dublin to arklow mussel beds

[twinkle]

while researching i came upon this it was the first time the dredging had been brought to our attention http://www.sea-angling-ireland.org/bull ... 82#p239082 also ashleyhaydens post http://www.sea-angling-ireland.org/bull ... ng#p237455. i was of the opinon at this time that this was one or two boats. while looking found this Monday was a very busy day along the Wicklow Coast , 17 mussel trawlers were working South of Wicklow Head , while the tug DMS WORLD towed the barge 'ARAN 25'out of Arklow north for Dublin port. Later in the evening the Irish Navel Service vessel LÉ AOIFE detained one of the mussel trawlers and escorted her into Arklow for a breach of fishing regulations.

[twinkle]

they ravaged the whole lot of the beds during that summer all lost feeding grounds, breeding grounds.it was large scale greed. all a couple of hundred yards from shore thats why the stretchs of coast are all barren

[John D]

It's such a shame. I really can't comprehend the fact that these fishermen don't understand the damage they're doing; not only to angling opportunities but to their own future fishing opportunities. It's such narrow minded simplistic thinking.

With hope for a better future,
John D.

[eoghanb]

Make a quick buck today screw tomorrow,most of the east coast has been destroyed by this sort of thing Gormanston /laytown area especially they've been at it more than 10 years now

[Ashley Hayden]

Sadly wrong lads, mussel dredging in this fashion has been a feature along the Wicklow coastline for close on thirty years. Spat is lifted and transported down to Wexford harbour where it is deposited to grow on before harvesting. In recent years spat has even been exported to Holland and you know the reason why, exactly, the Dutch have knackered their beds by using the same methods.

It's all well and good to make a living from mussels and yes I like moules et frites along with the next man, but for a few families, and it is just a few, to destroy an ecosystem and in the process the potential for way more jobs in a variety of sectors then the mussel industry employs is down right criminal.

For this vandalism to be sanctioned at Government level with a licence is deplorable, but it happens every year because nobody says stop.

[Ashley Hayden]

Hi again,

Below is a response I made to a previous thread on this issue:

Hi all,

A number of good points have been raised and I am glad to see that Caz has posted up a link to the "Rising Tide" report. This is the most up to date report on the industry and I have to say is quite fair in its assessments. However it also highlights the head in the sand approach that the commercial sector continues to take. A few points to illustrate:

1. Demand for mussels exceeds supply by four to one. The whole marketing aspect of the report is based, AS USUAL, on market forces, this just is not sustainable.

2. Exploitation of the Irish Sea seed mussel stock has increased in the last decade by 300%.

3. To meet market demand negotiations are being made with other jurisdictions such as the Welsh and Scottish regarding seed mussel harvesting.

4.In 2005 and 2006 €25million was spent on 7 new mussel dredgers. This while the quantity of mussel seed available in the Irish Sea is diminishing due to over exploitation from Northern Irish and Wexford based boats.

5. The bottom growing mussel sector represents 60% of all mussels harvested in Ireland.

6. 96% of all marketable Northern Irish mussels are bottom harvested.

7. The bottom mussel industry supports 167 full time and 107 part time jobs. Very important and necessary in this day and age. However these jobs are under threat as are all commercial fishery sector jobs due to the "inexhaustable sea approach" of the people that manage the industry. Essentially a dark ages approach based on short term gain.

8. 75% of all Irish sea mussels presently are harvested off Wicklow Head on the India bank.

I believe in the present economic climate with the industry both here and in Holland hamstrung by shortages of mussel seed that subsidising hatchery and or rope reared spat for the bottom mussel industry is the way forward. There is also room for more traditional and sustainable methods like the original Boyne Estuary mussel fishermen used. BIG IS NOT BEST when it comes to seafood harvesting, it is about time that the industry in total got its head around this. When that happens more jobs will be created and the consumer will be able to buy a greater variety of seafood with a far better quality.

Regards,

Ashley Hayden

http://www.anirishanglersworld.com

[Ashley Hayden]

Well people it gets worse, Letts in Wexford have successfully sued the state over it would appear historical rights to mussel dredge a particular area in Wexford harbour which is now denied to them because of the laying of a drainage pipeline essential to Wexford town. See http://bit.ly/AEkym7.

So you can play your part directly or indirectly in environmental damage on a massive scale up the coast and claim costs and compensation totaling €1.5million from ironically the Dept of the Environment.

As Christy Dignam sings "How can I protect you in this crazy world".

[jd]

It's crazy isn't it? The pipeline is essential for the discharge of treated (ie cleaned) waste water from the Wexford town area. Would you like to eat mussels from an estuary where untreated sewage from a large town is discharged?!?

[twinkle]

so this means they can claim historical rights for the whole eastern coast????

[John D]

Very interesting!

What can we do as individuals or as a group?

John D.

[twinkle]

Very interesting!

What can we do as individuals or as a group?

John D.

very little me thinks if the courts are behind them.how do you claim historical rights over a piece of seabed?maybe anglers could claim the same rights for all the musselbeds from dublin to wexford. a counter claim so to speak

[John D]

Thanks.

However, I was kind of more referring to the indiscriminate exploitation of the mussel beds in general.

Perhaps that's another thing that could be added to the marine bill document?

John D.

[twinkle]

has been put forward already 6 mile ban on dredging

[John D]

Fair play!