Contains the full lesson along with a supporting toolkit, including teachers’ notes.
Importance of fishing to the Irish economy
Ireland’s commercial fishing industry, covering coastal waters, estuaries, spawning areas and open ocean, is worth around €1 billion per year, the bulk of which is exported — mostly to the EU. It employs around 11 000 people directly in areas such as fishing, fish farming, processing and marketing. Ireland lands over 40 species of high quality seafoods including salmon, whitefish, shell fish and pelagic species.
In addition to this, angling tourism is reckoned to be worth a further €0.75 billion annually and employs 10,000 people, mainly in rural Ireland.
Ireland is unusual in that its marine resources cover about ten times the land area and are governed by the rules and regulations of the EU’s Common
Fisheries Policy (2012). With an estimated 80% of species in EU waters being overfished, it is essential that our fisheries work in a sustainable manner to ensure that our unique resources are kept in good health for future generations. To do this we need to understand the complex interactions that occur in our seas and waterways which requires a detailed knowledge of the ecology of these areas is required. The impact of human activities on these relationships also needs to be studied in detail. Please see the Fisheries Management Map 2014
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