Marine Technical

The objectives of the Marine Technical Section are to progress the development of responsible fishing practices addressing environmental and sustainability issues through technical innovation and technology transfer.

Along with a continued programme of sustainability-orientated projects aimed primarily at reducing discarding of undersize and non-target species, a major focus over the next two years will be to assess alternative management strategies using an output based approach with the reduction in discards and alignment of effort with available quota as the main drivers.

The Marine Technical Section is also participating in a number of EU and nationally funded projects with the objectives of reducing the environmental impact of fisheries by reducing benthic impact of fishing gears, retrieving lost or abandoned nets and improving the fuel-efficiency of fishing gears and the promotion of better operating practices particularly in light of the continued economic uncertainty in the global fuel market.

The Marine Technology Section is currently involved in the following projects

• “DEGREE” a major 3-year EU funded project that commenced in 2005. This project will see the development of new gears and fishing techniques that have a lower impact on benthic habitats and will weigh the socio-economic consequences of these changes against those of alternative management measures such as closed areas.
• “DEEPCLEAN” a EU funded project that, in conjunction with the Marine Institute, CEFAS and Seafish in the UK will conduct two extensive net retrieval surveys in deepwater areas off the Irish coast. Linking into the DEEPCLEAN and Waste Management initiatives, identify potential methodologies and technologies for the marking and identification of nets. This will involve physical gear marking systems that are visible, safe and cost effective as well as trailing technologies such as RFID tags to provide a unique identifier of gear to individual vessels.
• Recognising the strong motivation provided by the EU discard initiatives to improve selectivity and operating practices a joint BIM/Marine Institute pilot project to develop and test a target based management system will be conducted in the Aran Islands nephrops fishery.
• Selectivity trials and investigations into bycatch reduction devices to address priority issues as and when they arise.
• Participation in an EU funded project “ESIF” to provide technical and objective information to the fishing industry on the relative energy efficiency of different fishing techniques and strategies as well as identifying new technologies which can improve fuel efficiency and the associated economic consequences of adopting such technologies. This study will run in parallel with similar initiatives looking at fuel efficiency, linking in to economic data being collected as part of the DCR.
• A pilot Seafood Environmental Management System which aims to help fishermen and co-ops to improve their environmental and business performance.
• Increase uptake of the Irish Albacore Tuna quota through tagging work to increase knowledge of fish movements, technical trials to improve catching efficiency and testing of alternative fishing methods e.g. dead baiting. Joint initiatives with industry to develop market opportunities for Irish caught tuna will also be explored as part of an industry workshop planned for early 2008.
• Building on waste management initiatives begun in 2006, further develop alternative methods and systems for disposal of discarded fishing gear including materials such as polyethylene and polyester netting as well as other components of waste fishing gear such as steel trawl doors, plastic trawl floats and rubber disc footropes.
• Linking into the DEEPCLEAN and Waste Management initiatives, identify potential methodologies and technologies for the marking and identification of nets. This will involve physical gear marking systems that are visible, safe and cost effective as well as trailing technologies such as RFID tags to provide a unique identifier of gear to individual vessels. This project is funded by the EU.
• Provide the Chairmanship and Secretariat the ICES/FAO Working Group meeting on Fishing Gear Technology and Fish Behaviour for the next three years, specifically: organising the annual Working Group meeting, attending Stock Assessment and other relevant ICES Working Groups as requested, as well as provision of advice on fishing technology to the EU and RAC’s as and when required.