The 2019 Irish Anglerfish and Megrim Survey (IAMS) took place from 1-25th March (area 7bcjk) and 16-25th April 2019 (area 6a) on RV Celtic Explorer. The main objective of the survey is to obtain biomass and abundance indices for anglerfish (Lophius piscatorius and L. budegassa) and megrim (Lepidorhombus whiffiagonis and L. boscii) in areas 6a (south of 58°N) and 7 (west of 8°W). Secondary objectives are to collect data on the distribution, relative abundance and biology of other commercially exploited species. This year, additional sampling took place in deep water (up to 1,500m) in order to monitor the recovery of exploited deep-water species following the decline of the deep-water fisheries in Irish waters. The IAMS survey is coordinated with the Scottish Anglerfish and Megrim Survey (SIAMISS) and uses the same gear and fishing practices.

Innovation 2020, Ireland’s strategy for research and development, science and technology states that despite the importance of research and innovation for firms, firms under-invest in research. Therefore there is a strong case for the state to encourage firms to undertake research by providing co-investment. However, this investment must be targeted at areas of commercial opportunity that are strategically important. This is the underpinning rationale of Research Prioritisation (2018-2023), which identifies 6 Themes and 14 Priority Areas that present particular market opportunities for Ireland. The first goal of Harnessing Our Ocean Wealth is “A Thriving Maritime Economy”, which focuses on the marine opportunities to achieve economic recovery with socially inclusive and sustainable growth. The Development Task Force Report developed a strategic framework identifying three interventions to drive growth across five thematic areas and create economic growth opportunities for the marine sector. In May 2018, the Marine Institute launched the Industry-Led Call, designed to provide funding for SMEs to raise the maturity levels for their research theme across these three dimensions (human capacity, infrastructure and networks & relationships). The call aims to fulfil national strategic objectives as follows: National Marine Research and Innovation Strategy 2017-2021 - Implementation of Action 8 Increase opportunities for SMEs to participate in marine research. Innovation 2020 - Action point 2.4 Optimising Enterprise RDI Supports. The funding aims to: Support research and innovation costs for the development of innovative technologies, products and services from existing or new marine-based business. Help marine companies to develop capacity, capability and their networks & relationships. Support “novel” marine research that has not previously received funding to create new knowledge or a new product, process or service or to substantially improve existing products, processes or services.

Coordination of the survey was initiated at the meeting of the Working Group on International Pelagic Surveys (WGIPS) in January 2019 and continued by correspondence until the start of the survey. During the survey effort was refined and adjusted by the survey coordinator (Norway) using real time observations. The survey design was based on methods described in ICES Manual for International Pelagic Surveys (ICES, 2015). Overall weather conditions were mixed with periods of poor and good weather. All vessels experienced some downtime due to poor weather conditions. The entire survey was completed in 26 days, above the 21-day target threshold. However, the survey start was delayed by almost one week compared to 2018 and included additional effort by the Spanish survey in the Porcupine Sea bight.

Farmed stocks of Atlantic salmon in Ireland are inspected on 14 occasions throughout the year to monitor sea lice levels as part of a national programme. Sea lice are a naturally occurring parasite found on marine fish, including salmonids. They are small ecto-parasitic copepod crustaceans and there are approximately 559 species. The objectives of the National Sea Lice Monitoring Programme are:  To provide an objective measurement of infestation levels on farms.  To investigate the nature of infestations.  To provide management information to drive the implementation of control and management strategies.  To facilitate further development and refinement of this strategy. The sea lice control and management strategy has five principal components:  Separation of generations.  Annual fallowing of sites.  Early harvest of two-sea-winter fish.  Targeted treatment regimes, including synchronous treatments.  Agreed husbandry practices.

A hydrothermal AdVENTure - Build Your Own Unknown art and science project provides children with an exciting opportunity to learn about the deep ocean in a meaningful way. The cross-curricular lesson plans and teaching resources are an exemplar of using ICT, art and marine science in the classroom. From science, geography, history and English to creating art pieces, students can use their scientific and creative skills producing film and art pieces to communicate their discoveries.

Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.) populations have declined rapidly in recent years across all geographical ranges with populations becoming extinct within certain areas. Direct observation of the salmon’s life is difficult and costly; therefore, scales remain the most widely used material to indirectly assess and monitor the recent changes in growth. Growth marks (circuli) in scales of Atlantic salmon are used to estimate age and to reconstruct growth histories. This thesis investigated mechanisms of circuli formation and the causes of variation in scale growth measurements. Comparison of scales from multiple body locations (Chapter 2) showed that growth, size and shape measurements varied significantly between body locations. Scale measurements taken from the sampling location recommended by ICES were sufficiently correlated with measurements from two adjacent locations in the posterior body region to facilitate conversion; calibration equations are presented for this purpose. Scale measurements from the anterior body region were highly variable and their use is not recommended. Scale size measurements from the recommended sampling location and from the two adjacent locations in the posterior body region were sufficiently correlated with fish fork length. Differences in scale size could potentially be used to determine the body location from which a scale was most likely sampled if this information has not been recorded (e.g. in archived scale collections); regression equations are presented for this purpose. Analysis of scales from experimentally reared Atlantic salmon post-smolts (Chapters 3 and 4), showed that scale growth and circuli number was proportional to fish growth under a range of different water temperatures and feeding conditions, justifying the use of these measurements as a proxy for growth. The rate of circuli deposition varied between temperature and feeding treatments and circuli number was proportional to cumulative degree day. Narrow inter-circuli spacings were observed during periods of slow growth at low temperatures and during periods of fast growth at high temperatures; therefore, circuli spacing should not be used to infer growth rates. In Chapter 5, scales from Atlantic salmon collected from three Irish rivers (Burrishoole, Moy and the Shannon) between 1954 and 2008 were analysed to determine if marine growth has changed during that period and to establish if trends are consistent across populations. Scale growth measurements and their temporal trends varied between populations. Post-smolt scale growth and circuli number were negatively correlated with SST (Burrishoole and Moy), NAO (Burrishoole) and AMO Burrishoole and Shannon). The results indicate that trends observed in one national index river may not be representative of change across all populations. The new knowledge generated in this thesis supports more accurate interpretation of scale growth measurements, furthers our understanding of this important species and ultimately benefits the future management of this species.

EU decisions 1600/2002/EC laying down the Sixth Community Environment Action Programme and EU Directive 2008/56/EC of 17 June 2008 establishing a framework for community action in the field of marine environmental policy (Marine Strategy Framework Directive) emphasise that: “The marine environment is a precious heritage that must be protected, preserved and, where practicable, restored with the ultimate aim of maintaining biodiversity and providing diverse and dynamic oceans and seas which are clean, healthy and productive.” The same directive also required that:
“Each Member State should therefore develop a marine strategy for its marine waters which, while being specific to its own waters, reflects the overall perspective of the marine region or sub-region concerned. Marine strategies should culminate in the execution of programmes of measures designed to achieve or maintain good environmental status.” In response to the EU directives to promote sustainable use of the seas and conserving marine ecosystems, the Republic of Ireland via the Department of Communications, Marine & Natural Resources launched ‘The Beaufort Marine Research Awards (BMA)’ in June 2007. This Beaufort Award ‘Sensors and Communication Systems for the Marine Environment’ aimed to develop deployable marine analytical platforms with wireless communication capability to perform autonomous sampling for extended periods of time. This multidisciplinary Beaufort team includes skillsets of chemistry, sensing, separation science, molecular biology, engineering and image analysis contributing to six research sub-programmes or workpackages. The BMA project started in 2007 at DCU. In 2010 the Marine and Environmental Sensing Technology Hub (MESTECH) was established as a result of the growing expertise in marine sensing technology and monitoring in DCU. A MESTECH website was developed (www.mestech.ie), and MESTECH actively engaged with social media technologies such as Twitter to significantly increase the international and national profile of our marine research and the BMA. The project has published >70 peer-reviewed papers. BMA members have presented >70 conferences and workshop papers or posters, >10 invited talks and several visits to other marine research laboratories have taken place. Collaborations with other marine research institutions and with industries operating within marine sector across EU, US and Asia have been formed. These national/ international collaborations facilitate technical and knowledge exchanges that are important in promoting the research capability of Ireland, and would facilitate Irish companies in accessing new technologies to contribute towards building the future economy. These collaborations are also the basis of forming international consortia for 10 future non-exchequer funding applications. In addition to the academic achievements and growing network of collaborators, the outputs of the research include novel chemical and biosensing platforms, a significant long-term dataset from a variety of sites, data analytics platforms for decision support tool development and novel materials for marine and other applications. Despite these successes, there is still much to do to achieve the ultimate goal of promoting Ireland as a leading marine research nation and more resources (both financial and human resources) are required to bring the current work forward to sustain long-term, high-quality research. The Beaufort PIs and management team have been very active in funding applications. Greater than €5 million funding was secured since the start of the BMA programme from agencies including FP7 programme, QUESTOR and national agencies such as IRCSET, SFI, EI, HEA and EPA leveraging the success of the BMA programme.

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.

The Stock Book is the principal annual publication of the Marine Institute's Fisheries Ecosystems Advisory Services (FEAS). Its purpose is to provide the latest impartial scientific advice on the commercially exploited fish stocks of interest to Ireland. The Stock Book is used by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine - (DAFM) at the Total Allowable Catch (TAC) negotiations with the EU in December and throughout the year at fisheries management meetings.