Menu

Ireland's sailing, boating & maritime magazine

Displaying items by tag: distress

#Angling - Inland Fisheries Ireland (IFI) is seeking the help of anglers and the general public to report any sightings of distressed fish due to high water temperatures or low water levels. 

The national fisheries body also requests that anglers voluntarily cease using keep nets during this period, so as not to cause unintentional distress to fish kept for long periods in these nets.

Reports may be made to the local fisheries offices or the 24-hour hotline number on 1890 34 74 24. 

IFI staff will continue to monitor canals, lakes and rivers for any signs of distressed fish in shallow water, but may be able to react more quickly to timely reports received.

"Low water levels and high water temperatures may lead to fish kills," said IFI chief Dr Ciaran Byrne, "and as the temperatures for salmon and trout are perilously hot at the moment, fish kills may be unavoidable. In many instances, moving fish may also prove too stressful. 

"Anglers practicing catch and release during this hot spell may wish to consider desisting from fishing until conditions are more favourable."

Minister Fergus O'Dowd also urged anglers and the public to "please be vigilant and help conserve our wonderful inland fisheries resource".

Local Fisheries Offices contacts:

  • IFI Swords – 01 884 2600
  • IFI Limerick – 061 300 238
  • IFI Blackrock – 01 278 7022
  • IFI Galway – 091 563 118
  • IFI Clonmel – 052 618 0055
  • IFI Ballina – 096 22788
  • IFI Macroom – 026 41222
  • IFI Ballyshannon – 071 985 1435
Published in Angling
Wicklow RNLI all-weather lifeboat launched just before 5pm last night (Saturday 20th August) to assist a yacht in difficulties seven miles south east of Wicklow harbour. The alarm was raised when the skipper sent a distress call to the Coast Guard, after his vessel sustained damage to the mast and rigging and a rope had fouled the propeller.

The yacht with two persons onboard was taking part in a race along the Wicklow coast when the mast and rigging was damaged, the skipper attempted to use the engine but a rope had fouled the propeller leaving the vessel drifting helplessly.

wicklowlifeboat

Wicklow lifeboat tows the yacht to safety last night

The lifeboat crew under the command of Coxswain Ciaran Doyle located the stricken yacht about one mile east of the North Arklow buoy and was alongside less than 30 minutes after launching. Once a towline had been rigged by the lifeboat crew the casualty was taken under tow to Wicklow harbour. The yacht was secured alongside the south quay at 7pm and the two sailors were landed safely ashore. This was the second incident the volunteer crew responded to over the weekend.

 

Published in RNLI Lifeboats

Galway Port & Harbour

Galway Bay is a large bay on the west coast of Ireland, between County Galway in the province of Connacht to the north and the Burren in County Clare in the province of Munster to the south. Galway city and port is located on the northeast side of the bay. The bay is about 50 kilometres (31 miles) long and from 10 kilometres (6.2 miles) to 30 kilometres (19 miles) in breadth.

The Aran Islands are to the west across the entrance and there are numerous small islands within the bay.

Galway Port FAQs

Galway was founded in the 13th century by the de Burgo family, and became an important seaport with sailing ships bearing wine imports and exports of fish, hides and wool.

Not as old as previously thought. Galway bay was once a series of lagoons, known as Loch Lurgan, plied by people in log canoes. Ancient tree stumps exposed by storms in 2010 have been dated back about 7,500 years.

It is about 660,000 tonnes as it is a tidal port.

Capt Brian Sheridan, who succeeded his late father, Capt Frank Sheridan

The dock gates open approximately two hours before high water and close at high water subject to ship movements on each tide.

The typical ship sizes are in the region of 4,000 to 6,000 tonnes

Turbines for about 14 wind projects have been imported in recent years, but the tonnage of these cargoes is light. A European industry report calculates that each turbine generates €10 million in locally generated revenue during construction and logistics/transport.

Yes, Iceland has selected Galway as European landing location for international telecommunications cables. Farice, a company wholly owned by the Icelandic Government, currently owns and operates two submarine cables linking Iceland to Northern Europe.

It is "very much a live project", Harbourmaster Capt Sheridan says, and the Port of Galway board is "awaiting the outcome of a Bord Pleanála determination", he says.

90% of the scrap steel is exported to Spain with the balance being shipped to Portugal. Since the pandemic, scrap steel is shipped to the Liverpool where it is either transhipped to larger ships bound for China.

It might look like silage, but in fact, its bales domestic and municipal waste, exported to Denmark where the waste is incinerated, and the heat is used in district heating of homes and schools. It is called RDF or Refuse Derived Fuel and has been exported out of Galway since 2013.

The new ferry is arriving at Galway Bay onboard the cargo ship SVENJA. The vessel is currently on passage to Belem, Brazil before making her way across the Atlantic to Galway.

Two Volvo round world races have selected Galway for the prestigious yacht race route. Some 10,000 people welcomed the boats in during its first stopover in 2009, when a festival was marked by stunning weather. It was also selected for the race finish in 2012. The Volvo has changed its name and is now known as the "Ocean Race". Capt Sheridan says that once port expansion and the re-urbanisation of the docklands is complete, the port will welcome the "ocean race, Clipper race, Tall Ships race, Small Ships Regatta and maybe the America's Cup right into the city centre...".

The pandemic was the reason why Seafest did not go ahead in Cork in 2020. Galway will welcome Seafest back after it calls to Waterford and Limerick, thus having been to all the Port cities.

© Afloat 2020