The Irish monitoring programme for Descriptor 3 “Commercial fish and shellfish” and fish biodiversity (D1, D4 and D6) is based on the monitoring required under the obligation of the Data Collection Framework Directive (EC 665/2008; 2010/93/EU) for the implementation of the Common Fisheries Policy and for additional stocks/species of national importance. There are two main sources of data collected as part of Ireland’s monitoring programme; fishery independent and fishery dependent data. The first involves monitoring the temporal and spatial changes in the fish populations using fisheries surveys on research vessels and commercial vessels. Fishery dependant data involves collecting and analysing biological data (age, length etc.) of the fish caught, together with data on the quantities of fish caught and the fishing effort. The fish and fisheries monitoring programme includes the evaluation of the fishing sector using capacity and activity, pressure monitoring of contributing activities in terms of distribution and intensity of effort, landings and discards of fish and shellfish and accidental bycatch of other species. Pressure on habitats is partially monitored based on the spatial and temporal distribution of bottom contacting fishing gear within mapped habitats. The monitoring programme also covers status monitoring through the use of dedicated scientific fish and shellfish surveys which estimate the distribution and relative abundance of different fish and shellfish species and the collection of biological parameters.

This report provides an overview on the occurrence of environmental contaminants, such as metals and persistent organic pollutants (POPs), and veterinary residues in Irish seafood. Compliance of seafood (shellfish, crustaceans, wild and farmed finfish) with relevant EC Regulatory Limits for contaminants is examined and an overview of conformance of the aquaculture sector with the requirements of the EC Residues Directive (Dir 96/23/EC) is presented for 2004 - 2008. The contribution of seafood to the dietary intake of certain contaminants for the Irish adult seafood consumer is estimated and the risks of contaminant exposure from seafood consumption are considered in the context of the well established health benefits of seafood consumption.