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  Celtic Sea Herring Acoustic Survey Cruise Report 2021, 08 - 28 October 2021

  O'Donnell, Ciaran; Mullins, Eugene; Daly, E.; Keogh, Niall; Collins, John (Marine Institute, 2021)

  In the southwest of Ireland and the Celtic Sea (ICES Divisions VIIaS, g & j), herring are an important commercial species to the pelagic and polyvalent fleet. For a period in the 1970s and1980s, larval surveys were conducted for herring in this area. However, since 1989, acoustic surveys have been carried out, and currently are the only tuning indices available for this stock. In the Celtic Sea and VIIj, herring acoustic surveys have been carried out since 1989. Since 2004 the survey has been fixed in October and carried out onboard the RV Celtic Explorer. The geographical confines of the annual 21 day survey have been modified in recent years to include areas to the south of the main winter spawning grounds in an effort to identify the whereabouts of winter spawning fish before the annual inshore spawning migration. Spatial resolution of acoustic transects has been increased over the entire south coast survey area. The acoustic component of the survey has been further complemented since 2004 by detailed hydrographic, marine mammal and seabird surveys. Survey design and geographical coverage have been modified over the time series to adapt to changes in stock size and behaviour. Since 2016, the wider core distribution area has been surveyed by means of two independent surveys and supplemented with small high resolution adaptive surveys focusing on areas of high abundance.
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  CV20_02 INFOMAR Survey Report

  Sheehan, Kevin; INFOMAR Survey Team (Marine Institute, 2021-11-04)

  Geological Survey Ireland (GSI) and Marine Institute (MI) conducted seabed mapping between 2003 and 2005 under the auspices of the Irish National Seabed Survey (INSS) and this continued from 2006 to present day under the INtegrated mapping FOr the sustainable development of Irelands MArine Resource (INFOMAR) programme. INSS was one of the largest marine mapping programmes ever undertaken globally, with a focus on deep water mapping. INFOMAR is a joint venture between the GSI and the MI and is funded by the Irish Government through the Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment (DCCAE). INFOMAR Phase 1, 2006 to 2015 focused on mapping 26 priority bays and 3 priority areas around Ireland and creating a range of integrated mapping products of the physical, chemical and biological features of the seabed in those areas. INFOMAR Phase 2, 2016 to 2026 intends to map the remainder of Ireland’s entire seabed. Figure 1 shows the extent of the continental shelf mapped area under INSS and INFOMAR and the outstanding areas as of January 2019. Grey have already been mapped, blue, white and coloured hatched areas are unmapped. As of 2018 the remaining survey area has been split at the 30 nautical mile limit (Nm). The inshore survey fleet, managed by GSI is responsible for mapping inshore of the 30Nm limit and the MI vessels are responsible for mapping the offshore. Survey areas are defined into gridded survey units known as INFOMAR Survey Units (ISUs). ISUs are all 1000 km2 in size and are uniquely identifiable by a letter on the x axis and number on the y axis. Each ISU is coloured in a shade of blue which indicates the modal water depth in that ISU. Colour scales are used, to denote the three depth bands; 50 to 100m, 100 to 150m and 150m plus.
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  Summary Report on 2020 Residue Monitoring of Irish Farmed Finfish & 2020 Border Inspection Post Fishery Product Testing undertaken at the Marine Institute

  Glynn, Denise; McGovern, Evin; Farragher, E.; Kelly, Corinne; Moffat, R.; Kaur, Navdeep; Toomey, M. (Marine Institute, 2021)

  As with other farmed animals, farmed finfish can be subject to disease and infestation which can have animal welfare, environmental and commercial implications. Therefore, authorised veterinary medicines and treatments may be used, and sometimes must be used, to control disease and infestation as part of health control plans e.g. antibacterial and antiparasitic treatments. The National Residues Control Plan (NRCP) sets out the monitoring requirements for residues in animal products in accordance with Official Control Regulation 2017/625 and Annexes of Council Directive 96/23/EC of 29 April 1996 on measures to monitor certain substances and residues thereof in animals and animal products. Under EU legislation (Article 19 of Official Control Regulation (EU) 2017/625, each member state is required to implement a residue monitoring plan and to submit their programmes annually to the European Commission for approval. Ireland’s National Residue Control Programme (NRCP) for 2020 was approved by the European Commission. On behalf of the Department of Agriculture, Food and Marine (DAFM), the Marine Institute carries out monitoring of chemical residues for aquaculture. The main objectives of the NRCP for Aquaculture are to ensure farmed fish are fit for human consumption, to provide a body of data showing that Irish farmed fish is of high quality, to promote good practices in aquaculture and to comply with Official Control Regulation 2017/625 and Annexes of EU Directive 96/23/EC. In 2020, in excess of 626 tests and a total of 1,888 measurements were carried out on 120 samples of farmed finfish for a range of residues. Implementation of the Aquaculture 2020 Plan involves taking samples at both farm and processing plant: * 80 target samples taken at harvest: 70 farmed salmon and 10 freshwater trout. * 40 target samples were taken at other stages of production: 30 salmon smolts and 10 freshwater trout. All 2020 samples were compliant. For target sampling of farmed fish, a summary table of the residue results from 2005 - 2020 is outlined in Table 1. Overall, the outcome for aquaculture remains one of consistently low occurrence of residues in farmed finfish, with no non-compliant target residues results for the period 2006-2014, 0.11% and 0.10% non-compliant target residues results in 2015 and 2016 respectively and no non-compliant target results for the period 2017 to 2020.
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  EXPLORERS Fintastic Shark Facts Posters

  Dromgool-Regan, Cushla (Marine Institute, 2018)

  The Fintastic Shark Facts Posters includes three posters, each including an illustration of a hungry shark, emersed in shark fact bubbles. The three posters include twenty fun facts about sharks eating habits to interesting features of how they survive in the ocean. The poster can be used for presentations to generate ideas for class discussion. They may also be printed and used as a visual display in the classroom, to help raise awareness, knowledge and engagement in conversations about our ocean. Illustrations of shark used in the poster: John Joyce, Spindrift Press
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  SDG 14 Life below water Poster A2

  Dromgool-Regan, Cushla (Marine Institute, 2019)

  The Explorers SDG posters illustrate how the ocean is connected to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s). The ‘SDG 14 Life below water Poster A2’ provides a beautiful photo of animals in an aquarium with a young girl looking up at different species, reminding us of how we have an impact on the ocean and how the ocean impacts our lives. The posters also include interesting facts highlighting these connections, which are also interlinked to the SDG’s. The posters can be used for presentations to generate ideas for class discussion. They may also be printed and used as a visual display in the classroom, to help raise awareness, knowledge and engagement in conversations about our ocean.

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