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Displaying items by tag: Connacht

For the second year in a row, Comhghairdeas Coláiste Éidne (St Enda’s College) Galway won the Connacht Schools Team Racing Championship on Sunday 3 March in Carraroe, hosted by Cumann Bádóireachta agus Seoltóireachta.

Six teams from in and around Connacht were able to make the event despite the postponement of racing to Sunday due to westerly gale force winds hammering the bay on Saturday.

The schools included St Enda’s, Athlone Community Marist College Athlone, Calasanctius Oranmore and host school Scoil Cuimsitheach Chiaráin Carraroe.

Every team got to race each other in a full fleet of Fireflies, and St Enda’s were delighted to come away with the win up against strong challengers in Athlone Community College and Marist College Athlone, who placed second and third respectively.

The top three teams now go through the Schools National Team Racing Finals hosted by Schull Community School on the weekend of 4-5 May.

Published in Team Racing

#Angling - Wild brown trout in Connacht lakes face extinction due to unchecked numbers of pike, local anglers fear.

According to Galway Bay FM, the Connacht Angling Council says stocks in Lough Corrib and Lough Mask are among those under threat unless measures such as a closed season for angling and a pike cull are introduced.

Ahead of its ‘Pike are Predators – Save our Wild Brown Trout’ campaign launch this Wednesday 20 September from 8pm at the Boat Inn in Oughterard, the council has launched an online petition in the hopes of persuading Inland Fisheries Ireland to take action against the “predator” species.

Published in Angling

#Angling - Connacht hopes to encourage more women sea anglers to compete for the province at All-Ireland level, as the Mayo Advertiser reports.

The Connaught Council of the Irish Federation of Sea Anglers (IFSA) wants to field a full team for the All-Ireland Ladies Interprovincial Shore Angling Championships in February.

To this end, it plans to provide greater support and resources for female anglers in the west, and is open to welcoming women of all levels and experience into the fold.

“If you are not already part of a club, the first step is to become a member, said Connaught Council team manager Brian Reidy. "These clubs are social, fun, and provide great support for novice anglers."

The Mayo Advertiser has more on the story HERE.

Published in Angling

#ANGLING - Days after the tragic death of an angler on Lough Corrib, as previously reported on Afloat.ie, the Collinamuck Angling Club will donate €5 from every entry in the upcoming open wet fly competition on 22 April to the Corrib Mask rescue boat.

"The important work that is carried out by the volunteers of the Corrib Mask rescue boat is sometimes forgotted by us anglers," the club's Lionel Flanagan told the Galway Advertiser at the launch of this year's contest.

"We hope this small token will help the Corrib Mask rescue boat continue to provide this vital resource to Connacht anglers and visitors alike.”

Published in Angling

#ANGLING - Ciaran Reilly was awarded the title of best all-round fly-dresser for 2012 at the Connacht Youth Fly-Tying Championships in Loughrea, Co Galway recently, The Irish Times reports.

The 12-year-old from Loughrea is now set to captain the Connacht team in the national championships later this year. Runners-up were Conor Cunningham from Loughrea and Ryan Binley from Foxford.

“It was delightful to see so much enthusiasm among the youngsters, all eager to secure a place on the Connacht team,” said judge and former fisheries inspector Danny Goldrick.

The event on 21 January was run by the Western Lakes’ Angling School on behalf of Connacht Angling Council.

Published in Angling

#WEATHER - Met Éireann is warning that more gale force winds will affect many parts of Ireland and the Irish Sea today (28 December).

According to the forecaster, stormy conditions over Connacht, Ulster and parts of north Leinster will see gale force westerly winds with gusts of between 100 and 130 km/h.

The worst winds are expected in exposed coastal and hilly areas of Ulster and Connacht. There is also an increased risk of flooding as a result of high astronomical tides combined with very high seas.

Published in Weather

#WEATHER - The Irish Coast Guard has warned people to stay away from cliff paths and other coastal areas as near hurricane force winds continue to batter the country, the Irish Examiner reports.

As of this morning, Met Éireann was expecting gusts of up to 140 kilometres an hour in Connacht and Ulster.

All Irish coastal areas are expected to experience strong gales. Winds will occasionally reaching violent storm force 11 on coasts from Rossan Point to Malin Head to Fair Head this afternoon, according to meteorologists.

Published in Weather
The 420 Class Connacht Championships took place on the weekend of 18th & 19th September at Cumann Seoltoireachta an Spideil, Spiddal, Galway. In spite of the absence of any of the regular circuit competitors a strong entry of 18 boats makes this the biggest 420 class event in the country this year.

A field of top class visitors and local crews saw former 420 Champion Rob Lehane and crew Tom Mapplebeck, who are currently campaigning a 470 revel in the fresh conditions to take the Connacht title ahead of Patrick Crosbie and crew Thomas Chaix and local father and son team of Stephen & Ronan OGorman.

The silver fleet was hotly contested and CSS Spiddals own up and coming team of Sam Kinirons and Oisin Hamilton took the trophy on a countback from Brendan Gallagher & Rory McAdam of GBSC with a third place overall in the first race.

Racing was cancelled due to strong winds on Saturday and the sailors and supporters enjoyed an evening BBQ hosted by CSS members Carmel & Tiernan OBrien.

4 Races were ran by Race Officer John Leech on Sunday in freshening South Westerlies with at times poor visibility in showers. The fleet and especially the many young 420 crews showed great seamanship in dealing with the testing conditions on this exposed coast, which is no doubt a great encouragement to the 420 Fleet.

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Published in Youth Sailing

Irish Fishing industry 

The Irish Commercial Fishing Industry employs around 11,000 people in fishing, processing and ancillary services such as sales and marketing. The industry is worth about €1.22 billion annually to the Irish economy. Irish fisheries products are exported all over the world as far as Africa, Japan and China.

FAQs

Over 16,000 people are employed directly or indirectly around the coast, working on over 2,000 registered fishing vessels, in over 160 seafood processing businesses and in 278 aquaculture production units, according to the State's sea fisheries development body Bord Iascaigh Mhara (BIM).

All activities that are concerned with growing, catching, processing or transporting fish are part of the commercial fishing industry, the development of which is overseen by BIM. Recreational fishing, as in angling at sea or inland, is the responsibility of Inland Fisheries Ireland.

The Irish fishing industry is valued at 1.22 billion euro in gross domestic product (GDP), according to 2019 figures issued by BIM. Only 179 of Ireland's 2,000 vessels are over 18 metres in length. Where does Irish commercially caught fish come from? Irish fish and shellfish is caught or cultivated within the 200-mile exclusive economic zone (EEZ), but Irish fishing grounds are part of the common EU "blue" pond. Commercial fishing is regulated under the terms of the EU Common Fisheries Policy (CFP), initiated in 1983 and with ten-yearly reviews.

The total value of seafood landed into Irish ports was 424 million euro in 2019, according to BIM. High value landings identified in 2019 were haddock, hake, monkfish and megrim. Irish vessels also land into foreign ports, while non-Irish vessels land into Irish ports, principally Castletownbere, Co Cork, and Killybegs, Co Donegal.

There are a number of different methods for catching fish, with technological advances meaning skippers have detailed real time information at their disposal. Fisheries are classified as inshore, midwater, pelagic or deep water. Inshore targets species close to shore and in depths of up to 200 metres, and may include trawling and gillnetting and long-lining. Trawling is regarded as "active", while "passive" or less environmentally harmful fishing methods include use of gill nets, long lines, traps and pots. Pelagic fisheries focus on species which swim close to the surface and up to depths of 200 metres, including migratory mackerel, and tuna, and methods for catching include pair trawling, purse seining, trolling and longlining. Midwater fisheries target species at depths of around 200 metres, using trawling, longlining and jigging. Deepwater fisheries mainly use trawling for species which are found at depths of over 600 metres.

There are several segments for different catching methods in the registered Irish fleet – the largest segment being polyvalent or multi-purpose vessels using several types of gear which may be active and passive. The polyvalent segment ranges from small inshore vessels engaged in netting and potting to medium and larger vessels targeting whitefish, pelagic (herring, mackerel, horse mackerel and blue whiting) species and bivalve molluscs. The refrigerated seawater (RSW) pelagic segment is engaged mainly in fishing for herring, mackerel, horse mackerel and blue whiting only. The beam trawling segment focuses on flatfish such as sole and plaice. The aquaculture segment is exclusively for managing, developing and servicing fish farming areas and can collect spat from wild mussel stocks.

The top 20 species landed by value in 2019 were mackerel (78 million euro); Dublin Bay prawn (59 million euro); horse mackerel (17 million euro); monkfish (17 million euro); brown crab (16 million euro); hake (11 million euro); blue whiting (10 million euro); megrim (10 million euro); haddock (9 million euro); tuna (7 million euro); scallop (6 million euro); whelk (5 million euro); whiting (4 million euro); sprat (3 million euro); herring (3 million euro); lobster (2 million euro); turbot (2 million euro); cod (2 million euro); boarfish (2 million euro).

Ireland has approximately 220 million acres of marine territory, rich in marine biodiversity. A marine biodiversity scheme under Ireland's operational programme, which is co-funded by the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund and the Government, aims to reduce the impact of fisheries and aquaculture on the marine environment, including avoidance and reduction of unwanted catch.

EU fisheries ministers hold an annual pre-Christmas council in Brussels to decide on total allowable catches and quotas for the following year. This is based on advice from scientific bodies such as the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea. In Ireland's case, the State's Marine Institute publishes an annual "stock book" which provides the most up to date stock status and scientific advice on over 60 fish stocks exploited by the Irish fleet. Total allowable catches are supplemented by various technical measures to control effort, such as the size of net mesh for various species.

The west Cork harbour of Castletownbere is Ireland's biggest whitefish port. Killybegs, Co Donegal is the most important port for pelagic (herring, mackerel, blue whiting) landings. Fish are also landed into Dingle, Co Kerry, Rossaveal, Co Galway, Howth, Co Dublin and Dunmore East, Co Waterford, Union Hall, Co Cork, Greencastle, Co Donegal, and Clogherhead, Co Louth. The busiest Northern Irish ports are Portavogie, Ardglass and Kilkeel, Co Down.

Yes, EU quotas are allocated to other fleets within the Irish EEZ, and Ireland has long been a transhipment point for fish caught by the Spanish whitefish fleet in particular. Dingle, Co Kerry has seen an increase in foreign landings, as has Castletownbere. The west Cork port recorded foreign landings of 36 million euro or 48 per cent in 2019, and has long been nicknamed the "peseta" port, due to the presence of Spanish-owned transhipment plant, Eiranova, on Dinish island.

Most fish and shellfish caught or cultivated in Irish waters is for the export market, and this was hit hard from the early stages of this year's Covid-19 pandemic. The EU, Asia and Britain are the main export markets, while the middle Eastern market is also developing and the African market has seen a fall in value and volume, according to figures for 2019 issued by BIM.

Fish was once a penitential food, eaten for religious reasons every Friday. BIM has worked hard over several decades to develop its appeal. Ireland is not like Spain – our land is too good to transform us into a nation of fish eaters, but the obvious health benefits are seeing a growth in demand. Seafood retail sales rose by one per cent in 2019 to 300 million euro. Salmon and cod remain the most popular species, while BIM reports an increase in sales of haddock, trout and the pangasius or freshwater catfish which is cultivated primarily in Vietnam and Cambodia and imported by supermarkets here.

The EU's Common Fisheries Policy (CFP), initiated in 1983, pooled marine resources – with Ireland having some of the richest grounds and one of the largest sea areas at the time, but only receiving four per cent of allocated catch by a quota system. A system known as the "Hague Preferences" did recognise the need to safeguard the particular needs of regions where local populations are especially dependent on fisheries and related activities. The State's Sea Fisheries Protection Authority, based in Clonakilty, Co Cork, works with the Naval Service on administering the EU CFP. The Department of Agriculture, Food and Marine and Department of Transport regulate licensing and training requirements, while the Marine Survey Office is responsible for the implementation of all national and international legislation in relation to safety of shipping and the prevention of pollution.

Yes, a range of certificates of competency are required for skippers and crew. Training is the remit of BIM, which runs two national fisheries colleges at Greencastle, Co Donegal and Castletownbere, Co Cork. There have been calls for the colleges to be incorporated into the third-level structure of education, with qualifications recognised as such.

Safety is always an issue, in spite of technological improvements, as fishing is a hazardous occupation and climate change is having its impact on the severity of storms at sea. Fishing skippers and crews are required to hold a number of certificates of competency, including safety and navigation, and wearing of personal flotation devices is a legal requirement. Accidents come under the remit of the Marine Casualty Investigation Board, and the Health and Safety Authority. The MCIB does not find fault or blame, but will make recommendations to the Minister for Transport to avoid a recurrence of incidents.

Fish are part of a marine ecosystem and an integral part of the marine food web. Changing climate is having a negative impact on the health of the oceans, and there have been more frequent reports of warmer water species being caught further and further north in Irish waters.

Brexit, Covid 19, EU policies and safety – Britain is a key market for Irish seafood, and 38 per cent of the Irish catch is taken from the waters around its coast. Ireland's top two species – mackerel and prawns - are 60 per cent and 40 per cent, respectively, dependent on British waters. Also, there are serious fears within the Irish industry about the impact of EU vessels, should they be expelled from British waters, opting to focus even more efforts on Ireland's rich marine resource. Covid-19 has forced closure of international seafood markets, with high value fish sold to restaurants taking a large hit. A temporary tie-up support scheme for whitefish vessels introduced for the summer of 2020 was condemned by industry organisations as "designed to fail".

Sources: Bord Iascaigh Mhara, Marine Institute, Department of Agriculture, Food and Marine, Department of Transport © Afloat 2020