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  • Atlantic Seabed Mapping Roadmap

    Atlantic Ocean Research Alliance (AORA) (Marine Institute, 2020)
    This Vision Statement arises from the activities of the Atlantic Seabed Mapping International Work Group (hereafter referred to as Seabed Mapping Group), and is conducted through the Atlantic Ocean Research Alliance (AORA) between Canada, the European Union and the United States of America. The progress and vision towards achieving a baseline seabed and habitat map of the Atlantic Ocean, was presented at the All Atlantic Ocean Research Forum, 6-7 February, 2020, in Brussels, Belgium. A diverse group of stakeholders participated in this work and the outcome summarised here is a result of extensive consultation with workshop and meeting participants, as well as others that were invited to comment on the work as it progressed. The Seabed Mapping Group has, in the last five years, defined and tested all the necessary steps to map the previously uncharted seafloor of the Atlantic Ocean. With the onset of the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development, the Seabed Mapping Group calls on the international leaders to provide the resources and framework necessary to achieve this ambitious goal, in order to deliver on their commitment to the Galway and Belém Statements. Creating an accurate fact based map of the Atlantic seafloor is essential for the sustainable use of our ocean, and will greatly help us to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goal.
  • National Infrastructure Access Programme (NIAP), research and innovation projects 2015.

    Dublin City University; Smartbay (Dublin City University, 2015)
    The SmartBay NIAP fund was made available in 2012 through Dublin City University over a two year period to enable researchers to access the SmartBay Ireland National Test and Demonstration Facility in Galway Bay. Research proposals were invited for funding under a number of activity types that are in line with the objectives of the SmartBay PRTLI Cycle 5 programme. This fund provided small awards (typically €2-25K) to research teams through a national competitive process, which was open to all higher education institutions on the island of Ireland. There were both open and biannual calls. The SmartBay NIAP fund was established to enable researchers in academia and industry to access the SmartBay Ireland national test and demonstration infrastructure. Proposals to access the infrastructure were brief and required information on the researcher(s), a description of the proposed research and its potential impact to the research team arising from the access to SmartBay Ireland.
  • National Infrastructure Access Programme (NIAP), research and innovation projects 2014.

    Dublin City University; Smartbay (Dublin City University, 2014)
    The SmartBay NIAP fund was made available in 2012 through Dublin City University over a two year period to enable researchers to access the SmartBay Ireland National Test and Demonstration Facility in Galway Bay. Research proposals were invited for funding under a number of activity types that are in line with the objectives of the SmartBay PRTLI Cycle 5 programme. This fund provided small awards (typically €2-25K) to research teams through a national competitive process, which was open to all higher education institutions on the island of Ireland. There were both open and biannual calls. The SmartBay NIAP fund was established to enable researchers in academia and industry to access the SmartBay Ireland national test and demonstration infrastructure. Proposals to access the infrastructure were brief and required information on the researcher(s), a description of the proposed research and its potential impact to the research team arising from the access to SmartBay Ireland.
  • Arsenic in Irish marine macroalgae- implications for industry

    Marine Institute; AsMARA; National University of Ireland Galway; Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (Marine Institute, 2015)
    There is a long tradition of using seaweeds from Irish waters as food, fertiliser and animal feed. Both nationally and globally, there is a renewed interest in using this resource for a host of products in the food, feed, agricultural, cosmetics and biotechnology sectors. According to SeaChange1 the estimated worth for the Irish seaweed sector is predicted to increase significantly by 2020. One barrier to developing seaweed-based industries relates to reported high levels of arsenic for many types of seaweed including some species of interest to Irish companies.
  • SmartOcean Ireland: Delivering ICT enabled decision support tools for the Global Marine Sector

    Marine Institute (Marine Institute, 2011)
    This leaflet gives information on SmartOcean Ireland, which seeks to harness Ireland’s natural marine resources and specialist expertise in Marine Science and ICT to establish Ireland as a leader in the development of high value products and services for the global marine sector. This includes the delivery of next generation technology products and services for marine sectors including aquaculture, environmental monitoring, shipping and security and marine renewable energy.
  • SmartBay Ireland: Research Test and Demonstration Facility for Marine ICT

    Marine Institute (Marine Institute, 2011)
    This leaflet gives information on SmartBay Ireland, a national research infrastructure project that comprises of a network of buoys, seafloor cables and other infrastructure, supporting a range of sensors, information systems, telemetry and other communication technologies. Together they provide the basis for in-situ, real time oceanographic monitoring.
  • Irish and European Attitudes to Marine Climate Change

    Marine Institute (Marine Institute, 2011)
    This brochure summarises the results of the recent EU-funded CLAMER Survey on public awareness of climate change impacts on marine and coastal environments. In identifying specific Irish concerns, and comparing them with corresponding European views, we can learn a lot about Irish perspectives, awareness and concerns. This in turn can guide the regulatory authorities and research community in communicating more effectively with the public about coping with climate change.
  • Maturity and Spawning in Fish

    Marine Institute (Marine Institute, 2006)
    In order to manage a stock effectively it is very important to understand the dynamics of that stock. Three critical pieces of information required to manage any fishery properly are: (1) Location of spawning areas; (2) Timing of spawning seasons; (3) Estimation of size at maturity. This information can be obtained by studying the spawning patterns of a stock. This type of data was vital in the Irish Sea cod recovery programme (the closure of the Irish Sea box from February to May of this year). This area represents a large spawning ground for the Irish Sea cod and the closure was to protect the spawning adults.
  • Fish Egg & Larval Surveys

    Marine Institute (Marine Institute, 2006)
    The waters around Ireland contain some the most important spawning areas for north-east Atlantic fish stocks. Egg and Larval Surveys are a vital part of mapping these spawning areas and contribute to fisheries management decisions. Egg surveys can also give scientists an indication of the state of the spawning stock within a particular area by using what is called the Annual Egg Production (AEP) method. This method uses information on the number of eggs sampled in an area, and relates it to the number of eggs produced by female fish in the spawning season, to calculate the number of females spawned in the area.
  • Ecosystems

    Marine Institute (Marine Institute, 2006)
    Ecosystems are composed of living animals, plants and non living structures that exist together and ‘interact’ with each other. Ecosystems can be very small (the area around a boulder), they can be medium sized (the area around a coral reef) or they can be very large (the Irish Sea or even the eastern Atlantic). One of the first tasks marine scientists must decide on is to define the boundaries of the ecosystem they want to look at (e.g. is it Dublin Bay? the Irish Sea? the north east Atlantic?). Once the ecosystem we are interested in is defined then we can think about how this part of the ocean should be managed. This must be agreed by consensus with all the stakeholders (users of the ecosystem).The idea here is that we are managing an ecosystem with many users not just a fish stock exploited by fishermen.
  • Discarding

    Marine Institute (Marine Institute, 2006)
    Discarding occurs because most methods of fishing catch more fish than the fisherman can legally land and sell. Therefore any commercial fishing activity will result in discarding of unwanted catch. Discards can be defined as that portion of the total weight of undersized, un-saleable or otherwise undesirable whole fish discarded at the time of capture or shortly afterwards.
  • Catch Data

    Marine Institute (Marine Institute, 2006)
    The quality of the international stock assessments carried out by scientists are directly linked to the quality of the fisheries data they use. In recent years, scientists have expressed great concern over the poor quality of catch data from most of the important fisheries in the EU area. Although scientists have been struggling with the problem for many years, the problem has become more acute in recent years. In 2005, it was not possible to carry out stock assessments for a number of key stocks in EU waters (including the waters around Ireland) because of the poor quality of the catch data. The issues of ‘misreporting and discarding’ are now a serious problem for the scientific community and need to be urgently addressed.
  • Biologically Sensitive Area

    Marine Institute (Marine Institute, 2006)
    The Marine Institute, working closely with DCMNR and Industry, compiled information on the distribution and abundance of eggs and larvae, juvenile and adult fish in the waters around Ireland and presented these data to the EU Commission. This presentation was powerful evidence of the biological importance of this area. In 2003 the EU Commission established a “Biologically Sensitive Area (BSA)” off the south west of Ireland. In 2003, the EU also established a specific fishing effort regime inside the BSA and outside the BSA for demersal fishing vessels as well as scallop and crab fisheries.
  • Ageing of Fish

    Marine Institute (Marine Institute, 2006)
    In order to assess the state of any fish stock it is vital that the age structure of that stock is known. The age profile of a stock gives an indication on how healthy the stock is. If there is a broad range of ages present, then the stock would appear to be in good shape. If there are no young fish, then recruitment (spawning) may have failed and there will be problems in the future. If there are no old fish in the stock, then there may be overfishing of the stock. Age data give a good insight into the state of the fish stock and are very important components of the information required to carry out a stock assessment.
  • Marine Institute's Monitoring Programme for Veterinary Residues & Environmental Contaminants in Farmed Finfish

    Marine Institute (Marine Institute, 2006)
    European Union Directive 96/23 of the 29th April 1996 requires member states to monitor certain substances and residues thereof in live animals and animal products in EU member countries. The Department of Agriculture, Food and Rural Development co-ordinate the programme in Ireland. This programme involves many food groups such as bovine, pigs, sheep, goats, gorses, poultry, aquaculture, milk, eggs, rabbit, game and honey. The Marine Institute through the Department of Marine and Natural Resources is charged with the responsibility of monitoring farmed finfish in the Republic of Ireland.
  • Into Deeper Waters

    Marine Institute (Marine Institute, 2006)
    The term deepwater refers to fishing in waters greater than 400m depth. The main species taken in these deepwater fisheries are roundnose grenadier, black scabbard, orange roughy, greenland halibut, tusk and deepwater sharks. The fisheries take place in depths between 800m and 1200m on the slopes of the Porcupine Bank and in the Rockall Trough to the West of Ireland. France was the first country to take an interest in deepwater stocks in the late 1980s. Since then Spain, UK Norway, Faroes and Ireland have developed deepwater fisheries. On the slopes west of Donegal, Norwegian long-liners fish for ling and tusk on the shelf edge. On the slopes of the Porcupine Bank Spanish longliners and gillnetters fish for shark. Further out in the Atlantic trawlers from many countries fish the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and the Hatton Bank.
  • Marine Institute's Monitoring Programme for Contaminants in Fish and Shellfish

    Marine Institute (Marine Institute, 2006)
    The Marine Institute monitors the levels of priority hazardous substances in a range of commercial fish species landed at Irish ports and also in shellfish from selected sites around the Irish coast.
  • The Dublin Bay Prawn

    Marine Institute (Marine Institute, 2006)
    Nephrops norvegicus, also know as Dublin Bay prawns and Norwegian lobster, are the second most valuable species fished by the Irish fleet. In 2002 landings were worth almost €28 million. Nephrops are also a very important species for the processing industry in Ireland that use prawns to produce the value added product 'scampi'. Marine Institute scientists have spent many years researching the biology and stock dynamics this commercially important species. Nephrops is a widely distributed species but despite its common name, the “Dublin Bay Prawn”, this species is not found in Dublin Bay. It is found, however, in the Irish Sea, the Celtic Sea and off the West Coast of Ireland. It is also found from Iceland to Morocco and into the Mediterranean as far as Egypt, occurring at depths from 15m to 800m.
  • Study of Brominated Flame Retardants in Irish Farmed Salmon

    Marine Institute (Marine Institute, 2004)
    The Marine Institute (MI) undertakes monitoring and research relating to contaminants and chemical residues in Irish fisheries products, and works with key agencies such as the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) to ensure a high level of consumer protection. In 2004 the MI carried out a study of levels of brominated flame retardants, (BFRs), in Irish farmed salmon.
  • What is Fisheries Science?

    Marine Institute (Marine Institute, 2006)
    Fisheries science is a branch of marine science that deals with studies on the life history and state of fish stocks. The term ‘life history’ refers to the general biology of a fish stock (e.g. when/where do the fish spawn? How fast do they grow?). The term ‘state of a fish stock’ refers to the number and weight of fish in the stock (i.e. current stock biomass in tonnes). The overall aim of fisheries science is to provide information to managers on the state and life history of the stocks. This information feeds into the decision making process. Fisheries science, economic, social and political considerations all have an impact on the final management decision.