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  • Global warming will change the thermal structure of Lough Feeagh, a sentinel lake in the Irish landscape, by the end of the twenty-first century

    Ayala, Ana; de Eyto, Elvira; Jennings, Eleanor; Goyette, Stéphane; Pierson, Don C. (Royal Irish Academy, 2023)
    Recent developments in impact modelling of global warming on lakes have resulted in a greater understanding of how these vital ecosystems are likely to respond. However, there has been little quantitative analysis of this in an Irish context, despite the importance of lakes in the island's landscape. Here, we explore the impact of global warming on the hydrodynamics and thermal structure of a sentinel Irish lake under future climate scenarios. A 1D lake model, Simstrat, was calibrated and validated using water temperature data collected from Lough Feeagh, a site of long-term ecological research in the west of Ireland. Once validated, the model was then driven by daily climate model projections to generate informative thermal metrics for the time period of 2006–2099. Despite the moderating influence of the Atlantic, projections indicate that global warming will have a marked effect on the thermal structure of Feeagh, with surface water temperatures set to warm by 0.75°C under a more stringent mitigation pathway (RCP 2.6) and 2.42°C under a non-mitigation pathway (RCP 8.5). While warming was projected to be greatest in summer in the epilimnion, winter warming was greater than in other seasons in the hypolimnion. Stratification is projected to become more stable and earlier, and the growing season to be longer by 11 to 47 days, depending on mitigation pathways. Future studies could use a similar modelling workflow to investigate the possible implications of global warming on other Irish lakes, particularly those of specific societal importance or those of conservation interest.
  • Structure Elucidation, Relative LC–MS Response and In Vitro Toxicity of Azaspiracids Isolated from Mussels (Mytilus edulis)

    Kilcoyne, Jane; Twiner, Michael J.; McCarron, Pearse; Crain, Sheila; Giddings, Sabrina D.; Foley, Barry; Rise, Frode; Hess, Philipp; Wilkins, Alistair L.; Miles, Christopher O. (American Chemical Society (ACS), 2015)
    Azaspiracids (AZAs) are marine biotoxins produced by dinoflagellates that can accumulate in shellfish, which if consumed can lead to poisoning events. AZA7–10, 7–10, were isolated from shellfish and their structures, previously proposed on the basis of only LC–MS/MS data, were confirmed by NMR spectroscopy. Purified AZA4–6, 4–6, and 7–10 were accurately quantitated by qNMR and used to assay cytotoxicity with Jurkat T lymphocyte cells for the first time. LC–MS(MS) molar response studies performed using isocratic and gradient elution in both selected ion monitoring and selected reaction monitoring modes showed that responses for the analogues ranged from 0.3 to 1.2 relative to AZA1, 1. All AZA analogues tested were cytotoxic to Jurkat T lymphocyte cells in a time- and concentration-dependent manner; however, there were distinct differences in their EC50 values, with the potencies for each analogue being: AZA6 > AZA8 > AZA1 > AZA4 ≈ AZA9 > AZA5 ≈ AZA10. This data contributes to the understanding of the structure–activity relationships of AZAs.
  • Population structure and connectivity in the genus Molva in the Northeast Atlantic

    McGill, L; McDevitt, A D; Hellemans, B; Neat, F; Knutsen, H; Mariani, S; Christiansen, H; Johansen, T; Volckaert, F A M; Coscia, I (Oxford University Press (OUP), 2023)
    In fisheries, operational management units and biological data often do not coincide. In many cases, this is not even known due to the lack of information about a species’ population structure or behaviour. This study focuses on two such species, the common ling Molva molva and the blue ling M. dypterygia, two Northeast Atlantic gadoids with overlapping geographical distribution, but different depth habitats. Heavily exploited throughout their ranges, with declining catches, little is known about their population structure. Genotyping-by-sequencing at thousands of genetic markers indicated that both species are separated into two major groups, one represented by samples from the coasts of western Scotland, Greenland, and the Bay of Biscay and the other off the coast of Norway. This signal is stronger for the deeper dwelling blue ling, even though adult dispersal was also identified for this species. Despite small sample sizes, fine-scale patterns of genetic structure were identified along Norway for common ling. Signatures of adaptation in blue ling consisted in signs of selections in genes involved in vision, growth, and adaptation to cold temperatures.
  • Towards vibrant fish populations and sustainable fisheries that benefit all: learning from the last 30 years to inform the next 30 years

    Cooke, Steven J.; Fulton, Elizabeth A.; Sauer, Warwick H. H.; Lynch, Abigail J.; Link, Jason S.; Koning, Aaron A.; Jena, Joykrushna; Silva, Luiz G. M.; King, Alison J.; Kelly, Rachel; et al. (Springer Science and Business Media LLC, 2023)
    A common goal among fisheries science professionals, stakeholders, and rights holders is to ensure the persistence and resilience of vibrant fish populations and sustainable, equitable fisheries in diverse aquatic ecosystems, from small headwater streams to offshore pelagic waters. Achieving this goal requires a complex intersection of science and management, and a recognition of the interconnections among people, place, and fish that govern these tightly coupled socioecological and sociotechnical systems. The World Fisheries Congress (WFC) convenes every four years and provides a unique global forum to debate and discuss threats, issues, and opportunities facing fish populations and fisheries. The 2021 WFC meeting, hosted remotely in Adelaide, Australia, marked the 30th year since the first meeting was held in Athens, Greece, and provided an opportunity to reflect on progress made in the past 30 years and provide guidance for the future. We assembled a diverse team of individuals involved with the Adelaide WFC and reflected on the major challenges that faced fish and fisheries over the past 30 years, discussed progress toward overcoming those challenges, and then used themes that emerged during the Congress to identify issues and opportunities to improve sustainability in the world's fisheries for the next 30 years. Key future needs and opportunities identified include: rethinking fisheries management systems and modelling approaches, modernizing and integrating assessment and information systems, being responsive and flexible in addressing persistent and emerging threats to fish and fisheries, mainstreaming the human dimension of fisheries, rethinking governance, policy and compliance, and achieving equity and inclusion in fisheries. We also identified a number of cross-cutting themes including better understanding the role of fish as nutrition in a hungry world, adapting to climate change, embracing transdisciplinarity, respecting Indigenous knowledge systems, thinking ahead with foresight science, and working together across scales. By reflecting on the past and thinking about the future, we aim to provide guidance for achieving our mutual goal of sustaining vibrant fish populations and sustainable fisheries that benefit all. We hope that this prospective thinking can serve as a guide to (i) assess progress towards achieving this lofty goal and (ii) refine our path with input from new and emerging voices and approaches in fisheries science, management, and stewardship.
  • Science Communication: Stakeholder perceptions of Real-time Incentive Fisheries Management

    Pedreschi, D.; Vigier, A.; Höffle, H.; Kraak, S.B.M.; Reid, D.G. (Marine Institute, 2021)
    In these changing times, with political and environmental uncertainty surrounding us, fisheries management needs to become more adaptive in order to respond to the changes in our natural environment and changing management frameworks. Based on close to real-time information updates, and harnessing modern technology, Real-Time Incentive (RTI) fisheries management is designed to evolve with the fish stocks, enabling managers to respond more quickly and efficiently to management issues as they arise. Through the use of a credit system that makes use of regularly updated fine-scale information, incentives can be incorporated as rewards to encourage desirable actions such as data collection or ‘fishing-for-litter’ activities. However, in order for a new system such as this to be useful and become accepted, stakeholders must be involved in the development and design process. This paper details the consultative process carried out with Irish demersal fishery stakeholders in an effort to identify their likes and dislikes of the system, and work towards tailoring the RTI system into a practical solution that works for them. In this process, we achieved a detailed understanding of the fishery, the complexity of the system, and the challenges faced by the stakeholders, all of which must be considered when attempting to implement a new management system such as RTI. A range of proposals were made by stakeholders, including new ideas for the future development of the RTI system. Most striking were the numerous ideas and approaches to tackling key issues currently facing the industry, many of which also have relevance to existing fisheries management. Given the freedom and support to do so, fishing industry stakeholders are eager to contribute to solving many of their own problems.
  • Lessons from a Marine Spatial Planning data management process for Ireland

    Flynn, Sarah; Meaney, Will; Leadbetter, Adam M.; Fisher, Jeffrey P.; Nic Aonghusa, Caitriona (Informa UK Limited, 2020)
    This paper presents a framework containing ten components to deliver a data management process for the storage and management of data used for Marine Spatial Planning (MSP) in Ireland. The work includes a data process flow and a recommended solution architecture. The architecture includes a central data catalogue and a spatial storage system. The components of the process are presented to maximise the reuse potential of any dataset within an MSP context. The terms ‘Suitability’ and ‘Readiness’ in the MSP context are offered as both formal and considered assessments of data, as is the applicability of a data stewardship maturity matrix. How data contained in such a storage system can be published externally to potential consumers of these data is also explored. The process presents a means of managing data and metadata to ensure data lineage is optimised by carrying information about the origin of and the processing applied to the data; to evaluate the quality and relevance of geospatial datasets for use in MSP decisions in Ireland. The process was piloted in the National Marine Planning Framework for Ireland in the development of draft map products; feedback from the public consultation is ongoing and not presented.
  • Implementation of a Data Management Quality Management Framework at the Marine Institute, Ireland

    Leadbetter, Adam; Carr, Ramona; Flynn, Sarah; Meaney, Will; Moran, Siobhan; Bogan, Yvonne; Brophy, Laura; Lyons, Kieran; Stokes, David; Thomas, Rob (Springer Science and Business Media LLC, 2019)
    The International Oceanographic Data and Information Exchange of UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC-IODE) released a quality management framework for its National Oceanographic Data Centre (NODC) network in 2013. This document is intended, amongst other goals, to provide a means of assistance for NODCs to establish organisational data management quality management systems. The IOC-IODE’s framework also promotes the accreditation of NODCs which have implemented a Data Management Quality Management Framework adhering to the guidelines laid out in the IOC-IODE’s framework. In its submission for IOCE-IODE accreditation, Ireland’s National Marine Data Centre (hosted by the Marine Institute) included a Data Management Quality Management model; a manual detailing this model and how it is implemented across the scientific and environmental data producing areas of the Marine Institute; and, at a more practical level, an implementation pack consisting of a number of templates to assist in the compilation of the documentation required by the model and the manual.
  • Herring larval surveys in the Celtic Sea and division VIIj in 1983/1984

    Cullen, A.; Barnwall, E.; Grainger, R. J. (International Council for the Exploration of the Sea, 1984)
    Surveys for herring larvae in the Celtic Sea were conducted for the sixth ~ successive season between October 1983 and February 1984. The modifications made to the survey grid in the previous season to take account of the amalgamation of the Celtic Sea and Division VIIj for assessment purposes and to ascertain if larvae drift into the Irish Sea were also adopted for the 1983/84 surveys. A drift of larvae towards the Irish Sea was apparent in 1983/84. The larval abundance index for 1983/84 based on a standard survey area was almost three times higher than any previous value. A continuous increase in larval indices since 1978/79 indicates a recovery of the spawning stock.
  • The age Distribution of the Herring Stocks around the Irish Coast during 1993

    Barnwall, E.; Molloy, J. (1994)
    The age distribution of stocks is usually considered as an indication of how healthy a stock may be. In general stocks which are lightly exploited will contain a much larger proportion of older fish than a stock which is heavily exploited. A stock which is heavily exploited will probably be dependent on one year class which will recruit to the fishery and which will immediately be subjected to fishing effort. Obviously in such a fishery failure of recruitment or poor recruitment will have drastic effect on the catches. Herrings can be aged accurately until are about 10 years old and generally recruit to the adult stocks during their third year. During this year, the majority of fish will spawn for the first time.
  • Fluctuations in the Stock of Herrings on the North Coast of Donegal

    Farran, G. (Conseil International pour l'Exploration de la Mer (ICES), 1930)
  • Donegal Bay Herring Investigations, 1967/68

    Bracken, J. J.; Phillips, D. (University College Dublin, 1968)
  • The Reproduction of Calanus finmarchicus off the South Coast of Ireland.

    Farran, G. (Conseil International pour l'Exploration de la Mer (ICES), 1927)
  • On the Size and Number of the Ova of Irish Herrings

    Farran, G. (Conseil International pour l'Exploration de la Mer (ICES), 1938)
  • Note on the Growth-Rate of Herrings in the Irish Sea

    Farran, G. (Conseil International pour l'Exploration de la Mer (ICES), 1928)
  • Towards a flexible Decision Support Tool for MSY-based Marine Protected Area design for skates and rays

    Dedman, Simon; Officer, Rick; Brophy, Deirdre; Clarke, Maurice; Reid, David G. (Oxford University Press (OUP), 2017)
    It is recommended that demersal elasmobranchs be managed using spatial proxies for Maximum Sustainable Yield. Here we combine escapement biomass—the percentage of the stock which must be retained each year to conserve it—with maps of predicted Catch Per Unit Effort (CPUE) of four ray species [cuckoo (Leucoraja naevus), thornback (Raja clavata), blonde (Raja brachyura), and spotted (Raja montagui)], created using Boosted Regression Tree modelling. We then use a Decision Support Tool to generate location and size options for Marine Protected Areas to protect these stocks, based on the priorities of the various stakeholders, notably the minimisation of fishing effort displacement. Variations of conservation/fishing priorities are simulated, as well as differential priorities for individual species, with a focus on protecting nursery grounds and spawning areas. Prioritizing high CPUE cells results in a smaller closed area that displaces the most fishing effort, whereas prioritizing low fishing effort results in a larger closed area that displaces the least fishing effort. The final result is a complete software package that produces maps of predicted species CPUE from limited survey data, and allows disparate stakeholders and policymakers to discuss management options within a mapping interface.
  • Human Health

    Bresnan, E.; Austin, C. B.; Campos, C. J. A.; Davidson, K.; Edwards, M.; Hall, A.; Lees, D.; McKinney, A.; Milligan, S.; Silke, J. (Marine Climate Change Impacts Partnership, 2017)
    • Toxin producing phytoplankton, pathogenic vibrios (bacteria commonly found in low salinity water) and noroviruses all have the potential to impact human health. • The relationship between climate change and toxin producing phytoplankton is complex. Considerable unknowns remain about how climate change will impact this part of the plankton community and confidence in predicting these impacts in UK waters remains low. • A recent study in Scotland has shown short term weather events as well as wind mediated transport of offshore phytoplankton populations can influence the toxicity of coastal shellfish. This highlights the requirement for long term data sets to identify the impacts of climate change from shorter term seasonal and interannual variability. • Emerging evidence from peer-reviewed scientific studies has suggested that increasing seawater temperatures and extreme weather events such as heatwaves and extreme precipitation, drive the abundance of pathogenic vibrios in the environment. A recent spate of reported infections in Northern Europe underlines these observations. Climate warming in the region may therefore increase human infections.
  • On the Mesh of Herring Drift-Nets in Relation to the Condition Factor of the Fish

    Farran, G. (Conseil International pour l'Exploration de la Mer (ICES), 1936)
    It is well known to herring fishermen that, in order to get the best returns, the mesh of their nets must correspond to the size of the fish on the grounds, but that this correspondence must take into account of both the length and the weight or condition of the fish has not, I think, been clearly pointed out. I have tried in this paper to express in definite figures a relationship between the size of the mesh and the condition and length of the fish taken together.
  • The Herring Fishery in Éire, 1921 - 1941.

    Farran, G. (Department of Agriculture, 1944)
    In the following pages an attempt has been made to give a concise summary of the herring fishery in the years from 1921 to 1941, or approximately the period between the two European wars. The abnormal conditions in 1914-1918 were prolonged locally by abnormal transport and generally unsettled conditions until 1923 but, except for increased demand for herrings for export, higher prices and the absence of English and Scottish boats from our shores, the years 1940 and 1941 did not differ markedly from the preceding period.
  • The novel use of pop-off satellite tags (PSATs) to investigate the migratory behaviour of European sea bass Dicentrarchus labrax

    O'Neill, R.; Ó Maoiléidigh, N.; McGinnity, P.; Bond, N.; Culloty, S. (Wiley, 2018)
    A total of 12 adult European sea bass Dicentrarchus labrax were tagged with pop‐off satellite archival tags (PSAT) in Irish coastal waters and in offshore waters in the north‐east Celtic Sea between 2015 and 2016. Archived data were successfully recovered from five of the 12 tags deployed, three from fish released in inshore Irish waters and two from fish released offshore in the eastern Celtic Sea. All three fish tagged in inshore waters were found to undertake migrations into the open ocean coinciding with the spawning period. These fish also exhibited fidelity to inshore sites post‐migration, returning to the same general location (within c. 73 km, which is roughly the predicted mean accuracy of the method) of their original release site. Although the number of tracks obtained here was limited, some degree of aggregation between inshore and offshore tagged fish in the eastern Celtic Sea was noted during the expected spawning period suggesting PSATs can provide new information on specific spawning locations of European sea bass.

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