the Tralee Bay Angling Club

Management and Restoration of Endangered Skate Stocks Phase 2

jkeane — Thu, 23 Apr 2020 11:31:45 +0000

Management and Restoration of Endangered Skate Stocks Phase 2

The key importance of Tralee Bay (but also Clew and Galway) for endangered skates (and the skate-like angel shark) is well known and confirmed thanks to the first two years of EMFF work under the Biodiversity Scheme, and following on from Purse Search, IFI, ICES advice and the recent Irish Red List report. The threats to these species in the area are largely due to tangle netting for crawfish. The species in question are the white skate, common skates, undulate ray, common stingray and the angel shark.

Council of the European Union, December 2016, it was stated that The Commission and the Member States “that the current system of management of skates ad rays under generic TACs could be improved to fully address the need to sustainably manage vulnerable species and data limited stocks and allow for the sustainable exploitation of commercially important species.”

The overall approach is to mitigate the effects of static net fishing for crawfish in general, but especially in the Tralee Bay region. This must be accomplished with the buy-in and involvement of the fishing industry.

In 2019 the main efforts will be in completing synoptic surveys of Tralee Bay using the netting methods established in 2018 and to map the spatio-temporal distribution of egg cases in Tralee.

jkeane Thu, 04/23/2020 - 11:31

Partners:

Marine Institute

Inland Fisheries Ireland

local inshore fishermen

Marine Dimensions Ltd.

the Tralee Bay Angling Club

The project partners are Marine Institute, Inland Fisheries Ireland, with contracted assistance being provided by Marine Dimensions Ltd., the Tralee Bay Angling Club and the local inshore fishermen in Fenit, Castlegregory, The Maharees and Dingle.

Duration:

The project has a 2 year duration and runs between 2019 and 2020.

Project Outputs:

1. Produce egg case survey report containing the following:

a. details of the abundance and distribution of egg cases per month throughout the year in each area.

b. analysis of the local distribution of these egg cases within each bay, and likely spawning sites.

c. quantification of any possible temporal signal in spawning activity throughout the year (12 month period).

d. discussion of the results in the context of existing knowledge of the distribution and abundance of these species and their egg cases in Irish waters.

e. identification of essential habitats, spawning and nursery grounds as a basis of advice for management and conservation.

2. Report on netting surveys, covering the following:

a. Spatio-temporal distribution of species.

b. Comparison of catch rates and species diversity with previous work.

c. Identification of any mitigation measures short of closure of the fishery.

3. Submission to RIFF on conservation and management of endangered skates.

4. Restoration by means of release of captive bred specimens.

Follow the link to the dedicated project outreach website: http://raysawareness.ie/

Expected Benefit:

1. Strengthen the scientific basis for the importance of Tralee Bay (Galway, Clew) as essential skate/shark habitat.

2. Develop programmes to track recovery of the stocks, especially in Tralee Bay.

3. Mitigate the by-catch mortality due to tangle nets by measures including diversification to other fisheries or activities.

4. Collected data to be disseminated including via National biodiversity database.

5. Engage in public outreach to further goals 1-3.

Further Information:

Contact Maurice Clarke, Marine Institute, Rinville, Oranmore, Co. Galway at maurice.clarke@marine.ie

Project Cost - Projected:

€142,000

Related Projects:

Management and Restoration of Endangered Skate Stocks

Project Tags:

Biodiversity

Endangered Species

Outreach Programme

Skates and Rays

Species Restoration

Phase:

Project Status:

Completed

Publication

Skate and Ray Report Skate and Ray Report

raysawareness.ie

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Management and Restoration of Endangered Skate Stocks

dkelly — Wed, 27 Jun 2018 07:43:12 +0000

Management and Restoration of Endangered Skate Stocks

Skates are a branch of the shark family, we sometimes called them flat-sharks. Some of these flat-sharks or skates are extremely rare with Ireland holding some of their last remaining European populations. The main refuges for these species are Tralee and Galway Bay. How do we know this? The main information comes from Citizen Science project. Over the years, interested citizens have sent in recordings of egg cases of these species. The egg cases wash up on beaches and are easily identifiable by species. The species in question are the white skate, common skate, undulate ray, stingray and the angel shark.

Advice from the International Council for the Exploration of the Seas (ICES) was that these species are severely depleted. The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has classified these species as critically endangered with extinction. The outstanding threats are largely due to by-catch in fishing gear, especially tangle netting for crawfish. The overall approach of this project is to gather information that can be used to develop means to restore these species to healthy population levels. This can only be accomplished with the buy-in and involvement of the fishing industry.

The first task of the project was to identify the essential habitat of these species. In 2017, the Marine Institute outsourced services to Marine Dimensions Ltd. to identify spawning, nurseries and essential habitat of these endangered skates. Tralee and Galway Bays are confirmed as the main hot-spots for these species. Within these bays, further work is being done to understand local distribution and essential habitat within the bays. For Tralee Bay, it can be seen that white skate nurseries are quite localised. This is valuable information in future restoration work.

In 2018, the main effort will be in surveys using static nets in the greater Tralee Bay area to investigate the extent to which skates and sharks are intercepted where these gears are deployed. These surveys are termed “gauntlet” surveys because it is understood that the skates/sharks are not resident in the inner bay all the time, and must run the gauntlet of static net fisheries upon entry/exit. Preliminary results to date in 2018 confirm the presence of adult white skate in the Kerry Head region. Another important result of observer work in 2018 is that the presence of the commercially important blonde and spotted rays was confirmed from the Tralee region, despite these species not turning up in recreational catches in the area. These data will allow a more complete map of life history of the species to be developed. A secondary outcome of this work is to scope out these surveys as potential indicators of future stock development. In 2018 follow-up research will be carried out involving beach surveys in the main bays to underline the central importance of these bays, especially Tralee.

dkelly Wed, 06/27/2018 - 07:43

Partners:

Marine Institute

Inland Fisheries Ireland

local inshore fishermen

Marine Dimensions Ltd.

the Tralee Bay Angling Club

Duration:

The project has a 2 year duration and runs between 2017 and 2018.

Project Outputs:

The project is ongoing and completion of tasks is in progress. The expected outcomes are listed below:

Project reports on the importance of Tralee Bay and the behaviour patterns of the species which can form the basis of advice for management and conservation
Report on Programme established to track onward development and recovery of key species
Public outreach through stakeholder interaction, traditional and social media, and through dissemination of scientific results that furthers the 4 aims of the project
Report on by-catch in relevant fisheries
Incorporation of data and new information into stock assessment and scientific advice and publications/dissemination thereof

Follow the link to the dedicated project outreach website: http://raysawareness.ie/

Expected Benefit:

The project will strengthen the scientific basis for managing Tralee and Galway Bays as essential skate/shark habitat. It will further develop programmes to track recovery of the stocks, especially in Tralee Bay and mitigate the by-catch mortality due to tangle nets by measures including diversification to other fisheries or activities.

Further Information:

Contact Maurice Clarke, Marine Institute, Rinville, Oranmore, Co. Galway at maurice.clarke@marine.ie

Project Cost - Projected:

€200,000

Project Tags:

Phase:

Project Status:

Completed