Inshore ireland vol12 nr2 spring 2016

www.inshore-ireland.com The Marine & Freshwater Environment Publication

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Spring 2016 Vol 12 Issue 2

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Penalty point system for fisheries offences ‘not fit for purpose’ Gillian Mills

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econdary legislation giving effect to an EU regulation covering serious infringements of common fisheries policy rules has been described as ‘not fit for purpose’ by Independent TD, Thomas Pringle.

TDs from across the house have also tabled a Notice of Motion calling for SI 125 2016 to be annulled.

In a statement, the deputy outlines his Parliamentary Question to marine minister,

Simon Coveney, which he said he had set down on foot of concerns expressed

by Donegal fishermen.

‘Coveney in his response admitted the new fishing Penalty Point Statutory Instrument he signed on March 1 of this year, is inherently flawed. The Minister gave an extensive reply to my PQ in which he indicated he will introduce primary legislation which in his own words he claims will give a sound legal basis to a scheme that implements the EU points system for licence holders.’

‘If the Minister is planning to introduce primary legislation, he’s confirming the fact that the existing

Inisbofin: the first ‘Leave no Trace’ island. (see pages 26&27).

new Statutory Instrument is not for purpose.’

SI 125, 2016 replaces a previous government order that was the subject of two High Court challenges.

The High Court made formal orders striking down as ‘unconstitutional’, provisions of a penalty point system for fishermen who engage in illegal, unreported or unregulated fishing.

The State was found to have failed to recognise the absence of principles and policies to introduce a novel way of determining serious infringements through the imposition of penalty points

on holders of fishing licences.

According to SI 125, 2016, ‘Points assigned to a holder of an Irish licence remain assigned, regardless of any criminal proceedings pending, or the outcome of any such proceedings, in respect of the serious infringement concerned.’

Industry reacts

“It is inconceivable that anyone would draft legislation [that] allows penalty points to be applied to an Irish fishing licence after they have been acquitted in Court,” remarked Francis O’Donnell, CEO of the Irish Fish Producers Organisation.

“What is worse is that a minister has signed this in view of the High Court decision. The Irish fishing industry was not consulted on this issue which allows the Sea Fisheries Protection Authority to apply points to a licence holder even though they have not committed any offence.”

The chief executive added it was an “incredible and pernicious development” in Irish fisheries, and was “mind boggling” that anyone could stand over this legislation.

Recognising the legal obligations on Ireland to »» PAGE 2

Photo Gillian Mills

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News »» from page 1

introduce a penalty point system, O’Donnell however said he was “totally frustrated and disillusioned” at the approach being taken: “Our objections and questions arise from a sincerely deep-seated frustration at the processes which have been ignored, and the tenet of the original SI which has now been struck down and the tenet of the new SI that is almost identical.”

A letter from the IFPO to Minister Coveney and seen by Inshore Ireland, sets down fourteen questions.

‘I would like you to answer directly to me and my boardwho have been excluded from this process but will ultimately have to pick up the pieces in the coming months.’

Speaking to Inshore Ireland, Francis O’Donnell said he had been given a “white wash” reply that amounted only to slightly more than a reworked press release.

State concern

In his reply, Minister

Coveney said, inter alia, that fishermen should be assured that the State was taking seriously their concerns that a fishing industry could be maintained for them and future generations: ‘The conservation of this precious and valuable resource is in everyone’s interest and is vital for the future of the Irish fishing industry.

‘You will appreciate that an effective regulation implementing the EU Points system for foreign and Irish fishing vessels who commit serious offences in our 200 mile zone is necessary to protect the vast majority of our law abiding industry and to preserve the fishing resources for all Irish fishermen and for future generations.’

Penalty points were introduced in 2014 and are similar ‘in principle’ to that for driving offences.

A fishing licence holder may accumulate points over a period of time, eventually leading to the licence being suspended. In extreme cases, ‘persistent serious infringements’ could lead to the permanent withdrawal of a licence.

Big haul of herring alongside MFV Vigilant (March 2012).

Statement to Inshore Ireland

Inshore Ireland sent questions to DAFM arising from a general press statement (March 18) issued by Minister Coveney regarding the penalty point system:

The Sea-Fisheries Protection Authority (SFPA) is reviewing its procedures for implementing the points system for serious infringements of EU fisheries law following the introduction of the new legislation governing the system in Ireland. It will be publishing guidance notes over the coming weeks after consultation with the Sea Fisheries Protection Consultative Committee and the finalisation of the necessary appointments to the points determination panel.

1) Minister Coveney statement:

(a) ‘In the majority of infringement cases, the licence holder is a different person or legal entity to the person on the vessel (the skipper) who commits an offence and who will be prosecuted. Therefore, there is no connection between the assignment of points to the licence holder and the prosecution by the Courts of offences under fishery law.’

Inshore Ireland:

This implies ‘the person on the vessel’ could be separately prosecuted?

If so, on what grounds if not for ‘infringement offences’ imposed on the licence holder and outlined in Annex XXX? If so, what are the sanctions and where are they noted in the Act/ Reg/SI? DAFM reply: ‘The Minister’s statement is accurate as the person on the vessel is always the person prosecuted

on the grounds that he is alleged to have committed a criminal offence under the Sea Fisheries and Maritime Jurisdiction Act 2006. The sanctions for such offences are a matter for the Courts alone. Such prosecutions have nothing to do with the sanctions regime provided for in EU Regulations 1224/2009 and 404/2011.

Therefore, the last two bullet points do not arise.’

2) Minister Coveney statement:

(b) ‘In the revised system the infringement is only alleged until the new Determination Panel consider the evidence and this evidence is provided to the licence holder, who may make a submission to the DP before the panel consider the matter, thus re-balancing the burden of proof.’

Inshore Ireland:

Is this not a contradiction given: ‘8(1) Subject to paragraph (2), points assigned to a holder of an Irish licence remain assigned regardless of any criminal

Inshore Ireland is published by IIPL Ltd

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Having regard to Regulation 404/2011 Article 126 (1): ‘The number of points for serious infringements shall be assigned in accordance with Annex XXX to the holder of the fishing licence for the fishing vessel concerned by the competent authority of the flag MS.’ proceedings pending, or the outcome of any such proceedings, in respect of the serious infringements.’

DAFM reply: ‘In the event that there is a criminal prosecution, as the Minister has made clear, there is no connection between the assignment of points for a serious infringement and a prosecution for a fishery offence. The fact of a criminal prosecution or its outcome, has no bearing on the assignment of points.’

3) Minister Coveney statement:

‘The EU regulation requires that points be assigned from: (a) the date OF THE DETECTION of the serious infringement and will remain on a licence for three years from that date.’

Whereas:

404/2011 Article 126 4 states: (b) ‘The points are assigned to the holder of the licence on the date set IN THE

Editor

Features Editor

Gillian Mills

Gery Flynn

mills@inshore-ireland.com

flynn@inshore-ireland.com

01 235 4804

091 844822

DECISION assigning them’

Inshore Ireland:

Is (a) correctly transposing (b)?

DAFM Response: Minister Coveney’s statement is correct as points are assigned to the licence from the date of detection and this is wholly in compliance with EU law.

Regulation 404/2011 is an implementation regulation of Regulation 1224/2009.

Article 126 must be read in conjunction with Article 125.

Article 125 refers directly to the setting up the system for the assignment of points under Regulation 1224/2009. Article 92.4 (1224/2009) refers to the date of committing the serious infringement.

Therefore that is the date the application of points under Irish law must apply from, and not the date of the assignment of the points.

Article 126 (404/2011) refers to the administrative act of assigning the points Sales & Marketing sales@inshore-ireland.com

087 290 2045 085 747 5797

i.e. the date the decision is made. Clearly points cannot be assigned until the Determination panel (or, where relevant, the Fisheries Adjudicator) has made that determination.

The answer is that a) correctly transposes b).

4) Minister Coveney Statement:

‘….the position is that points will remain ‘in suspense’ pending the outcome of an appeal. If the appeal fails, then the points assigned under the old regulation will be abolished. In any event, they will not be acted upon in advance of the judgment and will not be combined with any new points assigned under the new regulation.’

Inshore Ireland:

Does this statement not again contradict 8(1) above?

DAFM reply For the reasons set out at 2) and 3), the answer is that there is no contradiction.

Design

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The publishers do not accept responsibility for the veracity of claims made by contributors and advertisers. While care is taken to ensure accuracy of information contained within Inshore Ireland, we do not accept responsibility for any errors or matters arising from same.

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Comment

Government order charged as being contrary to natural justice

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t the time of going to press, ‘white smoke’ had not emerged from Leinster House to herald the make-up of the 30th government since 1919.

And while it is therefore unknown whether Simon Coveney will return as the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, what is known is the unease within the fishing industry that is simmering beneath the surface and is close to eruption.

Not for a very long time – perhaps not since I first became involved with the marine sector in the mid -1990s - have I sensed the level of palpable frustration and disillusionment being vented by the fishing industry.

And rightly so, they would say.

Standing before our European neighbours, Ireland of old would be criticised for its lax attitude to regulations more readily adopted elsewhere. But our lead on the ban on smoking in public

places, and adoption of the plastic bag levy, shows modernday Ireland in a different light.

Once again we will be ‘top of the class’ for our strict implementation of the penalty point system for serious infringements of the Common Fisheries policy that has come into force.

Not for one moment does the fishing industry or its representatives contest the reasoning behind the EU regulation to eradicate illegal, unreported or unregulated fishing. What it does challenge, unanimously, is the government order to implement the regulation which they say disallows Irish fishermen of fair treatment.

And they do not stand alone.

The first attempt at interpreting the regulation was challenged in the High Court which made formal orders, striking down provisions of the penalty point system as ‘unconstitutional’.

The State was also found to have failed to recognise the absence of policies and

principles to introduce a ‘novel way’ of determining serious infringements by imposing a penalty point system.

So it was back to the drawing board, as such, to produce a second order to give effect to the EU regulation, taking into account the findings of the High Court order. Well, that’s what the fishing industry felt would be the outcome.

To their dismay, and to quote the chief executive of the Irish Fish Producers Organisation. “It is inconceivable that legislation would be drafted that allowed penalty points to be applied to an Irish fishing licence AFTER Court acquittal.” And to make matters worse, he says, the fishing industry was not consulted at the drafting stage of the second order involving the department, the Attorney General, the naval service and the SeaFisheries Protection Authority.

He goes further when he says the Court system was being “deliberately side-lined” by the new order. In all, Mr O’Donnell set out 14 points in a detailed

Message in a bottle: the world’s oldest at 108 years

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postcard returned to the Plymouth Laboratory of the Marine Biological Association has been recognised by Guinness World Records (February 2016) as the oldest message-in-a-bottle after 108 years, four months and 18 days before being picked up on a beach on Amrum island - one of the North Frisian Islands on the German North Sea coast.

Bottles containing postcards were released in the southern North Sea in the early years of the 20th Century, as part of the MBA’s research into ocean currents and fish behaviour.

The return rate was around

55%, encouraged by the reward of one shilling.

The postcard was addressed to George Parker Bidder III - a significant figure in the development of the MBA. Bidder released over 1,000 ‘bottom trailer’ bottles into the North Sea between 1904 and 1906 in what could be described today as a ‘citizen science’ project. Bottom trailer bottles are adjusted to trail a wire to float with the current

two feet above the seabed and be caught in trawl nets.

The most significant find was that many bottom trailers in the southern North Sea got washed onto the English coastline whereas floating bottles mostly moved across the North Sea towards the continent. From this, Bidder deduced that river outflow caused a shoreward flow of denser salt water, according to the MBA.

letter to Minister Coveney, the reply to which he said was almost a carbon copy of a press statement issued to the media, and fell very short of proper communication expected by a producer organisation and a primary organisation.

In a statement to this paper however, Minister Coveney said the person on the vessel was always the person prosecuted on the grounds that he is alleged to have committed a criminal office and that sanctions were a matter for the Courts alone.

Bringing in the new order, Minister Coveney said the changes reflected the concerns that fishermen had raised, and that he had sought to ‘strike a balance’ between Ireland’s obligations under the EU law and the need to give licence holders a ‘fair hearing’.

What is clear is that nothing is clear. The industry is seeking an immediate revocation of the Statutory Instrument on the grounds that it is ‘fundamentally flawed and contrary to natural justice.’

comment

Gillian Mills

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inshore ireland Spring 2016

News

Great Lighthouses of Ireland shine a light on summer

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even lighthouses around the coast of Ireland are opening their doors over the May Bank Holiday weekend for a weekend of fun, discovery, stories and thrills.

For hundreds of years, lighthouses have helped seafarers find their way.

Now they shine their light on truly unique experiences around the coastline.

This will be a special opportunity to get behind the scenes with experts from Irish Lights and to learn about technology and navigation today. Local historians and storykeepers will provide tours that showcase the natural and cultural highlights.

“Visitors tell us that getting to the top of a lighthouse tower is a unique and special experience. Over the May Bank Holiday weekend, we are encouraging everyone to come and enjoy all that the Great Lighthouses of Ireland (GLI) has to offer,” remarked Yvonne Shields, Irish Lights chief executive.

“Lighthouse keeping was a way of life for keepers and their families for well over 100 years. Advances in technology however meant that lighthouses could be automated, and while all our lighthouses are still fully operational, there is no

longer a need for permanent lighthouse keepers to be stationed on site. GLI is a wonderful way of keeping this rich maritime heritage, and the legacy of these lighthouse keepers, alive.”

GLI is a new collaboration between many private and public organisations in coastal communities. The experience has been developed to build on the momentum of the Wild Atlantic Way and Ireland’s Ancient East and this event is supported by Fáilte Ireland.

“Whether it’s Hook in Wexford; Valentia Island in Kerry; Loop Head in Clare; Fanad Head in Donegal or the Island Lighthouse towers in Cork and Mayo, this is the weekend to discover that part of Irish life and culture where the land meets the sea.

“We in Fáilte Ireland are delighted to support this event as it encourages visitors to embrace an authentic piece of our Irish past and to meet with the people and communities who are passionate about these unique places,” remarked Shaun Quinn, CEO of Fáilte Ireland at the opening evening at Fanad Head Lighthouse.

“It wasn’t a job – it was a way of life,” remarked Gerald Butler, former lighthouse keeper and current lighthouse attendant at Galley Head Lighthouse.

Hook Lighthouse:

Walk through time; meet 5th Century monks; medieval knights and discover all about the life of a lighthouse keeper during Ireland’s Ancient East tour experience.

Great Lighthouses of Ireland St John’s Point, Co Donegal Fanad Head, Co Donegal Rathlin West Light, Co Antrim Blackhead, Co Antrim St John’s Point, Co Down Wicklow Head, Co Wicklow

Hook, Co Wexford Ballycotton, Co Cork Galley Head, Co Cork Valentia Island, Co Kerry Loop Head, Co Clare Clare Island, Co Mayo

A selection of images of some of the Great Lighthouses of Ireland.

For more information visit www.greatlighthouses.com

Fanad Lighthouse:

Hear shipwrecks tales and lifesaving feats, as well as enjoying ceol agus craic at one of the most beautiful lighthouses in the world.

Loop Head Lighthouse:

Take a guided tour and enjoy spectacular scenery along the peninsula before returning for a feast of seafood and fun.

Rathlin West Light Seabird Centre:

Tie nautical knots and welcome back the puffins as they clown around squawking and sea diving.

Valentia Island Lighthouse:

Enjoy a traditional music session in the lighthouse keeper’s dwelling house and watch helicopter sea rescue manoeuvres

Clare Ireland Lighthouse

Entertainment by ‘The Singing Sistas’ (1 May, 2-4pm)

Ballycotton Island Lighthouse:

Listen to the tales and stories of lighthouse keeping

GLI is a project supported by the Commissioners of Irish Lights. In their support, Irish Lights is committed to developing a sustainable economic model and reinventing individual lighthouses as visitor attractions and unique self-catering accommodation that contribute to local communities. Today, Irish Lights operates over sixty automated lighthouses around the coast of Ireland, all of which continue to play a vital role in maritime safety. The Great Lighthouses of Ireland project is funded by the European Union’s INTERREG IVA cross border programme, managed by the Special EU Programmes body (SEPUB).

GLI operating partners include Irish Landmark Trust; the Royal Society for Protection of Birds; Forbairt Fhanada Teoranta (Fanad Community Group); Clare County Council; Ballycotton Lighthouse Tours; Mid & East Antrim Borough Council; Hook Heritage Limited; Valentia Island Development Company; Kerry County Council and Clare Island Lighthouse. GLI is also supported by Fáilte Ireland, Tourism Northern Ireland and Tourism Ireland, (www.greatlighthouses.com)

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News

Upgrade planned for Galway Bay Marine and Renewable Energy Test Site

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he Marine Institute has applied to the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government for a foreshore lease for the Galway Bay Marine and Renewable Energy Test site where prototype technology can be tested at reduced scale to determine viability in an ocean environment.

Marine renewable energy (MRE) is an emerging industry with considerable potential for economic growth and job creation. Due to a vast marine resource, Ireland is in a unique position to develop marine renewable energy technology and to create an indigenous supply chain in Ireland.

The Offshore Renewable Energy Development Plan, published in 2014, provides a policy context to develop MRE in Ireland. It aims to establish Ireland as a leader in ocean energy technologies, and to develop facilities that will enable the commercialisation of ocean energy products and services.

The Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland’s Ocean Energy Roadmap proposes that by 2050, there will be 50GW production electricity from MRE sources; €15bn electricity exports and the creation of 70,000 jobs.

The Galway Bay test site is part of Ireland’s national ocean energy test and demonstration infrastructure, as outlined in the national Offshore Renewable Energy Development Plan. The test site has been in operation since 2006, when it was established by the Marine Institute and the SEAI. The current lease application aims to facilitate a wider range of devices to be tested for defined periods on the site, including wave, tidal and floating wind energy devices.

The lease application proposes to allow up to three renewable energy prototypes to be deployed on the site at any one time. Given the cost of developing a prototype device (up to €1m to build and test a device), only one prototype of a particular device would normally be tested at any given time.

At full capacity, up to three different prototypes may be trialled at one time. The purpose of the site is to allow technology innovators to test the viability of small-scale prototypes in an ocean environment. The site will not be connected to the national grid.

To date, interest has come from marine technology companies to test wave energy devices, but there has been no demand yet from companies to test prototype wind energy devices.

A public consultation on the application will be announced shortly.

Wavebob

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Why not also join us for SeaFest (Ireland’s National Maritime Festival) at Galway Harbour on 2nd-3rd July 2016

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inshore ireland Spring 2016

YOURVIEW Win, lose… or back to the drawing board?

Richie Flynn Executive, IFA Aquaculture

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nyone experienced in Irish aquaculture will know we are now only ‘seconds from midnight’, or a ‘blink of an eye’ from a scenario where loss of markets due to low output becomes irreversible, or where lack of scale means costs overwhelm ability to compete against producers with supportive governments and access to funding.

The day of reckoning is coming where rural and coastal communities will have to count the cost of a litany of mistakes, missed opportunities and lack of effort at the highest level.

Successive administrations and their servants have utterly failed to create an environment for sustainable development of what should be one of our most successful industries.

Left to the farmers with clear transparent rules and a fair and responsive licencing system, Ireland could be out-producing our neighbours, sharing the potential to provide 12-month production and fuelling a successful homegrown processing industry.

National Strategic Plan

We don’t need to target the production levels of Norway or Spain to be successful, but neither should we be constricted by regulators who do not understand or care about the industry’s basic requirements, rearing processes, environmental challenges or business pressures.

Each and every commitment has failed to deliver its objectives because of petty infighting or sheer inertia on the part of those with the levers of power to license and develop the sector.

2015 saw the late publication of the National Strategic Plan for Aquaculture (NSPA) – a legal requirement by the EU to allow funds under the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund be spent. €34 million of that fund – mostly at a rate of 40% giving a total investment of - €85m – is earmarked for aquaculture up to 2021.

The very important Food

Wise 2025 was also put on the record in 2015 – a plan for the entire food industry.

So what are the red flag issues in these documents on which we can judge the next government or its regulators, developers and policy makers?

Independent review of the aquaculture licencing system (Food Wise 2025) – having already missed the deadline the pressure is now on to complete this task in 2016 Timescales – all other citizens of the State are entitled to transparency when it comes to applying for planning or any other licensed activity. After a decade in Clonakilty, why have we not seen the licensing division work with industry to create a clear set of workable deadlines and a more customer-focused service?

Dealing with the backlog – given that Minister Simon Coveney had more licence applications on his desk leaving office than when he entered, how will the Department deal with an issue they seem so reluctant to tackle head on? Will the overarching power of the NPWS to stall or dictate licence conditions be tackled head on in the interests of coastal communities?

Contingency plan to deal with compensation for biotoxin closures (NSPA) – will the next four-month closure take the State by surprise or is there a plan to deal with it under the EMFF rules?

Encouraging new entrants into the industry (NSPA) – how does the Department plan to do this given no new entrant can receive funding without a full licence?

Renewing salmon farm licences – none of the marine salmon farm licences in the country has been renewed as the Department’s over the top requirements are excessively costly and totally unnecessary. Will the renewals begin to flow in 2016?

In many ways the government has a clear shot at an open goal with just seconds on the clock.

A renewed aquaculture industry does not require either magic, deep philosophical thinking or hyper-complicated regulation. It requires commitment to the achievable goals of a sustainable competitive and stable industry with a good working relationship with regulators.

Aquaculture Research – a National Survey, published May 2015

Salmon farming’s ripple effect

Credit: IFA Aquaculture

Credit: International Salmon Farmers Association

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Inshore Ireland and its publishers do not accept responsibility for the veracity of claims made by contributors. While every care is taken to ensure accuracy of information, we do not accept responsibility for any errors, or matters arising from same. Contact the editor at mills@inshore-ireland.com.

Decision-makers must ‘step forward’ and deliver Ireland’s aquaculture potential producers to showcase wonderful fresh and healthy Irish seafood products.

But regretfully, news from Ireland was yet again the same: no news on licensing. This is not the news that our customers want to hear.

Jan Feenstra, Managing Director, Marine Harvest Ireland

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hen booking flights and hotels for the annual Seafood Expo Global in Brussels in April, I asked myself what news would we have for our customers this year?

This is an enormous annual event at which the entire seafood world comes together to meet customers, colleagues and competitors, and to keep up with international developments.

It is a proud week for all Irish

Skewed statistics Over the past ten years we have been unable to match growth with that of our customers.

Export statistics suggest that Ireland’s seafood business is growing, but this is not true. It simply reflects the fact that prices continue to rise and volumes remain the same. The fact is we cannot look for new business and can only satisfy our existing customers?

When your company is not able to grow in an emerging international business sector then you are facing trouble ahead.

Our business will survive but it is not generating what it could or should.

We have a bustling processing plant in Co Donegal that employs 120 people but reaches capacity only two to three days a week and has shut down completely for a couple of months in each of the past three years.

Our other plants in Killybegs and West Cork operate

even fewer days. This is an underperformance, and thinking about it for any length of time brings out strong emotions; it is a sad situation and one that goes well beyond business considerations.

Job security At Marine Harvest we care passionately about this situation because we want to secure five-day-a-week jobs for all 250 employees and security for our 600 suppliers. And there is a lot at stake for the local community: local shops, schools that need to hold on to their teachers, and indeed local post offices – all are affected.

It is the latter that strikes a familiar chord, the tale of struggle for rural survival, emphasised by newly-elected Independent TDs but which is seldom a political priority. Perhaps with a Dáil dominated less by traditional party politics, we may hear new perspectives. The prospect of a minister for rural development is certainly intriguing as historically there has been little passion or responsibility to create employment in our coastal fringes.

This is not just about ‘Dublin versus the West’: here in County Donegal, young people are

migrating into the LetterkennyDerry corridor, leaving the remote coastal areas to fewer and increasingly lonely and ageing folk. Many factors are driving this decline: for example, students don’t come home at the weekend because there is no broadband. We have broadband at our processing plant near Fanad Head only because we put it there ourselves!

The best and only way to keep rural life vibrant is by ensuring real and sustainable local development.

Aquaculture is an indigenous industry with huge potential. This should not come as a surprise to those that have played their part in previous governments.

My office is full of reports dating back to when I first put on my oilskins 35 years ago.

Most memorable is an address

by Professor David E Bell of the Harvard Business School in which he refers to the 2010 Bord Bia document Pathways to Growth. This is an excellent piece of work, feeding into the AgriVision 2020 strategy.

One of the first quotes in his address is: ‘Aquaculture is a no brainer for Ireland.’

It really begs the question whether anybody will ever implement the recommendations

of these numerous and costly consultant reports. Even wellintentioned Ministers have tried and failed, demonstrating that fundamental changes are needed in the decision-making process itself.

While we draw some encouragement from the commitment in FoodWise 2025 to review the licencing system in an attempt to resolve the backlog, we continue to face a serious challenge with the protracted delays that effectively provide opportunities for rival producer countries.

The Scottish salmon farming sector contributed €1bn to the Scottish exchequer in 2013. A licence there takes roughly 22 months to process compared to approximately six years here.

So it’s off we go again to Seafood Expo Global. Nobody will erode our belief and enthusiasm for what we do. Our employees are great people, dedicated to working and living in these remote locations.

Ireland has ideal conditions and an excellent reputation for producing high quality seafood, and it is long overdue for us to capitalise on it.

Maybe when we return to Ireland there will be a dedicated minister for rural development, ready to push for real change?

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Environment News

Irish bathing water awarded ‘excellent’ status in vast majority of locations

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he overall quality of Ireland’s bathing waters continues to be “extremely good” despite cool and sometimes wet and windy conditions in summer 2015, according to Dr Matt Crowe, director of EPA’s Office of Evidence and Assessment.

Commenting at the launch of the Environmental Protection Agency’s Bathing Water Quality in Ireland - A Report for the Year 2015, he added that stricter standards were providing “a high level of protection for bathers”.

Six bathing waters however failed to reach the minimum mandatory standard (Merrion Strand, Rush South Beach and Loughshinny, Co Dublin; Youghal, Co Cork; Duncannon, Co Wexford and Ballyloughane, Co Galway). Four of these beaches were also classified ‘poor’ quality in 2014.

Newly classified as ‘poor’ are Merrion Strand and Loughshinny, Co Dublin.

Merrion Strand is termed ‘complex’ due to impacts from nearby streams and from an increasing population of seabirds causing microbiological pollution.

The relevant local authorities and Irish Water have management plans in place to tackle the main pollution risks, designed to return these beaches to ‘sufficient’ quality at a minimum “within the next year or two”, he added.

In addition to the 137 EU identified bathing waters assessed in the report, details are also included of local authority monitored bathing areas. While they do not come under the legal framework of the Bathing Water Regulations, “it is important to let the public know about their quality and we would like to see many of them included in the national programme in the future”, remarked Peter Webster, EPA senior scientific officer.

Asked if it was unsafe to swim in bathing waters classified as ‘poor’, he said there was a “risk” of periodic microbiological pollution.

“Under the Bathing Water Regulations, local authorities are required to put in place notifications for the entire bathing season advising the public against bathing which could include a bathing prohibition if a serious pollution occurs.”

The bathing season in Ireland is designated as being June 1-September 15.

Bathing Water Quality in Ireland - A Report for the Year 2015

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Environment News

Irish divers lodge complaint in Brussels over dredge dumping in Dublin Bay Gillian Mills

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he Irish Underwater Council has questioned the legality of planned dumping this summer of 400,000m3 of dredge spoil from Dublin Port into an area of Dublin Bay given Special Area of Conservation status after the permit was granted.

The area - from Rockabill to Dalkey Island - was designated an SAC under the EU Habitats Directive in December 2012, as being ‘suitable aquatic habitat’ for harbour porpoise, according to the National Parks and Wildlife Service.

In a statement to Inshore Ireland however, the Environmental Protection Authority says it is ‘satisfied’ that the required activity will not cause ‘deterioration to habitat or disturbance of species in European Sites.’ (see sidebar) Background In July 2011, the EPA granted a Dumping at Sea (DaS) Permit to Dublin Port Company. Permit (Reg No S004-01) states that ‘loading and dumping activities must be completed within six years of the date of commencement of activities’. Loading and dumping commenced on April 23, 2012 and may continue until April 22, 2018, according to the EPA. In a detailed letter to the EPA seen by Inshore Ireland, the IUC – the national governing body for scuba diving and snorkelling in Ireland – however challenges the operating dates and says the DaS permit did not undergo Appropriate Assessment.

It also contends that future dumping ‘cannot be considered until full and proper public and third party consultation has taken place….

beyond the originally advertised cessation date of October 2015 takes place.’

While the EPA did require an Appropriate Assessment at the time of application, ‘it must now also require the permit to undergo Appropriate Assessment as the impact on the qualifying interests of dumping under the permit has not been assessed,’ the IUC contends.

The IUC is relying on Article 6(2) Section 3.2 of the European guidance document Managing Natura 2000 sites:The Provisions of Article 6 of the Habitats’ Directive 92/43/CEE (European Communities, 2000 which states: ‘This article should be interpreted as requiring Member States to take all appropriate actions which it may reasonably be expected to take, to ensure that no significant deterioration or disturbance occurs’.

‘Article 6(2) applies permanently in the special areas of conservation.

It can concern past, present or future activities or events…If an already existing activity in a SAC causes deterioration of the natural habitats or disturbance of species for which the area has been designated, it must be covered by the necessary conservation measures foreseen in Article 6(1).This may require, if appropriate, that the negative impact be brought to an end either by stopping the activity or by taking mitigating measures.’

Conflicting dates Dublin Port Company’s DaS permit application is dated September 29, 2009. The date it proposed to start dumping was November 2009, and would complete the process within six years from the commencement of dumping.

The IUC contends however that the Dublin Port Company could not possibly have hoped to process the application between September and November 2009,

Sunstar (Crossaster papposus) – prolific in Dublin Bay but not as common at other locations along the coast. Photo Willie Siddall

‘due to the lengthy consultation period required’.

According to the IUC, the newspaper notice outlining the application states that disposal operations will take place between November 2009 and October 2015.

As dumping commenced on April 23, 2012, the IUC contends this is outside the time limit of the original application, ‘the legal binding date’. The Council also questioned why the application applied a ‘fixed end date’ in the newspaper notice but applied for a variable end date in the DaS application.

‘Essentially the applicant informed the public (and other third parties) that they were applying for one thing, when in reality they were applying for something else.’

Review obligation Speaking to Inshore Ireland, Tim Butler, IUC, said the Habitats Directive “could not be clearer”

where a permitted activity is scheduled to continue AFTER the designation of SAC. “In this case, the EPA is obliged by the Directive to review the permission and to screen for Appropriate Assessment (the specific form of ecological assessment required for SACs and other sites designated as being of European importance for nature conservation).

“The EPA has steadfastly refused to review this DaS permit and to screen for Appropriate Assessment, thereby breaching European and Irish legislation.”

The Appropriate Assessment procedure provides the rigorous scientific information upon which decision-making can be based.

“Without Appropriate Assessment, the EPA is just guessing what the impacts of the dumping might be. This is not acceptable under the Habitats Directive,” he said.

“It may be that the Appropriate

Assessment [will show] that dumping can continue without adversely affecting the SAC. But until it is done we don’t know. It is unacceptable that the regulatory authority ignore its responsibilities in enforcing this environmental legislation.”

Tim Butler added that this issue was not adequately addressed in advance.

“The EPA and DPC have had more than three years to undertake Appropriate Assessment but have not done so (i.e. since Dec 2012 when the SAC was designated). There should be no crisis situation in which there is a question over the legality of the proposed dumping by the DPC this year (scheduled to start this month) to dump 400,000 m3 this year).”

Inshore Ireland understands that the IUC has lodged an official complaint with the EU Commission and has raised the issue directly with the Environment DG in Brussels.

EPA statement The EPA is satisfied that Permit Reg. No. S0004-01 requires the activity to be carried on without causing deterioration in habitat or disturbance of species in European Sites. Accordingly the EPA has no plans to exercise its powers of amendment / revocation under Section 5(4) of the Dumping at Sea Act 1996 as amended. Regulation 46 of the European Communities (Birds and Natural Habitats) Regulations, 2011 as amended is not applicable to projects, only to plans, and therefore does not apply in this case. The EPA is aware of and complying with the requirements of Article 6(2) of the Habitats Directive (92/43/EEC).

Public participation in the dumping at sea permit application process was afforded in accordance with the Dumping At Sea Act 1996 as amended. Pursuant to the requirements of the Dumping at Sea Act 1996 as amended Dublin Port Company placed a newspaper advertisement in The Irish Times of the 15th October 2009. No submissions from members of the public were received in relation to the application. Eleven submissions were received from statutory and notified consultees. A permit (Reg. No. S0004-01) was granted to Dublin Port Company on the 28th July 2011 and the permit was available to view on the EPA website from that date. No applications for leave to take a judicial review were made on the permit.

Coral Garden. The richness and diversity of marine life less than 15km from the centre of Dublin City.

Photo Willie Siddall

10 inshore ireland Spring 2016

Freshwater Focus

Catch and release at Annamoe

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he annual media fly-fishing competition was a great success with 41 quality rainbow trout caught and released and as many lost!, says Des Chew, Dublin Angling Initiative.

The competition was very well supported by Inland Fisheries Ireland; Southside Angling; Wicklow Boat Charters (Kit Dunne), and the competitors themselves who brought prizes for the table.

Brian Nally of Annamoe Trout Fishery provided his very well stocked fishing lake and a hot meal along with refreshments throughout the day Winners

The allure of Lough Arrow Brendan Connolly

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1st Place: Paddy McDonnell 10 trout, 423cm)

2nd Place: John Griffin (9 trout.363cm)

3rd Place: Fergal Keane (7 trout, 291cm)

For the budding angler a Junior Pond is open 12-6pm, weekends April- May and SeptOctober and seven days June -August.

Details http://homepage.eircom.net/~fishery/junior%20 pond%20fishing.htm

n Ireland we are unusually lucky with the number of pristine lakes that grace our landscape compared to the rest of Europe. One such lake is Lough Arrow on the Sligo–Roscommon border, with its shores and wooded islands giving off an aura of abundance and wellbeing.

Even prehistorically this lake attracted early settlers, as indicated by the cromlechs (dolmens) that overlook the lake from the surrounding hills.

Erected between 3000 and 2500 BC, these megalithic monuments stand silent testament to Lough Arrow and its surroundings being conducive to settlement for millennia.

To this day, people seek out this vale - not only for its quiet tranquility - but also for the large brown trout in the lake.

Dance of the mayfly Traditionally, mayfly fishing on Lough Arrow was spent gnat fishing. When the mayfly hatches, it flies into the trees to moult from the subimago or dun, to the sexually mature imago, or spinner.

Many anglers fish with the greenish dun as they pop up from the water. But after the mature imagoes mate and the female lays her eggs, both males and females fall back onto the water surface, to become food for passing trout.

Typically in the evening, trout can be seen quietly cruising along, sucking the mayflies down

from the surface. If one quietly positions the boat a distance of a cast away from a feeding fish, you can cast a fly in its path.

A dry fly, black and white spent gnat pattern, is used for this evening fishing, rather than the green and yellow wetfly mayfly used during the day. It is important that the boat is moved with as little noise as possible as these fish are easily frightened in the quiet evening. This can be done with oars, but the advent of the silent electric engine has made this much easier.

Fair weather competition One mayfly fishing competition on Lough Arrow saw two anglers fishing the shores of Inishmore Island. The competition took place during the day so they were casting wetflies and dapping the natural mayfly.

Weather was good with little wind, and few if any fish were seen rising to the mayflies. As they drifted they found themselves in the wind shelter of the island, so they crossed over to the shore opposite the island where there was more of a breeze.

Drifting, they approached a reed bed along the shore. From some distance, one angler spotted a rise at the edge of the reed bed. Slowly the boat approached, and reaching out from the stern of the boat, the angler used his long dapping rod to guide his natural mayfly to where he had seen the trout rise.

Initially, it looked like the fish was not going to take the bait; then suddenly, in a quiet swirl, the mayfly disappeared below the

surface. The angler waited for a few seconds, and when he saw the line being pulled down, he struck and the rod bent over. The fish took off like a torpedo along the shore to far behind the boat.

It then turned 90 degrees and headed into the lake and deeper water.

The angler could feel this was a big fish. Lough Arrow is known for its large trout, and the competition was for the heaviest fish with a lake boat as first prize!

The angler played this trout with great care as he imagined the winning the lake boat. After 10 minutes or more, and to his great relief, the fish slid into the landing net. It was a very fine trout of 3.75lb.

At the end of the day motoring back, the angler recalled he had heard that second and third prize were an outboard engine and a television. A 3.75 lb trout must surely win one of these prizes?

Arriving at the shore, he looked into other boats. There, on the bottom of a boat was a very fine trout of at least 4.5lb! While he knew instantly he would not win the boat, there was still a chance of the outboard engine...

To his dismay however three trout were even bigger than the one he had seen in the boat! These fish were close to 6lbs, and clearly demonstrated how Lough Arrow earned its reputation for large trout!

Alongside these fish, his own 3.75lb trout was quite moderate and took sixth place of a flyfishing rod to his delight. These results however taught him a salutary lesson on the size of the brown trout in Lough Arrow.

inshore ireland Spring 2016 11

Environment News

Island BioBlitz – What is it?

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or the first time, the National Biodiversity Data Centre will be running an Island BioBlitz that will see five offshore islands compete in a race against time to see which island can record the most species over a 24hour period (June 11-12), and be crowned BioBlitz 2016 champions. The event will be declared ‘open’ at noon at Tory National School.

Each island has assembled teams of recorders, national experts, specialists and other interested individuals, to identify and record the rich biological diversity of the islands.

Included are wild, naturalised and feral species (not domesticated or species held in captivity). Plants growing in formal gardens or flower beds are not accepted. Details to be captured include: species name, recorder name, location name and/or grid reference.

Running alongside Island BioBiltz is an Island Wildlife Festival with a varied programme of events to learn about wildlife and experience the special charm and qualities of off-shore islands. Details on http://bioblitz.ie/island-wildlifefestival/ The NBDC is responsible for the national coordination and for organising the surveys, collating the results and for live streaming the event on its website.

Visit www.biodiversityireland.ie/island-bioblitz-2016 for more details.

Government slammed for repeating mistakes on flooding crisis Gery Flynn

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he National Forum of Community Flood Committees (NFCFC) has criticised the Office of Public Works and Minister of State Simon Harris following the revelation that a high level Interdepartmental Co-Ordination Group set up to oversee national coordination of flood risk management and flooding response had not met between 2009 and 2015.

Jer Buckley, a spokesman for the NFCFC, told Inshore Ireland that his members were “astonished and disappointed” that Minister Harris seemed to play down the failure of such an important group to meet during six years when there was regular flooding around the country.

“The powers that be in Dublin have been making the same mistakes over and over again in relation to flooding.

They set up these so-called expert groups without ever inviting anyone from the flood community to join them.

I can guarantee you that if

your home or your business, or your personal possessions were ever threatened or damaged or even destroyed by flooding, you would be very aware of the technicalities involved, and would become an expert very fast,” he said.

Mr Buckley said that lessons still had not been learned at governmental level that it is “critical for such committees to include people who know what they are talking about”.

“We weren’t a bit surprised that the expert group hadn’t met for five or six years because there is not a single member of a flooded community on that group,” he said.

In a statement Minister Harris said that government had provided €430m for flood risk management in the 2016-2012 Capital Programme.

“Prior to my re-convening the group, I would like to affirm that the work of the programme was ongoing during this period as it was mainly technical in nature. It is now meeting on a regular basis and I presented an interim report on progress to Government in January of this year and it will continue to drive a whole of Government

approach to the programme and report in mid-2016 in line with the draft flood risk management plans,” he said.

Chairperson of the Office of Public Works, Claire McGrath, said the interdepartmental group was established to give “strategic direction” to the national CFRAM* programme.

“As future government policy initiatives will be informed by the delivery of the CFRAM outcomes, the group did not reconvene during the period of the CFRAM programme.”

She added that the CFRAM programme has assessed 300 areas at “significant risk and impact” from flooding and has modelled 6,700 km of watercourse, and has taken climate change into account, along with public consultation on 40,000 flood maps.

“The OPW’s CFRAM programme will deliver plans by mid-2016 to manage the flood risks and will deliver the same level of protection to properties at risk as it has done so far to 7,000 properties in flood defence schemes put in place in Mallow, Fermoy and Clonmel,” she said. * Catchment Flood Risk Assessment and Management programme

Competing islands: Cape Clear (Oileán Chléire); Bere Island (Oiléan Béarra); Inis Mór; Clare Island (Oileán Chliara) and Tory Island (Oileán Thoraí) competing against each other to see which island can record the most species and be crowned BioBlitz 2016 Champions.

Category awards:

»» Most species recorded »» Most species by area »» Most species by recorder »» Most marine species recorded

12 inshore ireland Spring 2016

Fisheries

Lobster v-notching conservation scheme returns over 30,000 animals to the sea

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Capt James Hegarty, Principal, National Fisheries College of Ireland, Greencastle; Paul Cunningham, Class 3 Engineering Student, Killybegs, Co Donegal; Joe McHugh, TD and Tara McCarthy, BIM chief executive

he latest figures from BIM indicate that 31,500 female lobsters were returned to sea in 2015 to breed, as part of the Lobster V-notching Conservation Scheme.

This is over double the number of lobsters returned in 2010.

The aim of the scheme is to improve sustainability of Ireland’s lobster stocks. BIM works in partnership with dedicated fishermen around the coast to implement the programme, which consists of manually removing a simple V-shaped notch from the tail of a female lobster. This painless marking enables the female to breed another 2-3 before the lobster is landed.

Grant-aid is available to approved groups and in exceptional cases to individuals. During the 2015, programme, €320,000 was paid out to participants.

For more information on BIM’s Lobster v-notching programme visit www.bim.ie

Sea Survival Training Centre planned for Donegal

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IM has announced plans for a €1.5 million Sea Survival Training Centre at the agency’s National Fisheries College in Greencastle, Co Donegal.

The development will include a ‘state-of-the-art’ 15 metre simulator pool with an elevated platform equipped with a wave machine; a water-spray unit and fans to reproduce extreme weather conditions; two changing areas; a self-contained heating unit capable of maintaining water temperature of 23-28˚C; a water treatment unit and a classroom for 16 students.

BIM says the facility will complement the existing training infrastructure already in place, and will also include a fire-fighting unit; a fully integrated fishing vessel simulator; vessel dry land trawler deck, engine room and workshop and seven classrooms.

During a tour of the College, Joe McHugh, Minister of State with Special Responsibility for Gaeltacht Affairs and Natural Resources said he “fully supported” BIM’s plans.

“As a fishing community, Greencastle and the wider Donegal region are only too aware of the dangers fishermen face every time they go to sea. When you consider that 53 fishermen have lost their lives at sea in the last ten years, and according to national figures, fishing is approximately 13 times more dangerous than construction and 36 times more dangerous than general employment, we must ensure we are providing our fishermen with the safest boats, the best safety technology and the best training to prepare them for all eventualities.

“BIM does an exemplary job delivering this service, and the plans for this new centre will ensure the National Fisheries College is delivering a bespoke training service to our fishermen and a safer industry as a result.”

Training in personal survival techniques is a vital part of BIM’s Safety at Sea programme and is a mandatory requirement for all fishermen before they go to sea.

“We recently ran a nationwide advertising campaign, Live to Tell the Tale, designed to strike a chord with fishermen; to change their behaviour and to ask them to wear a Personal Flotation Device as they would wear a seat belt in a car. The safety training we deliver throughout the year was a key part of the campaign,” remarked Tara McCarthy, BIM’s chief executive.

Without the right training, fishermen will not know how to react when faced with an accident at sea, she added.

On average, four fishermen lose their lives at sea annually; “Preparing fishermen for the worst case scenario is crucial to reducing fatalities,” she stressed.

“The new BIM Sea Survival Training Centre will allow our trainers to test what fishermen have learnt in the classroom with the reality of a genuine incident at sea against a range of adverse weather conditions.”

In 2015, BIM’s training service delivered 207 courses in 25 locations to 1,700 students equating to 14,000 contact hours.

Completion is expected by 2017 and will serve fishermen from Clare, Galway, Sligo, Donegal, Louth and Dublin. The project will bring the National Fisheries College in line with ‘international best practice’.

Visit BIM’s website www.bim.ie and social media pages to hear more stories of fishermen who lived to tell the tale. Join in the conservation on twitter @BordIascMhara hashtag #livetotell

John Hickey demonstrates the technique with Sean O’Donoghue, BIM Board Director and Chairman of Killybegs Fishermen’s Organisation, and Tara McCarthy, BIM CEO

Sofrimar wins Green Seafood Business of the Year award

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leading seafood processor from Kilmore Quay, Co Wexford has won the Green Seafood Business Award, sponsored by BIM in the annual Bord Bia Green Awards initiative.

As a verified member of Bord Bia’s Origin Green programme and having worked directly with BIM’s Green Seafood Business Programme, Sofrimar has implemented measures to reduce its carbon footprint and in so doing, has realised significant cost savings.

‘We’re absolutely delighted to have won this award. As a seafood company wholly dependent on a natural resource, we understand the need to source sustainably and process responsibly

From a business perspective, it adds value and increases our competitiveness on our key export markets,” remarked Lorcan Barden, finance director, Sofrimar.

In the last 12 months, the company has reduced its electricity usage by 5% and water usage by 6,000m 3 . It also reduced use of polystyrene cartons by 24%, and the majority of seafood is caught sustainably by small inshore fishing boats.

“This award is a real boost for our team and we will continue to implement and research green business solutions for our company,” he added.

The business of sustainability is a priority for BIM:

‘We have assisted more than 25 seafood companies to achieve significant cost savings for their business through our Green Seafood Business Programme.

“We will be focusing on positioning our seafood industry at the cutting edge of green business; enabling our businesses to adopt green business strategies that deliver in terms of competitive advantage, cost efficiencies and employee engagement,” remarked Tara McCarthy, BIM chief executive.

The other nominees were: Errigal Bay; Morgan’s Fine Fish; the Burren Smokehouse; Keohane’s of Bantry and Beara Seafood.

Further information on the Green Seafood Business Programme on www.bim.ie

inshore ireland Spring 2016 13

Fisheries

Iúda Naofa survivor supports ‘Live to Tell the Tale’ campaign

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ocal fisherman Paraic Breathnach from Carna, Co Galway, was one of five crew to survive the sinking of Iúda Naofa off the Scottish coast in January 2015.

Following his terrifying ordeal, Paraic put his support behind the BIM ‘Live to Tell the Tale’ safety-at-sea awareness campaign in Spring to encourage more fishermen to complete mandatory safety survival training and to wear their personal flotation device (PFD) lifejacket at all times when at sea.

“I would encourage anyone working at sea to make sure they have done the relevant safety training

and to make sure they wear a PFD lifejacket. Both will give you those extra valuable seconds to ensure you Live to Tell the Tale,” he said.

BIM offers an extensive training programme that includes mandatory safety training to all fishermen, at its National Fisheries Colleges in Greencastle, Co. Donegal and Castletownbere, Co. Cork, and on two mobile Coastal Training Units that visit every port around the coast.

The agency also provides grant-aid towards the latest PFDs with integrated Personal Locator Beacons (PLBs) and safety equipment for fishing vessels.

Despite this support however, over half of

fishermen still do not wear a PFD lifejacket even though 52% of fishermen personally know a family member, friend or colleague who has lost their life at sea, according to BIM commissioned research.

“We’re pleased to report that our initial post-campaign research is very positive.

Seventy-seven per cent of fishermen surveyed recalled having seen or heard the campaign advertisements.”

A further 71% of fishermen recalled having heard the radio advert featuring fisherman David Massey, she added.

“We need to build on this success and continue to promote the importance

Deirdre Cunningham, Sofrimar receiving the BIM Green Seafood Business Award from Donal Buckley, Director of Business Development & Innovation, BIM

of staying safe at sea.

If the construction and farming sectors have made significant changes in order to implement a safety culture, it is imperative on the fishing industry to do the same.”

“We’re very grateful to fishermen David Massey, Gerard Copeland and Paraic Breathnach for supporting the campaign and for bravely telling their own accounts of survival.”

Background

On January 20, 2015, Paraic Breathnach along with Martín Ó’Conghaíle, skipper of the Iúda Naofa (23m) and crew Eric Hernon and Vitor Lebit set off from Rossaveal in Galway.

Paraic takes up the story: “We were returning to Derry with a successful mackerel haul. There were gale force winds and the vessel ran into difficulty. She was taking on water so we radioed to Malin Head for a helicopter

to come with a pump. Thanks to our BIM sea survival training, instinct kicked in.

“We stayed in the wheelhouse waiting for the helicopter to arrive. She was coping ok but still taking on water. The helicopter arrived with the pump but we couldn’t keep the water out. She started to list. I ended up in the water and was almost immediately lifted out by the helicopter.”

BIM’s Enhanced Safety Scheme provides grantaid for the compact PFD lifejacket with an integrated PLB to alert the emergency services to the exact location of a fisherman lost at sea.

The PFD activates in the water which means fishermen can be found swiftly in the event of an accident.

Traditional life jackets don’t use this technology meaning searches can last days longer than is necessary, adding to the anxiety felt by families of fishermen, says BIM.

14 inshore ireland Spring 2016

Interview

BIM chief executive says regular meetings with industry stakeholders a ‘key priority’

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fter eight months as chief executive of BIM, Tara McCarthy’s enthusiasm and optimism for the possible potential for Irish seafood is undimmed. From a successful career with Bord Bia, McCarthy comes to BIM at a time when her marketing skills will be put to good use.

Inshore Ireland asked Tara McCarthy to outline some of her plans for the seafood development agency.

Gery Flynn

What have you learned about the seafood industry since your appointment last September as chief executive?

The last eight months have sharpened my perspectives on the sector. There’s a lot that I didn’t know then that I know today, and there’s a lot more that I’m looking forward to learning. And having already met many of the companies that are involved in the sectors, I have a much more robust understanding of the nuances behind the facts and figures. That’s probably something I wasn’t as attuned to eight months ago.

Do you plan to meet regularly with seafood industry stakeholders?

Absolutely, yes. I think the key to this role is to be very much in touch with the industry. So, every month I aim to be out and about meeting the industry. I have to engage with every part of the value chain ― whether that’s

the fishermen’s perspective, the processors’ perspective, or the retailer’s. I want to hear back from them what’s happening in the sectors.

I’m also fully committed to regularly meeting with the aquaculture industry.

What have I learned here?

I’m using these meetings as a sounding board for ideas that I have and as an opportunity to hear new ideas.

Your background is business and marketing. What skills have you brought to BIM?

I’ve spent the last twenty years working in the wider food industry. So, what I’m bringing to this role is an understanding of the global industry and not just a seafood perspective, but looking at it as the whole agri-business world. That’s why it’s so important to be out meeting with companies and checking with them to see where is there stickiness for some ideas and where are there opportunities for synergies between the seafood industry and the wider food industry ― or between the international industry.

What are your key priorities and what are you going to focus on over the next five years?

There are four areas clearly identified. The first is training; the whole idea of human capital or skills coming into the industry is, I think, a huge priority for the industry.

Everybody I have spoken to about that would agree on moving BIM up from your mandatory training into providing and facilitating a career path in the industry to helping the professionalism of the industry, looking at and educating on sustainability and business practices etc.

Also looking at sustainability as a key platform for growth, and our position. We are the only country in the world that has a national umbrella brand to communicate its sustainability on. So, the priority for BIM is to actually create the teeth for seafood underneath that brand.

And what I’m looking for there is the infrastructure, the facts, and the figures that will help the seafood industry to articulate all of the hard work so they can then get their marketing messages from that.

We’re also looking at

innovation. FoodWise2025 has given the industry some really robust targets, one of which is that it would move from a 70% commodity to a 50% value-added focus.

How do you make that transition – that’s not an over night transition – and that’s why I didn’t limit myself to just getting this done in five years. It’s actually about putting in an infrastructure, a vision and an ambition and checking with industry to make sure it’s aligned.

No business will decide to have an added-value agenda just because FoodWise has said it’s a good idea. This has to work for individual businesses; it will have to fit with their ambitions and also with their growth trajectory and capabilities.

It’s very much about working at the models, the infrastructure and providing the support mechanisms to allow that to happen.

And then the fourth priority is all around commitment.

We’re looking at benchmarking our seafood industry against the best in the world; bench-marking ourselves against each other; benchmarking BIM against the best in the world;

benchmarking our facilities, our steps forward, and then creating networks and clusters so that we as a group, as Ireland Inc can move on.

How will BIM promote Irish seafood on an international platform when marketing is no longer in its remit?

Whether BIM or Bord Bia has the marketing role, isn’t what this is about.

That’s the confidence that I’m bringing from Bord Bia into this role. It’s not about who is the messenger it’s about what is the message.

BIM’s fundamental role when it comes to sustainability is to actually feed Origin Green. So why, even if BIM did have marketing, would it want to compete with that brand? We don’t want Origin Green to be just a label in relation to the seafood industry, we want it to be something that we can speak to and have facts and figures against.

We’re doing a lot of new things in partnership with Bord Bia because they are the route to the market. We’re not a competitor to Bord Bia;

inshore ireland Spring 2016 15

Interview

we’re part of an infrastructure that delivers for the industry.

It’s a case of us knowing where we’re adding value and being able to bring that to the solution of the food industry.

A merger between BIM and Bord Bia has often been mentioned. Do you see this happening?

There’s absolutely no discussion of it in my framework. We will definitely build our partnership and we will be ensuring there is no duplication between the two agencies. We will have a live partnership with Bord Bia but we’re also going to have very a live partnerships with Enterprise Ireland and with Teagasc.

BIM is a small agency and we have to use every part of the infrastructure of the State and to be as positive and open to using those partnerships as much as possible. There’s been no discussion about merging both agencies that I have heard.

At SeaFest 2015 you spoke about the critical need for innovation. What did you mean in relation

to BIM, Bord Bia and the IDA?

The focus on innovation must be, market-led and consumer-led and it must also have a technology-driven approach. If you actually look at the definition of innovation it’s about having a product that the consumer is looking for; a product that is technologically advanced and innovative from a technical perspective, and something that the market is willing to pay for.

There’s no point having a product that is technologically brilliant if the consumer does not want it. Having said that, there’s no point producing products that the consumer wants if every other one of your competitors can compete with you to drag its price down.

Similarly there’s no point in giving something the consumer wants if there’s not enough of them to pay for it. If you look at those three working together that must be the structure of the innovation that you’re coming through with.

That’s what I’m looking for with each of these agencies ― having something that brings the Irish marine

industry to the forefront of having what the market, the consumer and what’s technologically possible.

None of those platforms on its own will get you the sweet spot of innovation.

Many in the aquaculture industry believe it is moving too slowly – particularly in relation to producing the NATURA plans. What is your view?

I’m not an expert on NATURA, but now for the first time, we have a national strategic plan for sustainable aquaculture development, which was launched last December. It’s the first time to have such a plan, and it’s not lacking ambition.

It states where the opportunities are and where there are challenges, and it puts forward recommendations, and links itself to €30 million in EU funding. That’s the backdrop I’m working to.

How does the aquaculture industry build? Well, it’s all in that plan. But it’s also about communicating and building the communication

of the industry. I think one of the key skills will be in communicating to the consumer what is aquaculture, what are the benefits, where should it be located and what might be the impacts.

There are many routes to communication that you can look at. For example, the Taste of the Atlantic that BIM and Bord Fáilte have been working on in partnership on the Wild Atlantic Way. You can really see the excitement and the link between that tourism trail and the food available on it which is predominantly from aquaculture. There are some fantastic wins that you can see, and it’s even communicating that premium caché that Ireland has in aquaculture - whether it’s in the organic production of salmon or whether it’s in the premiumisation of oysters in markets like China.

In November 2012, BIM applied for an aquaculture licence for an organic salmon farm near Inis Oírr and we know the outcome.

Was BIM’s decision in December 2015

to withdraw the application to avoid potential political controversy in the run up to the General Election?

The timing of the announcement to withdraw the proposal had nothing to do with an election. It had everything to do with the timing of the launch of the National Strategic Plan for Sustainable Aquaculture Development which was published on December 18th.

We had a pre-scheduled board meeting around the same time and that was the impetus behind the timing of our announcement. I fundamentally believe that if we create a national plan, then every stakeholder must apply that plan. There is a very clear recommendation in the plan that Ireland Inc should limit and cap the size of its salmon farms to between five and seven thousand tonnes.

As a seafood development agency BIM would have been an outlier to that plan and our board would have been in an untenable position. We were either part of buying into that national plan or not, and we certainly were part of that plan.

16 inshore ireland Spring 2016

Aquaculture

Mussel lines in Killary Fjord, north Connemara

Photo Gillian Mills

Aquaculture 4-year European study secures €7m funding Gillian Mills

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s concerns around sustainability of food security continue to rise, a team of European aquaculture experts are embarking on a four-year study to establish new strategies and models for sustainable growth in the industry.

The Tools for Assessment and Planning of Aquaculture Sustainability (TAPAS) project led by the University of Stirling will create costefficient management tools and practices for the European aquaculture sector to investigate obstacles to fish farming activity. These include: location; social interaction; potential environmental impacts and future risks.

Professor Trevor Telfer, Institute of Aquaculture, is leading the multi-partnership study that aims to establish a comprehensive ‘toolbox’ to support transparent and efficient licensing; enhance environment sustainability and aquatic food security while tapping into the potential for food production and jobs.

The Marine Institute is

the Irish partner in the €7m EU Horizon 2020 funded project. Dr Dave Jackson is leading a work package that will feed into the ‘toolbox’.

The consortium will evaluate structures currently operating across the EU’s seas, lakes and rivers, and will exam various environments and develop new approaches to deliver computer-based support systems for sustainable aquaculture expansion.

The work is in line with the EU’s Marine Strategy Framework Directive ‘to protect marine environments more effectively’ and will provide consistent real-time monitoring; observation; early forecasting and management technologies.

The research team will collaborate with industry; regulators; certifiers and other stakeholders to ensure the toolbox is accessible. They will use training and outreach activities to improve the image of European aquaculture and to promote an integrated sustainability strategy.

“As Europe continues to produce millions of tonnes of food each year, we want to ensure this industry is feeding the world in a sustainable way while taking care of the environment,” stresed Professor Telfer. By

developing new, flexible and unified approaches to aquaculture planning, we aim to strengthen sustainable growth in the vital marine and freshwater sectors.”

Dr Dave Jackson said the breadth of experience of the 15 consortium partners will enable sophisticated technologies, computer models and decision-making capabilities to be merged into a single, streamlined entity for regulators and producers to use.

“The collaborative work will play a major role in the European Commissions’ strategy to achieve smart growth in aquaculture production across the region’s seas. Aquaculture in European waters is a key driver for the blue economy, representing approximately 5.4 million jobs and generating a gross added-value of almost €500 billion a year,” he said.

The project will also support Ireland’s vision for aquaculture: ‘A sustainable and competitive aquaculture sector, where production will grow according to market and consumer demands and in balance with nature and society’, outlined in the National Strategic Plan for Sustainable Aquaculture Development.

Achill Island

Photo Gillian Mills

Salmon farming in Kenmare Bay, Co Kerry

Photo Gillian Mills

inshore ireland Spring 2016 17

Aquaculture

Scientists gather to discuss the potential of seaweeds in the Caribbean Dr Simon Faulkner, Ocean Harvest Technology

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nternational seaweed experts gathered in February on Sir Richard Branson’s Moskito Island in the British Virgin Islands to discuss the potential of exploiting seaweeds commonly found in the Caribbean.

Entitled Sargassum Seaweed Phenomenon – Assessing the problem, Finding Solutions, Harnessing the Economic Benefits’, the conference centred around two seaweed species: Sargassum natans and Sargassum fluitans, whose presence over the last few years in increasingly large quantities in the Caribbean region, is causing concern and will lead to a negative impact on the local tourism industry.

The first day focused on the current scientific knowledge of

Sargassum, and best practices for managing and improving collaboration at a national and international level.

Experts included Dr Hazel Oxenford (Professor – Fisheries Biology and Management, University of West Indies); Emma Doyle (Gulf and Caribbean Fisheries Institute) and Rachael McCaffery (head of sustainable tourism, INTASAVE – CARIBSAVE) who gave thoughtprovoking presentations that stirred a lot of debate

potential to produce biofuel / biomethane from Sargassum biomass in the Caribbean through anaerobic digestion.

Ireland was also represented

by Dr Julie Maguire (Daithi O’Murchu Marine Research Station, DOMMRS) who discussed SEABIOPLAS ― an EU Seventh Framework Programme-funded project that aims to introduce sustainably cultivated seaweeds as feedstock for biodegradable bioplastics.

Ocean Harvest Technology discussed the potential for

using seaweeds in human and animal diets along with the range of seaweed-derived products we produce.

The need to ensure adequate testing, quality control measures and sustainable management practices when harvesting and processing seaweed for the production of higher value products is crucial.

Johanan Dujon (Managing director, Algas Organics) described the successful use of Sargassum as a biofertilser in the Caribbean.

The conference was deemed extremely successful overall and highlighted the requirement for further research and collaboration between scientists and government bodies in order to facilitate maximum benefit from the biomass.

Participants representing the government of the Virgin Islands, Virgin Unite, the UK foreign and Commonwealth office and the Caribbean Council, were from political, business and scientific backgrounds.

Commercial applications

In contrast, day two focused on the potential commercial applications of Sargassum and the specific processing steps required to make this possible.

Dr Sheila Heymans (Scottish Association for Marine Science) and Dr Michelle Morrison (Centre for Process Innovation) discussed the

Dr Simon Faulkner, OHT, presenting at the Sargassum Conference

Sir Richard Branson asks a question on the use of seaweed in animal feed

Dr Asha Singh, Head of the Oceans Governance Unit of the Organisation of Eastern Carribean States

18 inshore ireland Spring 2016

Report

Crisis in the Mediterranean: small scale fisheries and ‘blue growth’ are compatible and complementary solutions “Our patient is ill, but still breathing. The diagnosis is serious, but there is still hope.”

Commissioner Vella’s opening speech in Catania, February 9 2016 at a seminar on the status of the stocks in the Mediterranean and on the CFP Approach.

By Brian O’Riordan, deputy director, LIFE

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ast February, DG Mare coorganised with the Mediterranean Advisory Council (MedAC) a two- day ‘high level seminar’ on the state of stocks in the Mediterranean. In his opening address, Commissioner Vella highlighted the urgency of the situation, noting that Mediterranean wide, “93% of the fish stocks assessed are over exploited” and that roughly only 50% of the catch is recorded.

An outcome of the event was a ministerial conference in Brussels on April 27, coinciding with the European Seafood Show, Seafood Expo

Global. Fisheries ministers from countries bordering the Mediterranean attended with the aim of agreeing actions necessary to address the crisis in the Mediterranean.

Proposals will be taken to the 40th Session of the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (GFCM), the Regional Fisheries Management Organization (RFMO) for the Mediterranean and Black Sea, on 30 May. (See report Summer edition, publishing July 30)

Socio-economic weight

The importance of small-scale fisheries in the Mediterranean is highlighted in the 2014 Annual Economic Report on the EU Fishing Fleet, by the Scientific and Technical Committee on Fisheries (STEFC).

This finds, according to the available data, that for the Mediterranean & Black Sea, the small-scale fleet (SSF) comprised 69% of the fleet by number, 67% of the effort but provided jobs for only 51% of the total employed. In terms of production, the SSF landed only 13% in weight but 23% in value and overall, generated 27% of the revenue.

While this emphasises the important social and economic weight of the sector, it also highlights the major gap in available data on landings. Any visitor to a Mediterranean fishing port will be impressed by the number of small boats, the quantities of fish they collectively land and the availability of fresh locallycaught fish in the nearby restaurants and retail outlets.

Clearly their contribution to landings is higher than

available data shows.

For the Low Impact Fishers of Europe (LIFE), any solution to the crisis in the Mediterranean must be built around small-scale fisheries, as this sector provides the social and economic backbone of fishing communities.

At a meeting organised

by LIFE in Athens on 28 November 2015, smallerscale fishers and their representative organisations from Greece; Croatia; Italy; Cyprus; France and Spain, demanded a greater voice in the development of fisheries policy at national and European levels.

The meeting highlighted the need to create long-term plans as an integral element of the more dynamic and effective management of Mediterranean fisheries.

Fishers also highlighted the need to reduce and eventually

eliminate pollution in the Mediterranean which has a significant adverse effect on coastal fisheries and the wider marine environment.

Small-scale low impact activities using passive gears applied in a non-intensive and seasonally polyvalent manner also provide a ready-made solution to the problems of overfishing and environmental degradation caused by larger scale intensive, industrial fishery activities.

Of course, considerable environmental impact is also caused by unrestricted use of small-meshed monofilament gillnets, and associated effects of ghost fishing.

Sustainable fishing

LIFE also contends that Article 17 of the CFP (Basic Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013) has an important role to play in favouring more

inshore ireland Spring 2016 19

Report sustainable ways of fishing, based on smaller scale, low impact fishing methods.

Article 17, designed to promote responsible and socially beneficial fishing, obliges States to use transparent and objective criteria including those of an environmental, social and economic nature when allocating the fishing opportunities available to them.

It also encourages States to provide incentives to fishing vessels deploying selective fishing gear or using fishing techniques with reduced environmental impact, such as reduced energy consumption or habitat damage.

Although fishery activities undoubtedly have a significant impact on fish stocks and on the marine habitats essential for fishery production, it would be incorrect to lay the entire blame for the crisis in the Mediterranean on fishing alone.

The Mediterranean is a semi-enclosed sea and is highly vulnerable to the impacts of human activities.

Including Gibraltar and Monaco 23 countries border the Mediterranean.

The impacts of industrial and domestic sources of pollution are considerable, as are the impacts of ports, shipping, and offshore oil and gas exploration/ extraction, along with actual and potential climate change impacts, including acidification, increases in extreme weather, sea-level rise, warming of the sea, etc.

The Mediterranean also has a notorious reputation for illegal (IUU) fishing.

Sometimes this is carried out under the guise of ‘sports fishing’, the impact of which is considerable. In addition, due to the complex nature of national maritime boundaries and inadequate monitoring, control and enforcement, much illegal, unregulated and unreported fishery activity takes place beyond national boundaries.

In many cases these extend out to only 12 miles. There is also a lack of harmonised policies between EU Member States and other Mediterranean countries, hence the need for action at the RFMO level in the GFCM. The question also arises as to what extent fishery-specific measures can be used to restore fish stocks and the marine environment, and to what extent a raft of much wider measures is needed.

For example, maximum sustainable yield (MSY) is unlikely to be achieved solely by applying such fishery specific measures as closed seasons; fleet capacity reductions; technical measures to reduce the impact of fishing gears, etc.

Unless environmental degradation caused by pollutants, marine debris (including plastics), by acidification from increasing CO2 levels etc is addressed, fish stocks will not incapable of rebuilding to pre-crisis levels.

Except for professional fisheries, all traditional sectors of Mediterranean maritime economy (tourism, shipping, aquaculture and offshore oil and gas, etc) are expected to keep growing over the next 15 years.

Comparatively new or emerging sectors such as renewable energy, seabed mining and biotechnology are expected to grow even faster, although there is greater uncertainty concerning these developments and their expected impacts on marine ecosystem.

that endeavours to date have been insufficient and that more needs to be done, and must be done quickly.

‘Blue growth’ and smallscale fisheries was one of the main themes of the recent Regional Conference: Building a future for sustainable small-scale fisheries in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea, organised by the GFCM and the FAO in collaboration with the Algerian Government.

Discussions highlighted that one of the problems of the ‘blue growth’ concept is that all too often it is blind to those components, like fisheries, that seem to lack the potential for growth, and are therefore absent from Blue Growth strategies. Even worse is that the potential impact of Blue

Growth sectors on fisheries is not being given sufficient attention by policy makers.

Thus, capture fisheries are generally absent from ‘blue growth’ strategies that are all too often identified as problems requiring solutions (like overfishing, illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, etc.)

At the same time, the development of many of the sectors championed by ‘blue growth’ are likely to have major negative impacts on fisheries, by encroaching on fishing areas, impacting on fishery habitats, displacing fishing communities, etc.

For its part, the FAO’s Blue Growth Initiative (BGI) aims at building resilience of coastal communities and restoring

the productive potential of fisheries and aquaculture, in order to support food security, poverty alleviation and sustainable management of living aquatic resources.

Far from being incompatible, ‘blue growth’ and smallscale fisheries are entirely complimentary. Small-scale fisheries must form an integral part of ‘blue growth’, if this concept is to drive the Mediterranean back from the brink of fishery collapse.

Low Impact Fishers of Europe ( LIFE ) E | deputy@lifeplatform.eu W | lifeplatform.eu

Emerging blue growth

These activities are seen as part of the ‘blue economy’, and its development through ‘blue growth’ is being strongly advocated at international and EU level as being the solution both to the crisis in the World’s oceans in general, and the Mediterranean in particular, as well as providing the basis for future economic prosperity.

Advocated for principally

by Small Island Development States (SIDS) in the Rio+20 process on sustainable development, the ‘blue economy’ concept is rooted in the ‘green economy’.

The ‘green economy’ is seen as an important tool for achieving sustainable development; to contribute to eradicating poverty as well as sustained economic growth; enhancing social inclusion; improving human welfare and creating opportunities for employment and decent work for all, while maintaining the healthy functioning of the Earth’s ecosystems. (http:// sustainabledevelopment. un.org/futurewewant.html para 56. UNCSD 2012).

The potential of the seas and oceans - the ‘blue economy’ - to meet sustainable development needs is enormous - but only if they can be maintained in and/or restored to a healthy, and productive state.

LIFE asserts that ‘blue growth’ should not be a licence for ‘business as usual’ and more of the same ‘brown development’, which has perceived the oceans as a means of free resource extraction and waste dumping, with environmental and social costs externalised from economic calculations.

Instead, ‘blue growth’ is a call for fundamental change. Ongoing trends in the exploitation and degradation of marine and coastal ecosystems show

Further reading: Blue Economy Concept Paper

https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/content/documents/2978BEconcept.pdf

DG Mare webpage on Blue Growth

http://ec.europa.eu/maritimeaffairs/policy/blue_growth/index_en.htm

GFCM Regional Conference: Building a future for sustainable small-scale fisheries in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea http://www.fao.org/gfcm/meetings/ssfconference2016/en/

20 inshore ireland Spring 2016

Report

Actions identified to improve ocean governance Gillian Mills

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five-month public consultation (June-October 2015) on international ocean governance has identified the need for better implementation and coordination, as well as filling legal gaps and improving ocean knowledge.

Respondents from Portugal, Malta, USA, Norway, Chile, Spain, France and Ireland agreed that the EU has an important role to play in the global fight against illegal fishing; driving the agenda for a new international legal agreement under the UN to preserve marine biodiversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction, and promoting research cooperation through the 2013 Galway Declaration - Atlantic Ocean research alliance with the EU and Canada.

The aim of this consultation was to gather input on how the EU could contribute to achieving better international governance of oceans and seas to develop sustainable ‘blue growth’.

On the basis of the results and other sources of data and information, the European Commission will consider how best to develop ‘a more coherent, comprehensive and effective EU policy on improving the international ocean governance framework’.

Ireland’s input

In its national integrated maritime plan ‘Harnessing Our Ocean Wealth’, Ireland recognises that fundamental to a thriving maritime economy is a robust governance, policy and planning framework which enables innovation and growth within the maritime sector yet ensures a progressive and responsive regulatory environment which protects our seas from unsustainable use and development.

The Commission’s consultation document notes the sea is of enormous importance to climate, to health and well-being, and to economic growth where it has the potential to drive that growth further. Concomitantly, it is not an inexhaustible resource ---- our use of and dependence on the oceans must be tempered by the realisation that sustainable management of this resource is necessary.

The recently-agreed UN Sustainable Development Goals identify a specific and targeted goal regarding the conservation and sustainable use of our ocean resources which further reinforces this point.

General problem definition

Ireland agrees with the EU Commission consultation document that today’s international ocean governance framework rests within the overarching legal framework established by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), under which a combination of jurisdictional rights, institutions and specific frameworks have been established and developed.

While this means there is no single agency responsible for ocean activities, many elements of this framework are undoubtedly working well, such as the International Maritime Organisation and the International Labour Organisation, which provide a comprehensive process for the development of standards and obligations.

The EU is rightly committed to the balance of rights and duties struck by UNCLOS. The negotiations currently underway in relation to the Protection of Biodiversity in Areas beyond

National Jurisdiction are to be welcomed. The EU should continue to engage in and support those negotiations in consultation with Member States through the appropriate fora such as the working group on the law of the sea (COMAR).

As the EU Commission’s 2009 Communication, ‘Developing the international dimension of the Integrated Maritime Policy of the European Union’ notes, many of the challenges facing our seas require an integrated approach and true cooperation at international level. Incomplete ratification and coordination, along with the need to effectively implement the existing rules, are the principal gaps with respect to ocean governance that Ireland identifies.

The sector-specific nature of the international institutions and the sets of rules that have developed to regulate activities at sea within the framework of UNCLOS would benefit from greater coordination so that they can: i) better address the cumulative effects of a number of activities at sea on the marine environment and its biodiversity and ii) support sustainable development, economic growth and cohesion.

The 2009 Communication recognises that ongoing support from the EU and its Member States for UN efforts on ratification and implementation of key instruments by all partners is vital. Ireland would welcome this continued support, along with continuing efforts to meaningfully improve compliance with existing rules and enhance coordination among the existing institutions.

The EU and its Member States have already achieved much in the development of robust and practical tools that provide an effective governance framework internally, such as the Marine Strategy Framework Directive, the Maritime Spatial Planning Directive, the revised Common Fisheries Policy, the development of sea-basin Strategies, and the comprehensive strategy for Blue Growth which aims to foster sustainable, longterm growth of the maritime sector.

The EU’s Integrated Maritime Policy, with its aim of promoting sustainable growth through

coordination of policies and development of cross-sectoral tools, is a source of valuable lessons that can be brought to the international level.

Specific problem definition

As already stated, the existing governance system is complex, and challenging to implement in a coordinated manner. The organisations, their roles, responsibilities and work practices, have developed and evolved, in accordance with the development and evolution of our use of the oceans and our understanding of the various challenges arising from these activities.

Among the most compelling environmental challenges facing our oceans currently are ocean acidification, marine pollution from land-based activities and overfishing and where fishing practices have unacceptable impacts on the ecosystem and the environment. Regulation of land-based activities and of fishing to address these issues are in place, with further planned at EU level (Circular Economy).

The principal issues relate to the universal ratification and effective implementation of current instruments and the effective coordination of these organisations and institutions at the global level.

There is also a further need to better understand the marine ecosystems and how they respond to the various pressures exerted on them from the increasing range of human activities in the marine environment.

Existing international Ocean Governance Framework

As previously outlined, the current international governance framework is comprehensive, if complex . The main issues arising from this system relate to universal ratification, effective implementation and coordination.

Continued EU and Member States’ support of the ongoing negotiations under UNCLOS on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction would be welcome in this regard.

In addition, EU support for the achievement of the recently agreed UN Sustainable Development Goal 14 on the conservation of ocean resources should also be a priority.

Continued EU support for the ratification of existing tools and instruments, for their effective implementation, and for the strengthening of compliance and enforcement, as well as advocating for improved communication and coordination between and within existing organisations, will have a significant impact on addressing the challenges now facing the marine environment.

Examples of possible such improvements include:

»» improving and facilitating communications and information sharing between fisheries and environmental authorities »» improving information sharing among security actors with responsibilities in the maritime domain, as set out in the recently agreed EU Maritime Security Strategy »» agreeing a mechanism to require an environmental assessment to be undertaken for activities in areas beyond national jurisdiction that are likely to significantly impact on the environment

Lack of knowledge

The development of policy and decision making, in the absence of full understanding of the implications of such decisions, is a particular challenge in marine governance. There is an imperative for evidence-based policy choices. For this reason an iterative and ecosystem based approach is essential.

Currently, legal instruments and structures are in place to facilitate the implementation of an ecosystem based approach to managing human activities at sea but the required data and knowledge are lacking in some crucial areas, particularly with respect to assessing cumulative impacts, understanding changes caused by climate (such as with ocean acidification) and understanding the resilience of marine ecosystems.

Very significant progress has been, and continues to be made to resolve these problems in recent years but gaps in our knowledge still exist. This is possibly best illustrated by the fact that only 10% or less of the world’s seabed has been mapped.

Consideration needs to be given to how the gaps in existing knowledge be identified, prioritised and addressed in a coordinated manner.

From a knowledge perspective, the acquisition and provision of reference information and tools and methodologies to better project and assess cumulative environmental impacts would greatly assist in forward planning. In addition a better understanding of the socio-economics effects of different activities in the marine space is essential for understanding the effects of decisions and the application of the ecosystem based approach.Lack of coordination in relation to the storing and sharing of information is an issue that could also be addressed: improved communications and improved systems of informationsharing internally and between international organisations will assist in the identification of knowledge gaps and mechanisms to resolve such gaps.

At national and EU level, significant investments are being made in research to help address some of these issues, for example through information sharing initiatives such as CISE, EMODNET, EDA­ MARSUR, through research undertaken on foot of the Galway Statement, through the proposed Marinerg-1 ESFRI roadmap project, and through the Copernicus programme.

There is an imperative now to better coordinate and utilise the outputs of this and other relevant work. For example, the international coordination role of the Atlantic Ocean Cooperation Research Alliance provides us with one possible model, while the Copernicus programme has the potential to provide key data on ocean temperatures, tidal patterns, chlorophyll concentration, and polar ice conditions and will help develop a broader maritime awareness.

inshore ireland Spring 2016 21

Marine R&D

Bathymetric data uses across multi-marine activities

Fabio Sacchetti, Marine Institute

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o ensure that hydrographic data collected by the INFOMAR vessels are of the highest standard, offshore personnel regularly undertake training across many activities including sea-safety; fire-fighting and boat handling, in addition to upskilling in the latest software packages.

During February, members of the INFOMAR offshore team from the Marine Institute and the Geological Survey of Ireland participated in a comprehensive Caris training week in Oranmore.

Caris and its inclusive Hips & Sips package is a bathymetric, seafloor imagery and water column data processing software package that enables simultaneous processing and analysis on a suite of geophysical datasets including multibeam (and singlebeam), backscatter, side scan sonar and LiDAR. The team were also

presented with a 3D model of the British steam-collier S.S. Polwell, torpedoed in 1918.

The wreck was surveyed extensively in September 2015 by the archaeology group at the School of Environmental Sciences, Ulster University, supported by INFOMAR. The dataset and imagery subsequently won a prestigious competition hosed by Caris to reward the best annual hydrographic images for 2015. The prize was the 3D rendering of the Polwell, created with the latest digital technology to reveal astonishing detail of a ship lying in the Irish Sea for over a century.

Survey platform

On the March 16, Cosantoir Bradan was retired from the INFOMAR fleet. The ‘CB’, as she was affectionately known, was on loan to INFOMAR from Inland Fisheries Ireland (IFI) who had conducted coastal fisheries surveys in the vessel until April 2012.

Under management of the GSI, she was extensively fitted out with hydrographic equipment and put into active service, acquiring high-quality multibeam data around the coast from Tralee to Tramore, Blacksod to Bofin and Sheepshaven to Skibbereen.

The vessel was a selfcontained survey platform that could accommodate 6 maximum but usually sailed with a skipper, a surveyor and a data-processor. I first joined the inshore survey team as a surveyor aboard Cosantoir and have many enjoyable memories of long summer days sailing along Ireland’s beautiful west coast.

Due to the nature of her

previous job, her presence often raised suspicion from wary fishermen; however once our motives were properly announced it became much easier to secure a berth in remote harbours!

Last year she served mostly as a processing platform, rarely putting to sea. She returned to the IFI at the conclusion of the loan term with further options being explored before a final decision is reached on her future.

clubs nationwide. The App, developed by Compass Informatics, is the first to be underpinned by our bathymetric dataset, also detailing wreck locations and information on dive sites around the coast. It is now available as a free

download on both android and the Apple Store.

Finally, Oisin McManus was on hand at the Skipper Expo in the Galway Bay Hotel to discuss the use of seabed mapping technology in the context of the Irish fishing industry.

Promotional outlets

The INFOMAR team actively engages with multiple marine sectors to promote the use of our comprehensive dataset.

In February Vera Quinlan, herself an active sailor, presented ‘Hydrography for the Sailor’ at the inaugural Cruisers Conference hosted by the Irish Sailing Association in Howth. The well-received talk highlighted the importance of safe navigation around unknown seafloor features and “opened a few eyes and ears to what is under the sea and the activities of INFOMAR”, remarked Gail McAllister of the ISA. March saw the annual Dive International Show, this year hosted by the Athlone Sub-Aqua Club.

The team presented a talk on the continued value of INFOMAR data within the marine sector, with an interesting and very popular discussion on the latest shipwreck imagery ensuing.

We are also delighted to announce the release of the newly upgraded INFOMAR – CFT Dive App to diving

Fabio Sacchetti (INFOMAR team-lead) on receipt of the Caris prize, a 3d print of the SS Polwell (inset).

The INFOMAR survey team and processors

Cosantoir Bradan leaves the INFOMAR fleet after four years’ service (Photo Niall Finn). Inset: The CB returned to Malahide marina

This high-resolution hydrographic dataset produced by INFOMAR and the University of Ulster was amongst those voted ‘Best Hydrographic Image of 2015’

22 inshore ireland Spring 2016

Marine R&D

All eyes on Galway for maritime bonanza

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he third annual Our Ocean Wealth Conference takes place in Galway this year as part of SeaFest 2016.

Innovation is the key theme of this year’s conference, entitled Into the Blue – Innovating for our marine future, on Friday July 1, at National University of Ireland, Galway.

An initiative of the interdepartmental Marine Coordination Group, the conference includes a review of progress on Ireland’s Integrated Marine Plan – Harnessing Our Ocean Wealth (2012). It will overview the ‘blue economy’ with updates from industry and enterprise agencies on the latest innovations.

The conference will look at recent collaboration between the EU, Canada and the US on Atlantic Ocean research and how this can increase our ability to map, observe and predict the ocean and its impact on our lives.

It will also examine our relationship with the ocean and look at new ways to engage citizens with the sea and educate future generations. As Maritime Spatial Planning is implemented in Ireland, the conference offers a unique opportunity to look at how we can participate in the sustainable development of our oceans.

“We’re really looking forward to bringing Our Ocean Wealth and SeaFest to Galway

this summer. There’s a momentum gathering, driven by ambitious targets set in the national plan Harnessing Our Wealth, launched in Galway at our headquarters in Oranmore in 2012.

We hope to bring together key policy-makers; legislators, industry, stakeholders and the public this summer to build on this momentum,” remarked Dr Peter Heffernan, Marine Institute chief executive.

Maritime festival

SeaFest 2016 takes place over July 2-3 and will include a wide range of family events to engage the public with the sea, including BIM’s ‘seafood experience; the Marine Institute’s Wild Altantic – What lies beneath, as well as sailing events, funfair, street entertainment and a unique chance to see some of Ireland’s national research vessel and naval vessel in Galway Harbour.

Some targeted marine business, research and policy events are also taking place; these include BIM’s National Seafood Conference at the Radisson Hotel (30th); a Seachange Researchers Workshop at the Marine Institute, Oranmore, (30th) and the marine industry awards (30th).

For more information visit: www.ouroceanwealth.ie www. seafest.ie www.marine.ie

Chef Rory O’Connell gives a seafood cooking demonstration during the BIM ‘Seafood Experience’ at Seafest 2015.

Photo: Darragh Kane

Laura, Grace and Aiden Cotter from Carrigaline, Co Cork with Noreen Burke of the Explorers Education Programme at SeaFest 2015.

Photo: Darragh Kane

Are you hosting a marine-themed workshop in Ireland in 2016?

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he Marine Institute can provide funding of up to €2,000 towards the costs of your workshop.

Applications to the Networking and Travel Grants Programme from industry are particularly welcome.

Industry can also apply under the same programme for funding up to of €1,000 towards overseas travel costs to set up a marine research collaboration; for example to attend a pre-proposal meeting for an EU Horizon 2020 project.

Further details are available on the Marine Institute website www.marine.ie under current funding opportunities, or by email to funding@marine.ie

Minister Simon Coveney at Seafest 2015

inshore ireland Spring 2016 23

Marine R&D

20 transition-year students visit the Marine Institute as part of a week-long work experience programme.

Credit: Marine Institute

TY students work-experience programme Andrea Woods

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wenty students from across the country took part in a transitionyear work experience week at the Marine Institute from February 29 – March 4.

The students worked in various service areas to learn about the wideranging activities of the Marine Institute. They toured the laboratories to learn how scientists use the otolith (earbone) of a fish to discover its age, and saw where the fish are sampled in the wet laboratories.

Fisheries scientists explained the importance of assessing fish stocks to understand the sustainable limits for fishing. The students also learned about ocean acidification, and had an opportunity to carry out experiments on pH levels.

They also learned about

the science behind seafood safety, and met the scientists who ensure that the Irish shellfish we eat is free from naturally occurring toxins.

The students spent a full day with the INFOMAR team who demonstrated their work on seabed mapping using the latest technology, and explained the importance of topography, geology and seabed mapping using Ireland’s first Augmented Reality Sandbox. They also got to test-drive a mini submarine (ROV).

Other modules included application development with the information services team, where students got insight into the process, and brainstormed some ideas for future app development.

They also developed their communication and presentation skills through various workshops, and highlighted their experience through group poster presentations to Marine Institute staff.

“We’re delighted these students chose to spend a week at the Marine Institute and we hope they were inspired by the people they met and by work that we do to understand our unique ocean resource.

“I’m sure we’ll see some of them again as ocean explorers, marine biologists, oceanographers, or hydrographers mapping the seabed, or as engineers, developing novel marine renewable energy devices.

Many opportunities lie ahead, particularly with the national and EU focus on the potential of the ‘blue economy’ with the Government plan – Harnessing Our Ocean Wealth and the European Commission’s Atlantic Strategy,” remarked Dr Peter Heffernan, Marine Institute chief executive.

For further information on the Marine Institute Transition Year Programme contact David Mullen at david. mullen@marine.ie

Vera Quinlan of INFOMAR demonstrates the importance of seabed mapping using the AR Sandbox to the transition year students.

Credit Marine Institute

Brainstorming ideas during the presentation skills workshop.

Credit: Marine Institute

24 inshore ireland Spring 2016

Marine R&D

Dedicated career to marine renewable energy

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rofessor Tony Lewis of University College Cork, the acknowledged ‘father of ocean energy’ was honoured by his peers in the field of marine renewable energy at a special two-day symposium hosted by the MaREI Centre for Marine and Renewable Energy.

The Lewis Symposium was hosted by the MaREI Centre for Marine and Renewable Energy in recognition of the significant contributions made by Professor Tony Lewis to the field of Ocean Energy.

Professor Jerry Murphy, Director MaREI said the event was to “acknowledge and celebrate” the lifetime’s work of Tony Lewis whom he said had dedicated his entire career to marine renewable energy.

“Professor Lewis has been one of the most active members of the ocean energy community for the past four decades. Through his teaching, research, industrial and ambassadorial roles, he has become a great influencer in the Marine Renewable Energy (MRE) sector,” added Professor Murphy.

Tony Lewis’ legacy includes the MaREI Centre for Marine and Renewable Energy and the Lir National Ocean Test Facility located in the new world-class Beaufort Building.

“Tony saw the potential of our marine resource before many others and was instrumental in developing the MRE sector here,” Professor Murphy said.

In response, Tony Lewis said that over the course of his career he had been privileged to have worked with people from all over the world who made real progress in the MRE sector.

“Professor Stephen Salter in particular has been a real inspiration to me,” he said, also acknowledging the many others who had travelled to Cork.

Despite a sea-to-land ratio of over 10:1 which made Ireland one of the best locations in terms of MRE resources, Professor Lewis said it was only in the last ten years that Ireland had become serious about its potential.

“I am honoured to have played a part, and I look forward to continued collaboration with my colleagues in Ireland and across the world,” he added.

Professor Tony Lewis

Friday 29th April Seascapes visits the British Embassy and meets H.E. Dominick Chilcott -British Ambassador to Ireland - on the Centenary of the Imperial Transantarctic Expedition which featured Sir Ernest Shackleton and Tom Crean, and celebrated by the Ambassador some weeks ago at his residence in Glencairn.

The Ambassador talks about our shared maritime heritage and the legacy of Sir Terry Wogan and the Quest’s cabin journey to the Shackleton Museum in Athy.

Friday 6th May 2016 Seascapes talks to the Cork man who discovered the forgotten cabin from the Quest - Sir Ernest Shackleton’s final resting place. We talk to Eugene Furlong about how this discovery evolved and where his interest in exploration and the Antarctic began as a young boy.

Friday 13th May 2016 Seascapes meets Joe O Farrell and we hear about the journey of the Quest cabin from below the Arctic Circle to Dublin and then to Letterfrack for conservation before its final journey to The Shackleton Museum in Athy later this year.

UCC Beaufort Building houses the MaREI Centre and the LIR National Ocean Test Facility.

With a floor area of nearly 5,000m2 over five floors, Beaufort can accommodate 135 researchers and support staff who have state-of-the-art test tanks and laboratories at their disposal.

The facility was officially opened last July last by An Taoiseach Enda Kenny and is the result of a €15.2m investment by State and private sources.

Along with MaREI and the Lir National Ocean Test Facility, Beaufort is part of the IMERC Cluster - a strategic initiative by UCC, Cork Institute of Technology and the Irish Naval Service which has been successful in promoting Ireland as the place to invest in the maritime and energy sectors.

Seascapes is presented and produced by Marcus Connaughton and is transmitted every Friday evening at 10.30pm on RTE Radio 1

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wenty-five international raceboats will compete over the 32km course in what is described as the world’s ‘toughest and most prestigious’ powerboat race. Ireland’s Team Hibernia and England’s Vector Martini clocked up speeds in excess of 160km/ph during trials in Cobh Harbour, Co Cork, ahead of the Venture Cup inshore leg on June 12.

“This was a necessary test. These boats usually only race very long distances offshore but Cork Harbour is particularly special,” commented Venture Cup racing director, Peter Dredge. “We’ve been working hard with the Port of Cork to deliver a really great in-harbour course for the first leg of the race,” he added.

“This is a truly wonderful adventure,” remarked Venture’s Stuart Walker. “We’re bringing the event to Cork and Ireland because we know how well people here react to major events, and we intend to put on a show that people will be talking about fondly for decades.”

After the inshore leg, the fleet heads westwards, stopping into Dingle, Galway, Killybegs and Belfast, before heading southwards to Dublin for the closing weekend on Saturday June 18.

Testing the waters in Cobh Harbour ahead of the inshore leg of the 2016 Venture Cup in June

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26 inshore ireland Spring 2016

ECOTOURISM

Above: Loch a Teampaill Left: Inishark Right: (Back l-r): Luke Murray, community tourism officer; Jackie Jefferson, Dolphin Hotel; Simon Murray, Inisbofin Community Development Co; Tommy Burke, Cultúr na Oileáin walking tours; Anthony Harris, Lacy’s Farm Front (l-r): Adrian Herlihy, Beach Bar; Mary Mulvey, Ecotourism Ireland; Siobhan Ryan, CSP Inisgbofin, Mary Lavelle, Darcy’s Orchard Farm; Maura Lyons, Leave No Trace, Lorraine Fitzgerald, Business in the Community and Andrew Murray, Murray’s Hotel Right bottom: St Colman’s Abbey & Graveyard All photos: Gillian Mills

Take nothing but photos; leave nothing but footprints Gillian Mills

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nisbofin, the ‘island of the white cow’, will get a hold of you and won’t let go. From the moment you step off the ferry that leaves twice daily from Cleggan, you know you are somewhere special.

The island boasts diverse habitats - from pristine beaches; sheltered coves and sand dunes; sea cliffs and stacks - to bogs, hay meadows and rolling hills.

Sheep farming, fishing and seaweed foraging by day and traditional music drifting on the evening breeze, make up a complete package to inspire all visitors.

The sound of tranquil silence is everywhere, intermittingly broken by the rumble of a ‘resident only’ diesel engine that is clearly used to meandering the narrow, sea pinks-edged boreens. And if you’re lucky you might hear the corncrake in May, or a skylark hovering overhead as he pours out his sweet song.

The panoramic views of and from the island, are spectacular: a cliff-lined perspective from the west quarter looking back to the harbour, or across the water to the deserted island of Inishark. From Cloonamore, mainland north Connemara and its highest mountain, Mweelrea are clearly visible.

Records suggest the first inhabitants landed 6000-4000 BC and since then fishermen, farmers, monks, soldiers and adventurers have all left their mark on this 17km2 island.

Approaching the harbour, the imposing ruins of Cromwell’s 16th Century barracks were used to imprison catholic priests declared guilty of treason under the English State of 1655. The population reached its peak of over 1,600 prior to the Famine in 1840s, declining to circa 180 inhabitants today.

SAC status

In 2015, Inisbofin achieved Special Area of Conservation status for its coastal lagoons, oligotrophy waters (containing very few

minerals); wet and dry heaths and grey seal population.

(The aim of the Habitats Directive is to maintain or restore the favourable conservation status of habitats and species of community interest. SACs and Special Protection Areas (SPAs) are designated to afford protection and are known as the Natura 2000 network.)

Approximately one-fifth of Inisbofin is classed as an SPA and is of high ornithological significance for its breeding population of corncrakes. The corncrake is a threatened species with population decline of over 50% in the last 25 years.

Two-thirds of the island is commonage (wet and dry

heath) particularly around the middle and eastern quarter where a small area of dune occurs. The largest waterbody, Lough Bofin, has a brackish character and is classified as a lagoon. The remainder of the island is under cultivation (grass for pasture and a little hay), potatoes and some grain crops. The surrounding waters also support a breeding colony of grey seals.

Since 2013, the Inisbofin Community Development Company has been working with Ecotourism Ireland to achieve ‘eco certification’ for its green and sustainable tourism products and experiences. Ecotourism Ireland is globally recognised and accredited by Global

inshore ireland Spring 2016 27

ECOTOURISM

Ecotourism activities

Ecotourism experiences Bird and Nature Photography Spring Bird Watching Summer Bird Watching Skylark Experience

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s well as corncrakes, choughs, lapwings, skylarks and the many other attractions, tours include a RIB trip to neighbouring islands of Inisturk or Inishark to see grey seals, common and bottle-nose dolphins, great skua, puffins, gullemots and rasorbills.

Courses are led by bird watching guide author and photographer, Anthony McGeehan. Further details from The Dolphin Hotel & Restaurant, 095 45991 / www.dolphinhotel.ie

Sustainable Tourism Council.

“This is not an island that is all about packing in the daytrippers,” remarked Mary Mulvey, CEO of Ecotourism Ireland, at the recent launch.

Inisbofin is also the first ‘Leave No Trace’ island since partnering with the outdoor ethics programme that promotes responsible use of the outdoors.

The Inisbofin LNT network currently includes seven businesses that have adopted the core principles of: plan ahead and prepare; be considerate of others; respect farm animals and wildlife; travel and camp on durable ground; leave what you find; dispose of waste properly; and minimise the effects of fire.

“Through relevant and targeted education, research and outreach, Leave no Trace ensures the long-term health of our natural world,” explained Maura Lyons, programme manager.

Fairtrade tea, coffee, sugar and chocolate are also available at the community centre which has embraced the ‘leave no trace’ principle by using only vinegar, water and lemon juice for cleaning products, thereby reducing plastic and cardboard waste.

Pat Coyne, owner of The Dolphin Hotel, believes sustainable tourism is vital for the future of the community.

He is immensely proud of his island heritage and has developed his tourism business to achieve 4-star

Failte Ireland rating.

The hotel is named after a ‘nobbie’ fishing boat from the 1920s. Designed to be in tune with the natural surroundings, the curved restaurant is faced with recycled local stone, combined with weathered cedar. Energy efficient underfloor heating and solar panels respect the environment, and the kitchen is supplied from a small organic kitchen herb garden.

“Inisbofin is not a place to rush to for the nearest viewpoint and back to catch the last ferry. It’s a place to hike, bike, picnic, swim, fish soak in the history, eat local seafood or lamb, and relax the night away listening to traditional music and stargazing,” Mary Mulvey

»» Island walking tours »» Coastal horse riding trek »» Inland trails on hoseback »» Therapeutic horse riding (lessons for people with physical, cognitive, emotional and development disabilities) »» Looking after lambs (March & April) »» Sheepdogs at Work »» Sheepshearing (May - August) »» Sail around Inisbofin, Inishark, Inisgoirt and Inishkina »» Rock fishing (and eating!) »» Self-guided walking tours

Contact Luke Murray, tourism manager, csptourism@inisbofin. com or inishbofin.com

The Dolphin Hotel, 095 45991 / www.dolphinhotel.ie

The ‘real’ map of Inisbofin

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n July 2012, Geological Survey of Ireland vessels RV Keary and RV Geo arrived at Inisbofin with the goal of mapping ‘the first’ underwater terrain surrounding the island. This work was part of the INFOMAR seabed mapping programme – a national project to map all of Ireland’s inshore waters and offer the data for free to the public.

3-D map of the seabed surrounding Inisbofin and neighbouring Inishark

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