Catch Effort and Size Distribution in the Irish Lobster Fishing Industry in 1969 and 1970

Abstract

This leaflet continues the study of catch and effort in the Irish lobster fishery, commenced in 1968, which was the subject matter of Fishery Leaflet No. 14 (Gibson 1968), As before, the results set out in this Leaflet have been obtained mainly from information supplied by Irish lobster fishermen who kept log books of their catch and effort in 1969. The response by fishermen to the requests by the Department to keep and fill in log books was still not as satisfactory as was expected, with the result that once again less than twenty log books were returned which contained information of sufficient standard to be useful in calculating the relationship between fishing and effort. The recording of this data is essential for the proper management of the lobster fishery in Irish waters and it is unfortunate that more fishermen are not co-operating in the log book scheme which is designed to help them. Those fishermen who have taken part in the scheme have already freely acknowledged that the log books (which remain their own property) have proved invaluable to them in their fishing operations, Furthermore the reproduction of all the data supplied by fishermen in one Leaflet enables those interested to see the rate of catch made by each type of boat or fishing gear. This information enables fishermen to compare their fishing results with those of others and so perhaps helps them to choose alternative and more satisfactory means for the capture of lobsters. However, if this service is to be of most advantage to all fishermen, the numbers of fishermen filling in log books must be increased considerably. It is hoped that the annual publication of these records will encourage other fishermen to join the scheme thereby furthering everyone's knowledge of this important species in Irish waters.