All Projects
The aquaculture industry is an important economic activity on all coasts of Ireland. A significant proportion of the activity occurs within, or in proximity to, Natura 2000 sites which are designated areas under the EU Habitats and Birds Directives.
As identified, the aquaculture industry is an important economic activity on all coasts of Ireland. The inshore aquaculture industry produces a variety of shellfish as well as salmon and trout. A significant proportion of the activity occurs within, or proximate to, Natura 2000 sites which are environmentally designated areas under the EU Habitats and Birds Directives.
Consistent with sub-article 6.2 of the Habitats Directive (EC 92/43/EEC), which requires member states to take measures to avoid deterioration of protected habitats, Ireland will undertake a further mapping survey of offshore reefs in 2019 to evaluate status and introduce conservation and management measures in proportion to status and pressures from fishing. This study has been identified as highest priority by DAHG for the marine environment and is based on a letter by DAHCG to DAFM (attached).
Seascape is an important element in any maritime nation’s sense of identity and culture. It relates to where and how people value their coasts. As is evident in national tourism statistics, Irish seascapes are especially valued along the Wild Atlantic Way. This project aimed to broadly define and classify Ireland’s Seascapes. This has improved our understanding of the character and values of the relevant seascapes and provided national baseline information available from which the planning and decision making processes can respond to future changes.
This project involved data collection, collation and analytical studies to identify, characterise and map Ireland’s marine provisioning, regulating / maintenance and cultural services. There was a lack of information available about marine ecosystem services in Ireland.
Horizon scanning and foresight activities provide important evidence and data to support strategic decision making. This includes stocktaking of national, EU and international current and future policies, regulations, and initiatives with potential relevance to Ireland’s blue economy. A number of marine foresight initiatives have been carried out at EU and international level, however these need to reviewed in the context of Ireland’s blue economy and the advancement of IMP in Ireland.
This project is designed to measure the effectiveness of management or mitigation measures taken as part of aquaculture licencing decisions to reduce or minimise risk to conservation features. Such measures are likely to be of the form of, 1) licence conditions that place certain constraints on activities in certain areas or, 2) redrawing site boundaries. The response of the conservation features to such measures will have to be considered.
This project provides Research support to address any knowledge gaps in indicator development for MSFD criteria and OSPAR fish indicators assessments such that they align and answer Article 8 monitoring requirements for fish under Descriptors 1 and 4 of the MSFD.
The native European flat oyster is depleted throughout its former European range. Ireland still has a number of extant populations some of which are commercially fished but production and productivity is much reduced compared to historic levels.
This project aimed to identify and map datasets of relevance to the MSP process and review their validity. It provided up-to-date spatial and temporal information on marine ecosystems and human activities taking place within Ireland’s maritime domain to support marine spatial planning.
This project will improve understanding of what marine data are available to form a basis for improved MSP-related products and decision support tools.
This project built on Data Discovery, Collation and Gap Analysis for Spatial Representation. This project aimed to provide up-to-date spatial and temporal information by filling in gaps in knowledge required to support MSP, regarding human activities, pressures, resource distribution etc.
This project reviewed the available modelling and decision support tools for MSP. These related to data provision, pressures and impacts of human activities. This project identified best practice technical tools in the Irish context.
This project explored and developed the evidence on climate change implications for MSP. A review of existing MSP was carried out to summarise best practice approaches for incorporating climate change in marine spatial plans.
The aim of this project is to ensure reliable data storage and management systems. This will provide assurance of the availability and versioning of data. Improved data archiving will support legislative compliance and reduce costs by only retaining data which are required.
The project aims to develop or adopt methods for automating data acquisition from inshore fishing vessels using digital methods. Data provision for the majority of the inshore fleet (
The aquaculture industry is an important economic activity on all coasts of Ireland. A significant proportion of the activity occurs within, or in proximity to, Natura 2000 sites which are designated areas under the EU Habitats and Birds Directives.
As identified, the aquaculture industry is an important economic activity on all coasts of Ireland. The inshore aquaculture industry produces a variety of shellfish as well as salmon and trout. A significant proportion of the activity occurs within, or proximate to, Natura 2000 sites which are environmentally designated areas under the EU Habitats and Birds Directives.
Static net fisheries are known to pose a potentially widespread risk of capture to a number of designated species including grey seal, harbour seal and small cetaceans (i.e. porpoises and dolphins).