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he Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute (AFBI), Seafish and the Northern Ireland (NI) Scallop Association have recently completed a report investigating the optimal areas for scallop reseeding in the Irish Sea. This work was commissioned due to an increase in exploitation of scallops around the NI coastline and a desire by industry to be proactive in enhancing long-term sustainability of stocks. Sites selected through industry engagement as proposed reseeding sites were examined by AFBI scientists to ensure that they met the characteristics required for successful settlement of scallops. Seabed habitat maps were combined to provide information for the full sea area under consideration. Scallop catches from the annual AFBI scallop survey were mapped with the full habitat map to determine the areas where scallops were present and identify the underlying habitat type. This allowed a map to be created which showed the suitable habitat for adult scallops within NI waters. All of the proposed reseeding sites fell within areas of suitable habitat. To examine further characteristics of the proposed sites, a combination of measured and modelled data was used. Salinity, food availability, bed stress (natural physical disturbance of the seabed by wave action and/or tidal currents), particulate inorganic matter, suspended particulate matter, abundance of predators, spawning season, larval dispersal and hydrodynamic models were all considered. The above information was presented to the project steering group, and using the data provided, the steering group selected the most suitable sites for reseeding from the original 13 proposed sites. Three reseeding sites (Whitehead, Drumfad Bay and South Bay) have initially been proposed, with a fourth, Roaring Rock, having potential for any future reseeding plans. The NI Scallop Association will now present the results of this work to DAERA to ask for regulation to assist in the protection of these new areas through a ban on mobile fishing gear.

A report which analyses the economic contribution and value of the major aquaculture sub-sectors, and the most important farmed species in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

A market research report on the seafood sector in Vietnam.

This report summarises the results of experimental work carried out as part of “Design and Trials of Electrofishing System for Razorclams – FIFG 57437 and Seafish IPF funding project C85”. The aim of the project was to design and trial methods of harvesting Ensis spp. using electrical stimulus with the intention of providing a more environmentally benign alternative to existing hydraulic and toothed dredges. The results of this study demonstrate that the effects of electrofishing gear employing relatively low DC voltage and amperage can be effectively used in the harvest of Ensis spp. without serious negative effects on the epifaunal and macrofaunal benthic community.

The potential impact of wild Pacific oysters on local biodiversity is being raised as an issue that has to be considered in environmental assessments of both new farms and changes to practices by existing farms where they occur in wildlife protected areas. A FIFG-funded project has been carried out by Seafish which focuses on Pacific oyster cultivation in and around European Marine Sites. Working closely with industry and statutory nature conservation agencies, relevant background information was collated (Development of a Pacific oyster aquaculture protocol for the UK - Technical Reportand a protocol proposed (Development of a Pacific oyster aquaculture protocol for the UK - Protocol template. Where there could be an impact on protected wildlife and/or marine habitats, husbandry and management techniques have been proposed to mitigate or eliminate any potential impacts. The project complements the ‘Memorandum of Understanding for Appropriate Assessments in European Marine Sites’ that was agreed between the SAGB and Natural England.

The study covered fisheries from northwest Norway through the North Sea, English Channel/la Manche, Cantabrian Sea and Algarve to the French Mediterranean. It was carried out as a series of tasks. Task 1, preparation, involved reviewing each partner’s national fisheries and establishing liaison groups of fishermen and other industry members; Task 2, quantifying lost gear, required the partners to interview fishermen to establish their experiences of gear loss and then the survey the areas where losses were reported; Task 3, physical evolution, started with the retrieval of ‘naturally lost’ gears and then moved on to a series of exercises simulating gear loss and monitoring how the ‘lost’ gears changed over time; Task 4, ecosystem impacts, involved interpreting catch data from the experimental gears, raising the data to métier level and comparing the results to targeted commercial catches; Task 5, mitigating measures, established a sub-group to look at the ways in which gear loss is treated elsewhere, matched those approaches to the European fisheries and assessed the likely benefits of alternate strategies; Task 6, ran throughout the project and involved industry liaison, reporting and other dissemination. The work required a relatively high level of industry liaison. In practical terms this meant that each national partner set up a national advisory group (NAG) to guide the work and to ensure that the sea trials and recommendations were representative and realistic. The NAGs were mainly made up of experienced skippers but also included net riggers and other professionals as appropriate. This report, wherever possible, follows the sequence of tasks described above.

This report was produced by tourism specialists BTS, supported by fish industry experts Poseidon Consulting. It is a market based business plan, commissioned by the Strangford Lough and Lecale Partnership (SLLP), with funding from the EU and the South East Area Fisheries Local Action Group (SEAFLAG), to provide economic benefit to the South East Area which includes the fishing ports at Portavogie, Ardglass and Kilkeel. The analysis is designed to help develop the local market for locally caught seafood and local quality agricultural produce within Area. The project examines the opportunities for food tourism in the Strangford Lough and Mourne Mountains destinations, building on the concentration of the Northern Ireland fishing industry in the area, the quality of other local food produce and the number and the quality of local eating places across the area.

This report provides an assessment of the potential for open ocean, offshore finfish aquaculture in UK waters using candidate species which would have similar growth and performance characteristics to Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) and Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) and with due reference to other potential species candidates.

The mussel culture industry is one of the largest and most valuable fisheries in the UK representing almost 90% of total shellfish aquaculture production by weight in England and Wales with a value of around £14 million per year. Continuing productivity is significantly dependant on the movement of mussel seed from wild settlement areas to cultivation areas. Unfortunately, these shellfish movements can also spread pests such as the non-native slipper limpet (Crepidula fornicata) which has the potential to have a devastating effect on both fisheries and marine eco-systems as it out-competes other species for food and space as well as depositing pseudo-faeces that builds up to create cohesive ‘muds’. An accidental introduction of slipper limpets into the major UK mussel culture area of the Menai Straits, North Wales has recently occurred following a movement of mussel seed contaminated with slipper limpets from the English Channel. This led to urgent remedial action having to be taken by industry which involved removing the infested mussel seed and then smothering of any remaining slipper limpets with new slipper limpet free seed. There is a need therefore for the industry to self regulate and minimise risks in such transfers. Failure to do so will otherwise result in measures being imposed on industry in this respect. Positive action is now currently being undertaken in some regions as can be seen by the development of a Code of Good Practise by the Bangor Mussel Producers.

Review of king scallop dredge designs and impacts, legislation and potential conflicts with offshore wind farms.