocean.

Also on hand were Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA) staff who provided visitors with the opportunity to get up close and personal with the “smaller” creatures living in the river, much to the delight of the younger visitors. NIEA also provided information on the River Bush Local Management Area, as part of the Water Framework Directive (www.nienvironment.gov.uk/wfd).

Further up stream in the ‘Leap Stretch’ of the river, visitors were given the chance to try their hand at fly casting; this proved to be very successful with young and old alike!

undertaking here. Future generations have a right to be able to enjoy a better environment and it is only by being aware of the consequences of what is going on around us that we can make a difference.”

The salmon station also plays an important role in collecting data for the River Bush Salmon Research Project. This longterm project is looking at the sea and fresh water phases of the Atlantic salmon’s lifecycle.

Counting facilities are located on the river, which enable staff to carry out a complete count of the number of adult salmon

heading up river to breed and the number of smolts (young salmon) heading down stream towards the sea.

The research programme has lead to the recognition of the River Bush as a designated index river by the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES). This designation requires the station to provide long-term scientific data to ICES. Visitors are always welcome to the River Bush Salmon Station and with prior notice, guided tours can be arranged. For further information contact 0044 (0)28 2073 1435 or e mail bush@dcalni.gov.uk

Learning about the environment Inshore Ireland asked DCAL’s Senior Fisheries Officer, Garry O’Neill, why he felt it was important to have an open day such as this: “It is important to let people know about the work the different agencies are

The River Bush is also managed as a premier salmon river

by DCAL Inland Fisheries Division (www.dcal-fishingni.gov. uk). During the right conditions with the purchase of a Day Ticket (from as little as £9.00) and a DCAL Game Rod licence/Permit (£8.50 for 3 days), excellent salmon angling is available on four stretches of the river namely the New; Town; Leap; and Dundarave beats.

The remainder of the upstream area of the Bush can be fished with a DCAL Game Fishing permit (from as little as £8.50 for a licence and permit for 3 days). It offers salmon angling from July to the end of the season with trout fishing available throughout most of the season. Rod licences and most types of Department permits may be obtained from appointed distributors throughout Northern Ireland or by contacting the Inland Fisheries Group, telephone: 0044 (0)28 9051 5119 or e-mail dcalangling@dcalni.gov.uk

Mark Patterson teaching 5 year old William Torrens from Portrush, how to cast

INSHORE IRELAND August/September 2010

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FRESHWATER FOCUS

Beautiful Fermanagh on a budget Wendy Scott

A

s a result of visiting Enniskillen for the famous 2010 Waterways Ireland Classic Fishing Festival, organised

by Fermanagh District Council in conjunction with the Inland Fisheries Division of DCAL (Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure), Inshore Ireland decided to have a look at what this beautiful county has to offer for those on a budget.

The county is magnificent!

Overlooking Lough Erne it is easy to see why this threehundred square miles of fresh water, with over 160 wooded islands, is known as the jewel in the county’s crown. The Lough is divided into Upper and Lower Lough Erne and is the perfect location for many activities – such as fishing, waterskiing, canoeing, boating, sailing or just sitting on the shore absorbing the view.

LONGEST WATERWAY The Lough covers a large area of the county and is linked to the Shannon river system via the Shannon / Erne Waterway, which makes it the longest inland navigable waterway in Europe. Lough Erne is part of DCAL’s Public Angling Estate, and if you fancy a day’s fishing it can cost you as little as £3.50 for the licence and permit (www. dcal-fishingni.gov.uk). This will

way to investigate the Lough.

The Lough Erne Canoe trail, developed by the Countryside Access and Activity Network in association with the Canoe Association of Northern Ireland, stretches 50 kilometres from Crom Castle on Upper Lough Erne to Muckcross in Lower Lough Erne. For more information on the canoe trail visit: www.canoeni.com.

Co. Fermanagh has plenty to offer away from the water as well. The beautiful landscape lends itself to an array of activities from golfing or pampering at the Lough Erne resort, with its luxury spa hotel and Nick Faldo designed golf course, to walking, cycling, orienteering or sightseeing.

WORLD’S FIRST Fermanagh has three National Trust properties open to the public and also boasts the world’s first UNESCO International Geopark, encompassing the Marble Arch Caves and Cuilcagh Mountain Park (www.marblearchcaves. net). See also Inshore Ireland website www.inshore-ireland. com vol 5.2 for a full report.

The Geopark, which is a first to span an international border, gives an insight into the area’s 650 million year history and is well worth a visit.

The island town of Enniskillen also has a number of interesting places to visit, including the Castle Museum and Buttermarket craft and design centre. Through Greenbox (www.greenbox. ie), Fermanagh has been

an awareness, appreciation and understanding of, and responsibility to the local natural and built environment’.

The route maps can be downloaded from the internet and provide a free activity for both individuals and families

(www.ecotrailsni.com).

Regardless of what you decide to do in Co. Fermanagh you will be assured of a great welcome, a quality of service and importantly in this current climate, excellent value for money.

Diary Dates October 15-17 2010 Waterways Ireland Erne World Pike Fishing Classic 2010. Contact for entries: Fishing Tackle and Bait, Sligo Road, Enniskillen, Co. Fermanagh N.I. Telephone: 0044 (0) 2866 322 008 May 9-13 2011, 2011 Classic Fishing Festival. For further information contact Carole Whittaker, Fermanagh District Council, Townhall, Enniskillen, County Fermanagh, BT74 7BA. Telephone: 0044 (0) 2866 325 050

Thermal well-being spa opens in Cauterets Wendy Scott A state-of-the-art luxury spa ‘Les Bains du Rocher’, has opened in the heart of the Haute Pyrenees in thebeautiful summer and winter resort of Cauterets (www. cauterets.com). With a long history of using the thermal waters to provide healing for respiratory, muscular and skin conditions, the town of Cauterets decided a number of years ago to create this centre of well-being. Cauterets is hoping their spa will bring many more visitors to the town; it is envisaged that in 2011, 90,000 people will avail of the facilities. The new 2500 m² centre, which was officially opened on June 21, typifies all that is relaxing and good for you. (www.bains-rocher.fr) Inshore Ireland asked the Director of the Spa, Marie Christine Harispuru, what the spa will mean to Cauterets?

“The opening of “Les Bains du Rocher” brings a

new spirit to Cauterets. It is a centre of well- being with no equal, which surpasses the expectations of the public during the winter and summer seasons”.

INDOOR/OUTDOOR POOLS The centre boasts two pools of hot thermal waters, an indoor and an outdoor one; imagine bathing in hot thermal waters gazing at the Pyrenees. Whilst in the pools you can experience hydro jet swimming; bubble beds; geysers and tropical showers – you can even book an underwater massage where you lie on a floating bed whilst a physiotherapist massages you!

Other activities include a hammam, jacuzzi and sauna.

To use the pools you must have a swimming cap and indoor flip flops. The flips flops can be bought in the centre for €1.50, men’s swimming shorts are allowed.

The centre also has individual treatment rooms for

that well-deserved pampering session. Treatments include: mud treatments, lymphatic drainage massages and therapeutic massages with essential oils etc. There is also a fitness suite, a well-being room and a tea-room serving herbal infusions and fruit juices on the ground floor.

Patrons can use the facilities for two hours for €16.00 (adults); €13.50 (students); €8.00 (children from 4-14 yrs; 3 years and under are free).

There are also family passes

available; for example, 2 adults and one child under 14 will cost €35.00; 1 adult and 1 child under 14 will cost €22.00; each additional child is €6.00.

Ski and relax packages can also be purchased and are excellent value for money. You can ski all day in Cauterets and then enjoy two hours relaxing in the thermal waters afterwards from as little as €34.00! Advance booking is advisable; details on www. thermesdecauterets.com or www.bains-rocher.fr

The outdoor pool of the wellbeing centre

Northern Ireland Angling in

allow you to fish for the native Lough Erne trout or have fun catching and releasing the specimen pike. For those with a competitive streak, register for the Waterways Ireland Erne World Pike Fishing Classic 2010, October 15-17, (Further details telephone: 0044 (0) 2866 322 008.)

Exploring by canoe is a great

designated an ecotourism destination on the island of Ireland. This means visitors can enjoy a nature- based holiday, knowing that they can do it in an environmentallyfriendly and sustainable way.

For example, Enniskillen has a number of ecotrails, which are permanent orienteering routes that help to ‘develop

With Over 60 Game & Coarse Waters Available starting from £8.00 for Three Days Fishing....

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Whats stopping you?

12 INSHORE IRELAND August/September 2010

HERITAGE COUNCIL/FAILTE IRELAND

Climate Change, Heritage and Tourism:

Implications for Ireland’s Coast and Inland Waterways Climate change presents an immediate and significant threat to our natural and built environments and to the ways of life that co-exist with these environments. Overseas visitors choose to holiday in Ireland for many reasons, chief among them being the richness of our cultural and natural heritage. As changes to the climate affect our heritage, then they will also have implications for Ireland’s tourism industry.

In response to this, the Heritage Council and Fáilte Ireland commissioned a report in 2007, Climate change, Heritage and Tourism, Implications for Ireland’s coast and inland waterways, to investigate how climate change will affect Irish tourism and the heritage of our coastline and inland waterways with an aim to help plan for the likely eventualities and to provide recommendations to Government on prioritising action. The report, published in 2009, is the culmination of two years’ study by a multi-disciplinary team and includes extensive consultation with experts on Ireland’s cultural and natural heritage as well as operators within the Irish tourism industry. The findings are built on the predictions published by the Environmental Protection Agency in May 2008 (Fealy, R., Sweeney, J., 2008. Climate Change: Refining the Impacts). The main report takes these predictions and assesses what they could mean for the heritage and tourism of Ireland’s coast and inland waterways.

In the main report you will find predictions on how heritage and tourism may be affected by climate change and how we need to adapt to these changes. It also addresses areas that we are not so sure about; for example, how little we know about our coastal archaeology. It includes recommendations for further study; the integration of heritage and tourism policy; raising awareness of the issues; providing training for those responsible for adaptation and examines the question of resourcing everything that needs to be done.

CLIMATE CHANGE PREDICTIONS Ireland is already experiencing a number of changes in its climate. Over the next 100 years, sea levels are likely to rise by at least 18-59cm by the 2080s, and possibly by as much as one metre. This is exacerbated by more frequent storm events; storm surges and increased wave energy. Coastal flooding caused by a combination of these elements, and the resultant coastal erosion will be more widespread, placing low-lying areas and coastlines of ‘soft’ material like sand and gravel at particular risk.

Our rain patterns are also changing, with more extreme rain or precipitation occurring. This will change the current rainfall pattern of ‘low duration, low intensity’ to ‘long duration, high intensity’. The likelihood of inland flooding will increase as a result, in particular in the West and the Midlands. The entire country will experience scarcity of water during the late summer and autumn periods.

Ireland is also likely to experience a potential rise in average temperatures relative to the 1961-1990 period of up to 2.1 to 2.7 ˚C by the 2080s, with autumn months warming the most.

Summary:

Sea levels will rise and storms will become more frequent, resulting in more widespread coastal erosion.

Rain patterns will move to ‘long duration, high density’, increasing the risk of inland flooding and water scarcity during late summer and autumn. The average temperature could rise by more than 2˚C by the 2080s.

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR OUR NATURAL HERITAGE? Ireland’s wildlife, including all the plants and animals living in water or on land, thrive in Ireland precisely because our climate suits them. They have adapted to our current patterns of temperature and rainfall. As these patterns change, which they will, some of these plants and animals will not be able to adapt or move, or will be so stressed that they become extinct. Some species are already disappearing from Ireland due to recent climate change.

Additionally, these new climatic conditions may be more favourable to species of plants or animals that currently do not live here, but which may in time become invasive at the expense of existing species. This is happening already for example on our inland waterways with the spread of Zebra Mussels and African Curly Waterweed causing expensive problems.

Rising air and water temperatures in many Irish waters will

Late medieval fishtrap on the Shannon estuary. Sites such as these will be very vulnerable to rises in sea level and the changes in sediment movement. Aidan O’Sullivan greatly magnify the existing problem of nutrient enrichment, thus putting greater pressure on existing species of invertebrate, fish and plants. Studies have also shown that the Atlantic salmon is likely to be greatly affected by a rise in water temperature.

Salmon have long been closely associated with Ireland, appearing regularly in our ancient mythology, and are a very important heritage and tourism resource. Indeed the changes caused by water pollution in our inland waterways and the rising sea water temperatures are making it much more difficult for the salmon to spawn, and are therefore reducing the numbers of young salmon. According to the National Parks and Wildlife Service - the future prospects for the salmon are poor (NPWS, 2008. Atlantic Salmon (Salmo Salar), Conservation Status Assessment Report).

Indirect changes from climate change on our natural heritage will also become evident. For example, the impact of climate

The frequency and severity of storms is predicted to increase greatly over the next 50 years. (Richard Nairn, natura.ie) change at the lower end of the food chain will produce significant effects higher up. Changes to insects and plankton will affect the food webs that support fish and bird life in our rivers, lakes and seas.

Marine mammals like whales, dolphins and seals are likely to be affected by these changes. Seals may also be affected by rising sea levels as their traditional haul out and breeding sites become flooded.

On the other hand, more whales and dolphins are being sighted off the Irish coast than ever before. This could be due in part to both greater numbers of people participating in whale and dolphin watching activities leading to greater numbers of sightings, but could also be due to a greater productivity of plankton which attracts greater numbers of fish. Leatherback turtles are also predicted to become more frequent visitors to our waters in the future.

INSHORE IRELAND August/September 2010

13

HERITAGE COUNCIL/FAILTE IRELAND WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR OUR CULTURAL HERITAGE?

While higher temperatures will make sea bathing more attractive, the increase in storminess will affect access to traditional bathing places like the 40 Foot, Sandycove, Co Dublin.

(Heritage Council)

Our cultural heritage is very diverse and includes all physical traces of human activity in Ireland since pre-historic times.

Along the coast, this includes castles; Martello Towers; harbours; promontory forts; historic houses and a whole variety of archaeological remains, including ship wrecks on the sea bed.

While many of these have been designed to be immersed in water, such as harbours and jetties, the predicted increase in storm frequency and storm surges, together with increased erosion, will inevitably weaken them. More frequent and violent storms may also speed up stone decay of historic buildings along the coast and inland waterways.

Our navigable inland waterways themselves are also being affected by climate change. The principal effects will be as a result of changes in river flow and water supply; intense rainfall and flooding and the build-up of flotsam and bank erosion. Important archaeological sites along our inland waterways may dry out due to changes in the water table caused by drought, or may suffer from flooding due to extreme weather events.

Ireland’s most prominent cultural asset is its landscape, which has been continually shaped by human activity and settlement since the introduction of farming six thousand years ago. The greenness and lushness of the landscape is a result of having grass and arable crops as the main land cover, thus creating the main characteristics of Ireland’s distinctive landscape.

Grassland is likely to remain an important part of our landscape over the next 80 years or so; however it will be affected by more droughts. Summers like that of 1995, during which the grass turned brown in places, are likely to occur more frequently.

Inevitably, the character of Ireland’s landscape will change in response to climate change, although like all landscape change, this is likely to be gradual and subtle, as perceived by each generation.

It is our coastal landscapes, however, that are at most risk from transformation by climate change. Rocky or ‘hard’ coast lines will be more resilient to the rising sea levels and coastal erosion; coasts made up of sands, clays and gravels however are particularly vulnerable. Recent work carried out for the EPA has found that retreat of the coast line is happening fastest in counties Down, Louth, Dublin, Wicklow and Wexford where much of the coast is made of soft boulder clay. In some places more than three metres per year are being lost.

Low-lying bays and estuaries in the west and south – such as Tralee Bay, Cork Harbour, Clew Bay and especially the Shannon Estuary – are vulnerable to increased flooding as sea level rises.

The study finds that in the worst-case scenarios of a storm surge occurring in conjunction with a spring tide, a potential 680km2 of coastal land may be flooded.

Summary:

Ireland’s coastal landscape and its cultural heritage features such as Martello Towers, castles, historic houses and promontory forts, along with our coastline will be affected by increased coastal erosion, more frequent storms and rising sea levels. Archaeological and industrial heritage sites along Ireland’s inland waterways will suffer from changes in river flow and water supply, resulting in both intense rainfall and Flooding at times, but also drying out due to drought and a reduction in the water table during summer months. Predicted droughts will also affect the character of Ireland’s green landscape, although this change is predicted to be gradual and subtle, as perceived by each generation.

Towns on inland waterways will experience more flooding over the next 50 years. Flood defence schemes must be designed sensitively in regard to their historic urban centres.

(Fáilte Ireland)

Summary:

Predicted climate change may make Ireland unsuitable for existing species of plants and animals currently living here, causing them to become stressed and possibly extinct. At the same time, it could also attract new invasive species to our shores.

Rising air and water temperatures could magnify existing pollution problems, putting greater pressure on species of invertebrates, fish and plants, such as salmon.

Existing food webs which support fish and birdlife in our rivers, lakes and seas, will be affected by climate change.

HOW WILL CLIMATE CHANGE AFFECT TOURISM IN IRELAND? Ireland’s natural and cultural heritage feature strongly among the main reasons why visitors choose Ireland for their holiday. In 2008, our scenery received a satisfaction rating of 89% among all overseas visitors, with our unspoilt environment scoring 79% and nature and wildlife registering a satisfaction rating of 77%. As climate change is affecting our heritage, we must be clear about how this is likely to affect tourism and what, if anything, we can do about it.

While there are many issues relating to tourism and climate change that are difficult to predict in an Irish context, we can be certain we will not be as adversely affected as many other destinations around the world.

For example, within Europe certain Alpine ski resorts may

become unusable due to rises in temperature and the consequent loss of snow, and parts of the Mediterranean coast could become uncomfortably hot during the peak summer months. Tourists are better able to adapt to changing climate conditions than the tourism industry, meaning they will quickly switch their choice of destination to suit their enjoyment.

Ireland’s temperate climate, however, should be capable of absorbing the changes predicted over the next one hundred years without resulting in unacceptable levels of discomfort levels, or taking away from the main reasons that people choose to come here,(people, culture and landscape).

It is also likely however that some of the predicted outcomes of climate change will have positive impacts on tourism in Ireland.

For example, warmer, drier summer weather will increase the appeal of many Irish coastal resorts as well as the appeal of

14 INSHORE IRELAND August/September 2010

HERITAGE COUNCIL/FAILTE IRELAND water-based and other outdoor activities. Nevertheless, there will be adverse impacts associated with climate change and it is now necessary to prepare for these.

While warmer weather will make golf more attractive, erosion of links courses due to rising sea levels and stormier conditions is already a significant management problem, and water shortages will pose additional problems. Coastal paths are already vulnerable to erosion, and their maintenance costs are subsequently very high. Erosion problems will inevitably increase, so future coastal walkways must be planned to avoid vulnerable areas.

Over the coming decades, many popular beaches may be eroded, submerged or remain wet all day due to rising sea levels and increased storms. This may be worse at places where coastal defence measures have already been taken. This will have a significant effect on the vitality of some popular seaside resorts.

Also, with fewer beaches to visit, remaining beaches may become more crowded and less attractive.

Water-based activities on inland waterways and coasts will be affected by unpredictable and stormy weather, as already witnessed by the wet summers of 2007 and 2008. Charter boat trips for angling, whale and bird watching; kayaking; sailing and cruising are all affected by poor weather conditions. On the inland waterways, the increase in water flow during periods of flood can make navigation dangerous. More stormy weather could also affect the viability of access to Ireland’s offshore islands.

Tourism activities on inland waterways will be affected by higher freshwater temperatures combined with pollution. Traditional angling may change as some fish species find it harder to spawn,

or to live with higher water temperatures e.g. salmon and trout.

Poor water quality in lakes and rivers will have a negative effect on fish populations, as well as rendering activities such as swimming, kayaking, and sailing less attractive.

Invasive species of plants or fish could have a dramatic effect on related tourism assets, by radically altering the ecology of our inland waterway. For example, the African curly-leafed waterweed, Lagarosiphon, in Lough Corrib is threatening the aquatic life on which the trout and salmon feed, by cutting off the supply of sunlight into the water.

Notwithstanding, it’s not all bad news for tourism. Climate change can bring with it a number of opportunities that operators can capitalise upon, and others we may not even be able to foresee at this time. A case in point is nature-based tourism, which is likely to see both positive and negative impacts from climate change.

With warmer temperatures possibly bringing a greater variety of whale and dolphin species, together with other marine animals such as the leatherback turtle to the seas off our coast, opportunities for wildlife watching will increase. Bird watching however, may be adversely affected as cliff breeding sea birds such as puffins, razorbills and guillemots may decrease in number as their food sources decline.

Overall, while there may be gains to tourism from climate change, significant risks abound. It is vital, therefore, in order to ensure the sustainable development of the tourism sector in Ireland and its successful adaptation to climate change, that tourism offerings are of a consistently high quality and that sustainable management policy and practices are put in place.

Summary:

Tourists are better able to adapt to changing climate conditions than the tourism industry, meaning that they will quickly switch their choice of destination when the results of climate change begin to impact on the enjoyment of their holiday destination.

Water-based activities on the coast and inland waterways such as cruising, angling, bird and whale watching will be affected by more unpredictable stormy weather Ireland’s links courses, coastal paths and beaches will suffer from increased coastal erosion.

Higher water temperatures, combined with pollution and a potential increase in invasive species of plants and fish will affect inland waterways by making them less attractive for angling and other water-based activities.

Warmer temperatures may bring with it higher numbers of dolphins and whales off the coasts increasing tourism opportunities for mammal watching. Bird watching however may suffer due to a decline in their food sources.

WHAT CAN WE DO ABOUT IT? In this report we have focussed on how we can cope with the impacts of climate change on the heritage and tourism of our coast and inland waterways. The Government has already published the National Climate Change Strategy (revised 2007) which sets out how Ireland can reduce its Greenhouse Gas Emissions (GHG), emissions which contribute to climate change, and how it can adapt to the impacts of climate change. The Heads of a Bill on Climate change are currently being prepared while the Government also plans to publish its national adaptation framework later in 2010. This will provide a framework for the integration of adaptation issues into decision-making at national and local level.

The purpose of the Heritage Council and Fáilte Ireland report is to build on these important initiatives and complement the national adaptation framework by providing detailed information relating to the impacts of climate change on the heritage and tourism of our coasts and inland waterways.

In proposing measures to deal with the effects, it is important to consider any unintended consequences for heritage and tourism that might arise. For example, the construction of coastal defences and inland flood relief works can have negative impacts on aspects of our natural and cultural heritage such as beaches, sand dunes and historic town centres.

Likewise, where the coastline is allowed to erode or, in some cases, is opened to coastal flooding and inundation by the sea, this can be beneficial to natural heritage by creating new wetlands or allowing coastal habitats space to advance inland; however it may also result in the destruction of archaeological sites along the coast.

Incompatibilities between the needs of heritage and tourism over adaptation strategies may also arise. For example, hard engineering works to protect coastal tourism assets or infrastructure must be considered in light of natural coastal processes and the potential long-term impacts on the heritage value, and indeed the tourism value of the area. It is vital that protection works

do not exacerbate the problem, which may lead to the eventual undermining and possible complete loss of the tourism asset.

These situations need to be assessed on a case-by-case basis and more detailed information will be required on the scenarios that are likely to arise.

WHAT ARE THE CONDITIONS FOR SUCCESS? In addition to providing the heritage and tourism sectors with information on how they need to adapt to the impacts of climate change, there are a number of other actions that need to be taken at national level to ensure the success of any adaptation measures.

Detailed recommendations are included in the full report and include: Further integration of climate change policies with heritage and tourism policies The various national and local heritage plans, as well as national, regional and local tourism strategies, should include policies and actions relating to climate change. Objectives relating to heritage and tourism should also be included in climate change adaptation strategies at national and local levels.

This need for integration reflects the necessity for a more cohesive management approach at an institutional level. In particular, the development of a national policy on Integrated Coastal Zone Management is critical in devising a coherent, appropriate response to rising sea levels and coastal erosion. The Water Framework Directive and the OPW flooding guidance are steps towards a more joined-up approach which should be used to inform other areas of national policy.

The need for heritage and tourism sectors to plan adequate adaptation measures Even if concentrations of greenhouse gases were maintained at the levels recorded in 2000, global warming would continue at a rate of 0.1oC to 0.2oC per decade for the next twenty years. The need for the heritage and tourism sectors to adapt to the predicted impacts of climate change is, therefore, critical.

To respond to these predictions, a significant adjustment of current practices will be needed to help our coast and inland waterways adapt to the likely changes. Among the adaptation measures identified for natural heritage is the need to reduce existing stresses on our habitats and wildlife which are likely to become worse by the effects of climate change.

For example, many of Ireland’s waterways already contain excessive nutrients. Much more determined actions will be needed to reduce this problem given the expectation of warmer, drier conditions and hence the lower dilution of pollutants in the future.

Effective conservation of the built heritage requires greater levels of inspection, monitoring and maintenance of structures, and the installation of flood warning systems. Emergency planning is also needed to cope with damage caused by extreme events such as storms or flooding.

The tourism sector (both industry and promoters) must adapt to the predicted impacts of climate change. This will involve measures such as climate-proofing of tourism / recreation related infrastructure, in particular in relation to the extension or development of any coastal works, such as coastal walkways or golf links. In addition, diversification and innovation of our tourism offerings should be promoted and developed within the industry. Climate change offers a range of opportunities for the development of new tourism offerings such as nature tourism.

MORE RESEARCH & ANALYSIS One of the main findings of this study is the need to improve our baseline knowledge of many aspects of our heritage. With more precise information it will be possible to start monitoring for the potential impacts of climate change on heritage.

It will also be possible to prioritise those sites and species of particular vulnerability which may require special attention.

Improved knowledge about the state of our heritage will also inform the tourism industry of opportunities for the development of new offerings in the future.

Vulnerability mapping is also required which would identify geographic areas of Ireland at greatest risk of coastal erosion, the types of heritage that can be found there and the tourism activities relating to that heritage. Such mapping would also assist with any climate-proofing of tourism products or infrastructure.

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15

HERITAGE COUNCIL/FAILTE IRELAND

Grand Canal, Dublin. With a greater frequency of extreme rain events, and prolonged drought periods, the management of water levels on the canals and inland waterways will become more complex and important.

(Failte Ireland)

Thanks to the authors of the main report: Rowan Fealy and Conor Murphy (ICARUS) Marcin Penk, John Brophy and Róisín Nash (Ecoserve) Train line, Killiney, Co Dublin. Infrastructure on vulnerable coasts may need to be relocated inland in the future.

(Failte Ireland)

The next steps Step One: Creating Awareness Coastal defences for North West Golf Course. Many golf courses are currently experiencing coastal erosion problems which will be exacerbated further by climate change.

(Richard Nairn, natura.ie) RAISING AWARENESS OF THE IMPACTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE ON THE HERITAGE AND TOURISM OF OUR COAST AND INLAND WATERWAYS Higher levels of awareness and understanding of the potential impacts of climate change are required among the public; politicians; policy makers at national, regional and local levels, and the business sector. In particular, better understanding of coastal processes may prevent the need for unsustainable coastal defences.

The potential impacts of climate change on heritage need to be communicated to heritage professionals to inform their activities and future plans as well as encouraging them to join the general debate. Tourism providers and policy makers also need to be aware of the potential implications of climate change for both individual businesses and potential future travel patterns of both domestic and overseas tourists.

TRAINING FOR ANYONE PLANNING ADAPTATION MEASURES FOR HERITAGE AND TOURISM Training is required for those involved in heritage (policy and site specific) to manage the changes that will inevitably arise from climate change. Training should include the identification of appropriate adaptation measures, ensuring that national adaptation policy does not impact negatively on heritage, and by providing alternative habitats and space for nature.

Tourism providers and promoters may also require training in how to climate-proof infrastructural projects, and to ensure that the impacts of their activities are compatible with heritage conservation needs. Training is also required for both the heritage and tourism sectors on emergency preparedness, i.e. how to cope with extreme weather events and their impacts on heritage sites and related tourism facilities.

RESOURCES SHOULD BE MADE AVAILABLE TO ENSURE EFFECTIVE MITIGATION AND ADAPTATION BY THE HERITAGE AND TOURISM SECTORS A cost will inevitably be associated with any mitigation or adaptation measures put in place to tackle climate change. The Economics of Climate Change, more commonly known as the Stern Review, found that the cost of action to combat climate change now would cost far less (approximately 1% of global Gross Domestic Product) than the cost of inaction or repair (approximately 5% of global Gross Domestic Product) at a later stage. Therefore, costs associated with climate change adaptation and mitigation should be part of all future Government investment strategies and considered as part of any future development plans for the country at national, regional, county and local area levels.

The costs, financial and otherwise, of protecting our heritage and tourism resources need to be placed against the feasibility of undertaking this work. Priorities will have to be identified and tradeoffs made on what to protect and conserve, and what to let go, based on high quality information on the significance of the heritage resource, alongside the values that each holds for the community.

Following the publication of this report, it is important to ensure that the heritage and tourism sectors are aware of the implications of climate change for them.

This could be done through numerous initiatives including information campaigns, which would link to the Government’s existing CHANGE campaign. Awareness of the implications of climate change should be incorporated into existing environmental training and Continued Professional Development seminars offered to heritage professionals and tourism managers and businesses.

Step Two: Identifying Vulnerabilities The Heritage Council and Fáilte Ireland, together with other partners and stakeholders, will have to work closely with the various sectors to identify what our most vulnerable heritage and tourism assets are.

It is important that a methodology is agreed to identify a comprehensive list of these assets so that heritage and tourism managers and agencies are informed of the future possible impacts and measures can be taken to adapt to these.

Step Three: Planning for Change Finally, it is vital that we work in partnership with heritage and tourism sectors to prepare detailed adaptation plans.

These plans will identify what areas we can control and how. Equally important they will help us identify what areas are beyond our reach.

It is important however despite this uncertainty that we react in some way. Strong political leadership backed up by well-informed policies and resources are needed to ensure that appropriate mitigation and adaptation strategies are put in place to reduce impacts and to manage our heritage and tourism assets for future generations.

The full report is available on the Heritage Council and Fáilte Ireland websites www.heritagecouncil.ie and www.failteireland.ie

Beatrice Kelly (Heritage Council) Craig Bullock (Optimise) Mary Stack and Paddy Mathews (Fáilte Ireland) Ray Bates, Adjunct Professor of Meteorology, UCD

REFERENCES Research was carried out for the report by the following: Likely Climate Projections for Ireland - Rowan Fealy, (ICARUS) with contribution from Ray Bates (UCD) Likely physical impacts of future climate change on inland waterways and coastal environment Rowan Fealy and Conor Murphy, (ICARUS) Likely implications for natural heritage of Ireland’s coast and inland waterways - Marcin Penk, John Brophy, and Roisin Nash, (Ecoserve) Likely Implications for cultural heritage of Ireland’s coast and inland waterways - Beatrice Kelly, (Heritage Council) Likely implications on tourism and amenity in Ireland - Craig Bullock, (Optimize), Mary Stack and Paddy Mathews, (Fáilte Ireland)

16 INSHORE IRELAND August/September 2010

WATER 2010

Regulatory Forum to aid regional planning.

(Photo: EPA)

Effective water management will require multi-agency response.

(Photo: EPA)

Budget and finance will dictate water governance management in Ireland Gery Flynn

I

n a keynote presentation at ‘Water 2010 - Managing Water in a Changing Environment’, Dara Lynott, Deputy Director of the EPA and Director, Office of Environment Enforcement, indicated that water governance in Ireland would be fit-for-purpose only by applying a concerted risk management approach and ensuring better coordination between the State bodies involved.

Dealing with governance, he drew attention to the difficulties that framework legislation posed for public servants by quoting from the revised Code of Practice for the Governance of State and Public Bodies: ‘In undertaking their public

Dara Lynott

(Photo EPA)

service role, State bodies face a wide range of strategic, operational and financial risks, from both internal and external factors, which may prevent them from achieving their objectives.

Risk management is a planned and systematic approach to identifying, evaluating and responding to these risks and providing assurances that responses are effective.’

prioritisation of spend within the Water Services Investment Programme.

These decisions will have to be taken at a Regional Basin District level as opposed to a local authority district level if we are to maximise down to the last cent where we are spending our money to deliver the WFD,” he warned.

CHALLENGING OBLIGATIONS

On a par in terms of priority with financial resources and how these are dispersed, Lynott focused on inter and intra agency risks. Pointing to examples of where this occurred, he said that enforcement, licensing, planning, as well as infrastructure and operations, were all areas that depended on a multi-agency response.

Nevertheless, he warned that such an approach in the context of water governance had some obvious pitfalls.

Summarising some of the risks likely to impact mostly on water governance, Lynott indicated that budget and finance were likely to be top of the list.

“The real challenge will be meeting both pay and nonpay obligations in delivering an appropriate standard of service across all areas. If you look at water governance that is fit-for-purpose, we will also have to look at regional

INTER/INTRA AGENCY RISKS

Jamestown Canal linking the River Shannon with Lough Nanoge.

(Photo Inshore Ireland )

“The danger is that when everyone is responsible, then nobody is responsible. And that is a difficulty when trying to pull together all of these governance structures which will allow for a cohesive and focussed effort.

“If we are talking about integrated government it has to start at government level, at ministerial level, and at intraagency level.

Co-operation does not lead to obligation however. Anyone can walk away from the table at any time if they don’t like what they are being told. And it is very much the same with the WFD. Agency integration has to be copper fastened by legislation that will allow and specify which bodies have to come together to consult with each other.”

CONFLICTING DECISIONS He wondered if the establishment of a Regional Regulatory Forum similar to that mooted recently for the business community might be a useful aid to bringing together bodies with overlapping and sometimes seemingly conflicting decisions.

“A Regulatory Forum would not only facilitate discussion and lead to agreements but could also be very useful in terms of aiding regional planning supported by good environmental data. We have just spent in excess of €40 million gathering as much environmental data as we can; yet there does not seem to be an integrated way of placing data into the regional planning

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17

WATER 2010

Micheál Ó Cinnéide, Director, Office of Environment Assessment at the EPA Speaking to Inshore Ireland after formally closing the twoday conference ‘Water 2010 - Managing Water in a Changing Environment’, Micheál Ó Cinnéide, Director, Office of Environment Assessment at the EPA, declared it a success, and expressed delight that the attendance was the highest in six years.

“Three hundred and forty people heard eighteen excellent high-quality presentations. There was a very broad network of attendees, representing thirty local authorities; seventeen Directors of Services, as well as individuals from ten State agencies; government departments; NGOs; the Irish Farmers Association; consultants; universities; and of course the media.”

Pictured at the opening of a water research facility in Tuam are Minister of State, DEHLG, Michael Finneran; Laura Burke, EPA and Prof Terry Smith, NUI Galway. guidelines to help planners reach an informed decision.

As for the legal and regulatory risk to good governance of water – especially environmental legislation that impacts on health, safety, welfare, employment law and procurement – Lynott said it was an area with “a massive amount of legislation” but that more legislation did not necessarily make easier implementation.

He said that the OECD has already looked for a more consolidated approach to bringing water-related legislation into a coherent framework.

“There is a need now – and it’s going to be a lot of work - but there is no reason why we can’t start preparing the groundwork for consolidated legislation. What is very clear as you go through the difficulty of co-ordination is the need for a better network

approach. Research indicates that the factors that influence collaboration are: scarcity of resources; the need to reduce transaction costs; the need to increase efficiency of service provision and a desire to improve quality of services.

“In our current economic climate, and in our current status of implementing the WFD, I don’t think anyone would argue that those four factors are currently met by us.”

Photo EPA

In conclusion, Lynott urged his audience not to become bogged down in the technical side of the WFD. “It’s very easy to lose sight of where we need to go. We have talked a lot about a need for the stable regional management structure particularly to implement the programme of measures – but I think at the end of the day, what we are really looking for, is western waters that will continue to inspire.”

Dara Lynott, Director, Office of Environmental Enforcement at the EPA, used the Western River Basin Management Plan (WRBMP) to demonstrate that while some very solid environmental work has been achieved by a host of State agencies, it was less clear how implementation measures should proceed.

Noting the work of the past decade putting in place key implementation measures for the Water Framework Directive (WFD), he said Ireland had embarked upon “one of the biggest science projects ever seen” in terms of resources and the numbers of people and State agencies involved.

“We have systematically walked, monitored, sampled, analysed, assessed, delineated, mapped, characterised and classified 963 rivers; 322 lakes; 98 coastal and transitional waters. The main pollution sources have been investigated and assessed. Investment has been prioritised and measures have been developed and updated.

“The chief polluting suspects in the West have been identified as municipal waste-water treatment for putting 70 rivers at risk and agricultural diffuse pollution for putting 91 rivers and 14 lakes at risk. Under suspicion are also unsewered properties for putting 13 rivers at risk, and forestry for putting 51 rivers at risk.”

In terms of just how the plan is to be implemented, Lynott contended that the WRBD Plan is limited on detail.

“We already know that Ireland must achieve ‘good status’ for 74% of rivers by 2015, and 100% compliance over the next two planning cycles to 2027. Looking at the plan it says implementation ‘will be co-ordinated’ but there’s very little detail on how exactly that will be done.

“The plan also comments on the past, telling us that Galway County Council was the co-ordinating local authority, and that the Department of the Environment had a co-ordinating role in terms of investment and infrastructure and that the EPA was the competent authority for reporting to Europe assigning status.

“And it adds now that individual government departments and other public authorities will be responsible for implementing policy ‘in their respective areas’. But we know the picture is much more complex than this. We have all of these different authorities involved ‘in the act of doing’ – either going along river banks, going into marine waters, looking at soil, looking at flood protection network, or looking at fish.”

Lynott firmly believes that having so many individual State agencies and bodies involved will require “regulators to go outside their normal areas of authority” in order to implement framework legislation such as the WFD.

Review, pause reflect As for some of the key issues addressed, Ó Cinnéide said that a decade on from the adoption of the Water Framework Directive and the spending of more than €4.5bn between 1994 and 2006 on water and waste-water infrastructure, it was the right time to “review, pause and reflect and look at the future of water governance in Ireland”.

He added: “As well as reviewing where we are now we were also trying to stimulate debate generally about how the proposed River Basin District Management Plans are going to be implemented. And we wanted in particular to hear from some of the main players like the Department of the Environment, local authorities and of course the EPA as to how this might be achieved”.

And he noted that one of the key points to emerge was the acknowledgement that county councils and local authorities nationwide have a “plethora of different and competing priorities to address at any one time”, only one of which is water governance.

“As local authority personnel generally are not water specialists, perhaps the debate should now focus on agreement that the current system as it stands might not in fact be the best and most cost-effective way to deliver water governance.

“New models of collaboration will have to be developed, and we should also look at the experience to date in other EU countries, to learn what structures work best to deliver water framework targets,” he said.

Value-for-money gauge He confirmed that a review was already underway to gauge value-for-money spending in the Water Services Investment Programme, and that similar reviews were being carried out within the Department of Environment, and the EPA. “In many ways, our discussions about governance ask whether our current structures are in fact fit-for-purpose. Are they setting us up to deliver effectively for the future? And, if we find that the structures aren’t right, we have to figure out new ways of doing it better. That’s going to be the challenge for the next few years,” he said. Ó Cinnéide said that the conference had facilitated “a lot of new, good learning, information, insights, and understanding”. And he noted it was interesting to see how all these separate elements were now beginning to fit together more and more. Nevertheless, he warned that the real challenges would be in trying to understand the sheer complexity of the task ahead.

People power As for what level of resources would be made available from central government in an economy that was clearly short of money, Ó Cinnéide concluded that “fantastic resources” already existed amongst the people who attended this conference.

That said however, he pointed to the fact that the 5,000 local authority staff who had lost their jobs in the last year and have not been replaced.

“This is proving to be a serious constraint on progress,” he warned.

18 INSHORE IRELAND August/September 2010

CLIMATE CHANGE

Visualisation of a flood scenario for Cork city centre

Building capacity for adaptation to climate change at local level in the coastal zone Val Cummins, Stefan Gray, Maria Falaleeva, UCC

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n contrast to the fractious debates of recent years regarding the role of human activity in affecting the world’s climate, there can be little argument that now, as in the past, the climate is changing. The potential impacts on the built and natural environment are profound, and nowhere more so than in the highly dynamic and vulnerable environments of the worlds coastal zones.

Recent decades have seen a justifiable emphasis on the mitigation of climate change – taking

action to minimise the scale and impact of activities believed to be responsible for triggering the warming of the Earth’s atmosphere.

Nevertheless, in response to the risks climate change poses in the coastal zone – ranging from biodiversity loss to the ever present danger of coastal flooding and property damage – climate change adaptation is considered an increasingly urgent priority.

CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTION The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (2007) defines adaptation to climate change as ‘the adjustment in natural or human systems in response to actual or expected climatic stimuli or their effects, which moderates

harm or exploits beneficial opportunities’.

By this definition, the process would seem self-evidently advantageous with early adapters enjoying economic benefits and greatly diminished vulnerabilities. Yet in Ireland, as in many European countries, addressing this issue has been a low priority, due in part to the lack of an over-arching legislative framework on which action might be predicated, and also a real or perceived lack of capacity for planning and implementing adaptation responses.

The impacts of climate change are felt at a range of scales, placing adaptation decisions within the remit of stakeholders at not only the national, but regional and, perhaps most crucially, local levels. In the absence of supporting structures and institutions, actors at the local scale in particular find taking on the complicated business of climate adaptation a daunting prospect.

CHANGE UNDERWAY

State of Knowledge presented at the EPA Climate Change Conference

Despite these obstacles, adaptation to climate change is underway within the Irish coastal zone.

In Cork Harbour, the Interreg funded IMCORE project has enabled key local stakeholders to form a vital partnership through its innovative ‘Expert Couplet Node’ (ECN) concept. The ECN comprises local scientific researchers (led by UCC’s Coastal and Marine Resources Centre) and Cork County Council, creating a mutually beneficial flow of information between scientists and practitioners.

This partnership has been harnessed to formulate an Adaptation Strategy for Cork Harbour, with the science and impacts of

climate change locally scaled by the scientists, and their practical implications grounded by local authority expertise. This process will inform and be informed by similar processes in nine partner locations across North West Europe. Transnational learning within the partnership is building adaptive capacity in areas such as science-policy interface, scenario-based planning and 3D visualisation - with the lead in visualisation coming from researchers in the National Maritime College of Ireland.

The institutional flexibility required for climate adaptation does not come easily within management systems operating according to a traditional ‘command and control’ approach.

Responding to this challenge, the EPA STRIVE funded CLAD project is working with case studies in Cork Harbour, Tralee, Fingal and other Irish coastal locations. The CLAD project aims to support participatory decisionmaking by applying the principles of adaptive co-management. This is a novel approach based on continuous reflection on current system changes and the adaptation of policy responses accordingly.

The project develops practical recommendations for local actors on the organisation of decision-making processes for coastal climate change adaptation. The final output from the project will be an Adaptation Toolkit including case studies, guidelines for participation and decision support systems.

Lessons learned from these Corkbased projects are helping to inform the development of a national policy for climate adaptation.

INSHORE IRELAND August/September 2010

19

MARINE INITIATIVES

Fish Waste

What happens to the parts that are not consumed?

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he Sea-Fisheries Protection Authority (SFPA) is the national competent authority for fish animal by-products (ABPs) in Ireland. ABPs are animal carcasses, parts of carcasses and other products of animal origin not intended for human consumption.

Fish ABPs include all types of fish waste, such as heads, frames, tails, offal, bloodwater and aquaculture mortalities.

The SFPA is responsible for conducting inspections on the traceability of waste produced by fishermen and processors.

The key consideration is to prevent any contamination of food by waste, and the inspections focus on correct labelling, separate storage to prevent cross contamination and a paper trail to provide evidence of traceability.

Regulation of ABPs is a major component of the European Commission’s strategy to address crises associated with the animal feed-chain, such as BSE, foot and mouth disease, swine fever and dioxin contamination.

The regulation focuses on the exclusion of inappropriate materials such as animals dying on-farm and other condemned materials from the animal feed chain and the safe processing and disposal of over 16 million tonnes of ABPs produced in the EU each year. It sets out clear rules on what must and may be done with the excluded animal materials, while also imposing strict identification and traceability systems.

The main purpose of the legislation is to prevent recycling of hazards within the food chain through the use of ABP in feed. To this end there are various requirements: • separation of ABP from food

• traceability of waste streams • control on the collection, transport, storage, handling, processing and use or disposal of ABP The legislation provides for a categorisation of ABP based on risk-profile: • Category 1 (highest risk) • Category 2 (medium risk) • Category 3 (lowest risk ABP potentially suitable for feed following processing) as well as segregating those different categories of material at all stages

CULTURE OF COMPLIANCE SFPA has a mandate to promote and verify compliance with the necessary ABP requirements in seafood production. SFPA has contributed to information sessions for several seafood sectors and approved establishments.

Additionally, in July 2009, the SFPA provided Guidance Notes for the aquaculture industry in respect of their activities in the area of ABP. The SFPA will continue to promote compliance with targeted information delivery and local port staff consultation.

Sea-Fisheries Protection Officers (SFPOs) are authorised under the ABP legislation to carry out official controls in this area.

In general, these matters are included within the normal food safety inspection of food business operators. Emphasis will be on separation, storage, labelling and traceability of ABPs. SFPOs will be working with food operators to ensure the necessary compliance. In the case of ongoing or serious legislative breaches, national legislation provides for the issuing of enforcement notices or fixed penalty fines, or prosecution proceedings.

TRIPLE LOCK Under the ABP legislation, Food Business Operators (FBOs) are required to label containers of ABP based on three categories: • Category 1 (disposal only): Scallop offal; material suspected of being infected with diseases communicable to humans or animals and shellfish meat that is not fit for human consumption including the meat of shellfish harvested from an area where biotoxin levels exceed acceptable limits.

• Category 2 (not for animal consumption) Aquaculture mortalities.

• Category 3 (not for human consumption) Finfish processing waste including

Fish animal by-products (ABP) being composted heads, tails, frames, bloodwater and offal; clean shellfish shells with no remaining meat and shellfish that had been previously marketed for human consumption but have now passed their shelf life.

ABP legislation creates a specific requirement for ABP consignments to be accompanied by a Commercial Document and for copies to be retained by consignor, transporter and consignee. The SFPA has engaged with several seafood sectors to consult on the necessary systems around commercial documentation.

Broad agreement has been reached on systems which

should provide necessary traceability to audit records held on the premises of both the food processors’ and the ABP processor, as part of ongoing official controls on ABP. The SFPA is also developing its role in conjunction with the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (DAFF) which is the approving authority in official controls of stand-alone fish ABP processing or composting facilities.

According to Micheal O’Mahony, Board Member with SFPA, animal byproducts are “a normal unavoidable consequence of

producing seafood for human consumption”.

He added that ABPs can pose a threat to animal and human health via the environment or incorporation into animal feed.

“Food producers should be aware of their responsibilities in this area by ensuring that an appropriate service provider is engaged to remove ABP, and that the procedure is underpinned by necessary separation and traceability.

SFPA is working with the seafood sector to ensure necessary compliance and hence protection of the food chain and wider environment,” Mr. O’Mahony stressed.

Quality handling guide to maintain market share of most valuable demersal fishery

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he latest in a suite of quality and handling guides for fishing vessel skippers and crew launched provides guidance on the use of senses (smell and visual appearance) and texture to determine the quality of prawns.

Launched by Minister of State for fisheries, Sean Connick, this first guide for the shellfish sector also addresses best practice regarding handling, and takes the user through the process from emptying the net, to grading, boxing and storage.

The Dublin Bay Prawn Handling Guide aims to assist fishermen to get the best possible return for their catch in the most valuable demersal fishery in Ireland. In 2008, the Irish quota for Dublin Bay Prawns, (also known as Norwegian lobster, langoustine or scampi), was 21% of the total allowable catch (TAC) of these species in European waters, valued in excess of €25m.

“Consumers like to be assured of the freshness of their seafood; while ‘freshness’ describes product age, in technical terms it also reflects the degree of spoilage that has taken place since capture.

Unlike many other quality attributes, this is an area of quality management, over which the fishing industry exerts significant control,” Conor Nolan, BIM. This guide was jointly funded by the exchequer and the European Union under the National development Plan (2000-2006) All Handling and Quality guides are available on www.bim.ie

Conor Nolan, BIM; Frances O’Dwyer, BIM; Pat the Cope Gallagher, MEP and Mary Coughlan, Tanaiste with Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Sean Connick TD. (front row)

20 INSHORE IRELAND August/September 2010

MARINE R&D

Schoolchildren demonstrate their understanding of ships and shipping

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Galway City Mayor, Declan McDonnell; Dr James J. Browne, President of NUI Galway; Professor LI, Vice President, Ocean University of China; and Mayor Xia of Qingdao.

East meets West in research collaboration A formal Memorandum of Understanding has been signed between NUI Galway and Ocean University of China (OUC), Qingdao that paves the way for student and faculty exchange and research collaboration.

OUC is a University renowned specifically for its disciplines in oceanography and fisheries and was the first University in China approved by the State as the base for fundamental scientific research and teaching staff training in oceanography, marine chemistry and life science technology.

Speaking at the event, President of NUI Galway, Dr James J. Browne said it was a “wonderful opportunity” for NUI Galway’s Martin Ryan Marine Science Institute to collaborate with such a “prestigious Chinese University. We look forward to welcoming their students and providing our own students with the opportunity to spend time on OUC’s campus”.

BRING CLARITY TO THE WORLD BELOW

n 2009 the Irish Maritime Development Office (IMDO) launched its first schools competition to gauge the level of interaction between the participating schools. Last May, Noel Dempsey TD, Minister for Transport presented the competition winners with their individual and school prizes.

Speaking at the presentation he congratulated the four successful entrants on their “fantastic achievement in winning this year’s competition. The students have clearly demonstrated a genuine understanding of the history and significance of the role of shipping for the Irish economy while also displaying a vivid imagination in writing such excellent short stories,” he said.

As part of this year’s prize, the winning stories were brought to life via animation by the design company Caboom and were narrated by actor, Aidan Dooley of ‘Tom Crean –Antarctic Explorer’ fame.

“I would urge people to look at the winning animations, which are a credit to all those involved,” added Minister Dempsey.

BACKGROUND The on-line Follow the Fleet programme was created by the IMDO www.followthefleet.ie as an educational website for students between the ages of 8-12 years. The website, which was shortlisted for this year’s E-Government Award, aims to bring the world of maritime adventure, imagination and education to the classroom.

The website is based on the original and highly popular Follow the Fleet programme which was run by the former state shipping company, Irish Shipping during the 1970s and 80s. Now in its third year, the programme has an estimated outreach to 25,000 school children and is being regularly used by over 500 schools around Ireland and is used in classrooms as a teaching aid for the SESE Curriculum.

This revamped and modernised programme utilises web-based technology which enables students to track nominated merchant ships on their exciting journeys via a unique satellite tracker system.

The system uses GPS and land-based communication services to provide position and situation data displayed on a world chart.

The programme relies on the support and assistance of the ships’ captains and crew by providing a real insight and finger on the pulse of the day-to-day life at sea, the ship’s crew and equipment. Follow the Fleet allows children to adopt a ship and follow it through an exciting journey on its trade routes around the world. It also aims to engage children with the workings of the mercantile marine sector and create a general awareness of the shipping industry.

Seán Fitzpatrick: St. Josephs’ Boys National School, Terenure ,Dublin for his essay ‘A Viking Story’.

Andrew Enright: St. Josephs’ Boys National School, won the ‘Technology and the Master Mariner’ essay category with his essay ‘A Voyage through time’.

Caoimhe Dignam: St Clare’s Primary School, Harold’s Cross, Dublin, won first prize for her essay on ‘The Life of a Container’ in the ‘Trading and Ireland’ category.

James Sweeney: St Eunan’s National School, Raphoe, Co Donegal, won the ‘Maritime History’ category with his essay on ‘Tom the Pole’, an essay on the life of Tom Crean.

Entries for the first Follow the Fleet competition sponsored by technology company Transas Ireland came from across the country.

The judging panel was chaired Mr Tom McSweeney.

The IMDO published all four of the animations in the news section of the Follow the Fleet website www.followthefleet.ie and on the Follow the Fleet YouTube Channel (http://www.youtube.com/FollowTheFleetIRL) to coincide with European Maritime Day 2010.

Precision survey The Kongsberg EM 3002 multibeam echo sounder is capable of 3D inspection of underwater port structures, with the highest resolution.

The system is capable of resolving details as small as 10 cm, using up to 508 simultaneous, focused and stabilised narrowbeams. The dual head version can do concurrent mapping and inspection over a 180 degree sector.

The system operates reliably also in difficult geometrical environments.

EM 3002 will detect debris and other objects on the bottom, will map the seafloor according to the strictest IHO regulations, and has a maximum operating range 250 meters or more. www.km.kongsberg.com

James Sweeney, St Eunan’s National School, Raphoe, Co. Donegal, winner ‘Maritime History’ category; overall Schools Essay Winner Seán Fitzpatrick, St. Josephs’ Boys National School, Terenure; Minister for Transport Noel Dempsey TD; Caoimhe Dignam, St Clare’s Primary School, Harold’s Cross, Dublin, winner of the ‘Trading and Ireland’ category and Andrew Enright, St Josephs’ Boys National School, Terenure, Dublin

INSHORE IRELAND August/September 2010

21

MARINE R&D

Robot submarine used in joint exercise John Joyce, Marine Institute

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major interagency marine search and recovery exercise co-ordinated by the Irish Coast Guard took place off the Cork coastline from July 12-15, involving the Marine Institute, the Commissioner for Irish Lights (CIL) and the Navy.

The exercise simulated major emergency situations including an aircraft crash and recovery of the ‘Black Box’, and involved deep diving operations; seek and survey of a wrecked vessel, as well as the simulated

recovery of items such as ditched contraband and the rendering safe of underwater explosives.

A Service Level Agreement between the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) and the Irish Coast Guard states that should an aircraft force land in a maritime area, the IAA’s Air Rescue Coordination Centre (ARCC) is responsible for determining the initial search area. Co-ordination then transfers to the Coast Guard with continued close cooperation and back-up services from ARCC. The Coast Guard, as part of an Agreement with the CIL, chartered their vessel, ILV Granuaile, to act as a marine platform both for the eighteen

ROV Holland 1 being deployed naval divers and the Holland 1, the Marine Institute’s Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV). Primarily used in maintenance of navigation aids

around the Irish coast, the ILV Granuaile is a sophisticated multi-functional vessel whose 80-metre length, 16 metre beam and dynamic positioning

capability make her an ideal platform for this task.

The naval vessel L.E. Eithne was also on site for the duration of the exercise with its Commanding Officer acting as on-scene co-ordinator and underwater crisis management centre for all the personnel involved in the exercise.

Speaking about the exercise, transport minister Noel Dempsey said it served to “ensure and examine the level and quality of preparedness in the Irish Coast Guard response and that of our intra-agency partners. Simulations such as these are a valuable way to test our co-ordinated emergency response.”

Minister of Defence Tony Killeen T.D said that through

inter agency co-operation and establishing appropriate protocols for joint exercises, “we can ensure our ships and divers are ready to respond in an appropriate and timely manner for given situations.”

Fisheries minister Sean Connick TD explained that whilst the ROV Holland was acquired primarily as a research vessel, another key function is to provide the capability to assist underwater search and recovery operations.

“We were therefore delighted to take part in this important exercise involving a combined national ROV team piloting the Holland 1 operated by Naval and Marine Institute pilots.”

INFOMAR continues survey in the Irish Sea Offshore survey team The INFOMAR Project (Integrated mapping for the sustainable development of Ireland’s marine resource), Ireland’s national marine mapping programme, recently completed a survey leg in the Irish Sea priority area on board the RV Celtic Voyager.

Working south from deeper waters off Drogheda, the mapped areas include the Lambay Deep, east of the Kish and east and west of the Codling Bank off Wicklow.

The survey was split into a number of blocks, or subareas to facilitate processing and tide application to the bathymetric data. An EM3002 multibeam echodsounder with 508 individual beams was used to record accurate bathymetric and backscatter data. A sub-bottom profiler acquired sub seabed data to depths of approximately 30m beneath the seabed and a magnetometer was towed behind the vessel to measure the Earth’s magnetic field. An area of 1269 km2 was mapped from April 21-June 1 with final image resolutions of up to 2m2. Water depths varied from approximately 10 -135m This high level of resolution over a very large area provides marine scientists and indeed anyone with an interest in accurate visualisation of the Irish seabed, with a unique

resource, both in terms of detail and scope.

WICKLOW SPECIAL AREA OF CONSERVATION A Special Area of Conservation (SAC) off the Wicklow coast was surveyed to assess the type of seabed geomorphology surrounding the existing SAC extent and to assess for future extensions of the area. Several ‘unusual’ seabed structures were imaged by the multibeam echosounder.

When visualised in a virtual 3D environment, each of these features was characterised by single circular depressions very similar to pock marks (approximately 1m deep and 10-30m wide) and also have a central pinnacle up to 2m high and 1m wide.

Hundreds of these features were observed distributed as random patches on the seabed.

Considering the high level of interest on the origin and strange appearance of these features, a drop camera kit was brought onboard to conduct a video camera inspection so as to better understand their morphology and possibly clarify their geological origin.

Preliminary video footage indicates that these features are rounded boulders, a few meters wide and 1 - 2 metres high around which strong currents have created circular scours.

Scientists believe that these structures can be linked with methane seeps in shallow water. Methane escaping from

the seabed surface could form carbonate-cemented sandstone structures that are then colonized by brightly-coloured animals and plants. An alternative theory is that they may be large glacial boulders or ‘erratics’ left behind on the seabed by melting glaciers.

Further studies will be carried out in order to investigate the origin of these seabed structures. Video footage also showed very interesting and abundant underwater sea life, including mussels, sea stars and various species of fish such as Pollock and dog fish.

SHIPWRECKS In addition to hydrographically mapping the seafloor, the majority of INFOMAR surveys will encounter shipwrecks within the survey data. The majority of those surveyed are previously charted. A number of uncharted shipwrecks however have also been discovered, providing vital information to the UKHO for updating potential hazards to navigation.

Throughout the most recent survey of the Irish Sea priority area, thirteen shipwrecks were encountered and surveyed in detail in accordance with UKHO guidelines. All of these shipwrecks were previously charted; however the information gathered can potentially add to the accuracy of the charted position. Of the thirteen shipwrecks it is

thought that nine are named shipwrecks and four are listed as unknown. It is believed that five of the nine named shipwrecks: SS Fern, SS Hare, SS WM Barkley, St Michan and the SS Downshire sank as a result of attacks on British merchant vessels during World War I, between 1917 and 1918.

WM Barkley was the first vessel purchased by the Guinness Company in December 1913 and formed part of the infamous fleet of Guinness ships operating in and out of Victoria Quay in Dublin. Previous to 1913, all Guinness was exported by regular shipping companies.

WM Barkley was built in 1898 by the Ailsa Shipbuilding Co. in Troon, Scotland, and prior to being sold to Guinness, belonged to Belfast ship-owners John Kelly & Sons. On October 12 1917, while on route from Dublin to Liverpool, the vessel was torpedoed without warning seven miles east of the Kish Light Vessel by the German submarine UC-75. WM Barkley sank with the loss of four lives including the Master.

In the coming months, additional information will be made available on the shipwrecks previously mentioned on http:// www.infomar.ie/data/ ShipwrecksMap.php where shipwreck information sheets can be downloaded. This shipwreck information series is published in conjunction

Survey areas completed by RV Celtic Voyager

Seabed boulders of Wicklow with the Underwater Archaeology Unit (part of the National Monuments Service, DoEHLG) who are engaged in the preparation of an inventory of all shipwrecks recorded in Irish

Waters. Further information can be found at http:// www.archaeology.ie/en/ ShipwreckDatabase/ For further information see www.infomar.ie

22 INSHORE IRELAND August/September 2010

MARINE R&D

Inshore Ireland is a marine and freshwater bi-monthly newspaper produced by Gillian Mills and Gery Flynn and is available six times a year in newsagents throughout the island of Ireland (11,000 copies circulated in the RoI and NI). In news, feature and advertorial format, Inshore Ireland reports from the coastal rim and inland waterways under the headings:

Readership • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Aquaculture Island life Water quality Inshore fisheries Seafood business Seafood processing Water-based leisure Ports and shipping Marine engineering and technology Sustainable energy ( wind, tidal, wave ) Marine and freshwater policy and regulation Marine and freshwater research and development The legislative frameworks regulating seafood production Commercial exploitation and development of the marine and freshwater environments

Dr Julie Maguire, Indigo Rock Marine Research Station

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Why Subscribe?

Over the past five years, Inshore Ireland has provided unbiased analysis of topical issues relating to the marine and freshwater sectors. By focusing on renewable energy and marine research/technology, readers are also kept informed on these rapidly developing sectors.

In other words: ‘If it’s water we write about it’!

Inshore Ireland is regarded as an important and reliable source of information for marine professionals, commercial businesses, as well as academics and research institutions and anybody interested in these areas, so don’t miss out - have your copy delivered straight to your home or work place.

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Marine research in the southwest he Daithi O’Murchu Marine Research Station (www. dommrc.com) is located on the Sheeps Head Peninsula, in West Cork.

It has been in operation since 1991– originally as part of the Aquaculture and Development Centre (ADC), University College Cork. In late 2005 it was established as an independent research station; the company’s experimental assets are fully licensed and include wet and dry labs algae culture facilities; experimental hatchery and marine larval rearing units; on growing units and access to marine production site.

The DOMMRC is a fully commercial unit but also has a sister organisation – Indigo Rock Marine Research Station (www.indigorock. org) – which conducts noncommercial research at the facility.

The two organisations are currently involved in six European-funded projects, four of which they co-ordinate.

Two projects are funded under the Marie Curie programme, which facilitates the recruitment of experienced international researchers to carry out the scientific work.

‘Bivalves from Farm to Fork’ (BIFF) involves the development of an environmentally sustainable hatchery-breeding programme in order to increase the growth rate and survival of scallops, using state-of-theart hatchery and ongrowing techniques. The other project –MABFUEL ‘Marine Algae as Biomass for Biofuel’ – is investigating the feasibility of using colder water algal strains as a biomass for biofuel.

Email Signature(s) Date

CENTRES OF EXCELLENCE The partnership for both

projects includes Centres of Excellence in Norway, the UK, Turkey and Italy, coupled with Irish SMEs, notably Green Biofuels Ireland Ltd and a fully operational multifeed stock biofuel refinery in CoWexford.

Two other projects are funded by the Atlantic INTERREG programme. NETALGAE has 11 partners from the Atlantic seaboard (Norway, Scotland, Ireland, France, Spain and Portugal) and aims to create a European network of relevant stakeholders within the marine macroalgae sector; Ireland’s Sea Fisheries Development Agency (BIM) is a key part of the project.

Compilation of information from different regions will result in a wide-ranging policy study of existing practice within the macroalgae industry, and an analysis of the results will establish a best practice model, and suggest policies for the successful, sustainable commercial utilisation of marine macroalgae resources. Similarly, the second INTERREG project BIOTECMAR (www.biotecmar. eu) is fish producing/processing companies in the Atlantic rim which take advantage of biotechnological tools in order to utilise their organic waste more effectively.

The company is a partner in ECOFISH, this is also funded by the INTERREG Northern Perifery Programme which aims to to minimise the environmental impact of finfish aquaculture by the use of hatchery produced cleaner fish (wrasse) to remove parasitic sea lice thereby reducing the use of therapeutic treatments.

TOXIC BLOOMS Contract negotiations are almost complete for an EU Framework 7 project under the acronym ASIMUTH (Applied Simulations and Integrated Modeling for the Understanding of Toxic and Harmful Algal Blooms). This project is funded under the EU Space Theme through the European Space Agency (ESA). The company

is working in partnership with the Marine Institute on this important project. Harmful algal blooms are known to periodically produce toxicity in shellfish and to kill fish and shellfish throughout Europe.

The Atlantic coast of Europe is often affected by such blooms, causing devastation to aquaculture industries due to farm closures and large-scale fish kills. These blooms are primarily a natural phenomena; having the ability to forecast when such events might occur in order to give advanced warning of the impending problem to the aquaculture industry could be a very valuable tool. Using a combination of modeling and satellite image analysis, the ASIMUTH project will produce short-term forecasts of harmful algal events along the European Atlantic coasts and deliver these data using mobile phone and internet technology.

Aquaculturalists will then be able to use these forecasts to plan harvesting operations or to alter husbandry practices at finfish sites temporarily while a harmful algal bloom passes through a particular area.

Growth in the marine sector can only be achieved through research and development. A study conducted by DouglasWestwood Ltd in March 2005 highlighted Ireland as one of the countries where growth in the marine research sector would be significant (Marine Industries Global Market Analysis – 2005).

Future research in the company will focus on areas where marine research will lead to the commercialisation of products – not only for traditional marine industry but also in developing the biotechnological sector. The operation has successfully conducted research projects and has many research partners who have fostered useful links with organisations across a number of disciplines that will aid us in achieving our future goals.

INSHORE IRELAND August/September 2010

23

COASTLINE NEWS

Highlights from the maritime summer school The annual Glandore classic boat summer school, now in its eight year, took place over the weekend of July 17&18.

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mongst the many participants at the annual Glandore classic boat summer school in July was John Robinson from European Maritime Heritage – the leading European heritage boating organisation

with nine countries and a large number of affiliated museums. His presentation centred on heritage harbours, which the EMH is promoting all over Europe; Holland has 60-70 such harbours and Germany has 40 already.

SUNKEN TREASURE With an emphasis on underwater archaeology, ‘sunken treasure’ was discussed during the first session.

Criostóir MacCárthaigh of the Folklore Department in UCD and Dixie Collins of the Clare Curach Club jointly presented on the excavation of a turf cot

Singing all the way from Rathlin to Pitcairn Island!

Mary O’Driscoll, Rathlin Island Ferry Ltd.

A

s choir mistress on the Saga Ruby Cruise Liner, I sang my way from Southampton to Auckland – on a trip of a lifetime earlier this year. Five days out rolling in a heavy swell outside the breakwater of Ponta del Gada on a wet grey January morning, was very similar to crossing the Rathlin sound or ploughing over the North Bay to Cape Clear in Roaring Water Bay on a bad winter’s day.

Some might say, and rightly too that I was on a Busman’s Holiday; however the facilities aboard Saga Ruby (at least 5*) beats the Canna (Rathlin Ferry) and the Naomh Ciarán (Cape Clear Ferry) any day!!

For many on board, the Panama crossing was the highlight of the trip, and in the dark of the morning we took our place in the queue

to transit the Canal. The entire ship’s complement was on deck, jostling for space on the bow as we watched the linesmen board. As we entered the first lock, videos and camera were on overdrive, recording the mules that were towing the lines.

Then the scene changed utterly, to one of a river-type cruise with trees dipping into the ocean and rain forest all around – as far as the eye can see as we passed other ships at arm’s length.

We had lunch as we passed under the Millenium Bridge on the Panama Canal; cars above hooted and stopped to peer down at us. We sang our way through the Miraflores and out into the Pacific, bound for Lima, via the port of Callao Peru, for a passenger change, and westward into the sunset.

Easter Island after six days of nothing but ocean was just as they say, “Quite like being in a theme park”– don’t walk here:

If you want to experience island life a bit closer to home, why not take a visit to Rathlin Island, Northern Ireland’s largest inhabited island.

For details about the Rathlin Island ferry crossings, check out www.rathlinballycastleferry.com

don’t touch: stalls with mini Maui for sale!

The most exciting part of our visit was our guide – a lovely ‘blow in’ from Norfolk Island about to marry an Easter Islander whom she had met through ‘Comhdháil’ of the Pacific!

Onboard at 6 o’clock, fed and watered, we set sail and watched, as Fletcher Christian must have done, the tiny island of Pitcairn come into view – just two miles long and one mile wide and only 1,120 acres.

The nearest neighbouring island is Mangareva some 480 km away. The Pitcairners are descended from the Bounty mutineers; nine English and six Polynesian men; twelve Polynesian women and a baby girl arrived on Pitcairn in January 1790. This is no ‘theme park’, instead a group of energetic and hardworking folk, full of pride with hope and ambition for their little crop of rock in the middle of no where!

in the Shannon estuary and the plan to build a traditional boat for sail training. This was followed by Hal Sisk, serial rescuer and restorer of historic boats who spoke about Nita, an iron yacht he rescued from Lough Gowna, Co Leitrim.

Holger Schweizer, Department of the Environment underwater archaeology section, spoke on the recently-excavated Drogheda boat from c.1530.

Connie Kelleher, also from the DOE and Julianna O’Donoghue talked about West Cork historic wrecks and the pottery wreck on the Harbour Rock in Glandore.

Ciara Brett and Debbie Sutton continued the marine archaeological theme with a talk on the Viking quays

found in Cork in the course of previous excavations.

Liam Hegarty and Gary MacMahon updated the workin-progress on the Ilen rebuilding project in Oldcourt.

Darina Tully spoke on underwater archaeology and the economic importance of maritime heritage, instancing the iconic images of boats and fishermen that are used in advertising and tourism while the reality behind it is left to decay.

Hal Sisk and Pat Tanner reported on the ongoing Traditional Boats of Ireland project for scanning and recording of lines plans of models of boats. Hal outlined the Ballast Trust industrial archive initiative in Scotland as a model for getting a maritime

archive established here.

A team from Meitheal Mara: Denis Barrett, Pat Ruane, Eoin Horgan and Donal Lynch jointly presented on the organisation’s initiatives for the waterways of Cork city and harbour.

These included the Bádoireacht and CSP programmes in Meitheal Mara; submissions made to various statutory plans; submission for inclusion of Cork city and harbour in the list of World Heritage sites; studies such as the slips and steps survey and the CORKUMNAVIGATION guide – for navigating around Cork on the River Lee - which will be launched on Tuesday 24 August, during Heritage Week.

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Cruising towards the beautiful Pitcairn Island

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