A range of fishing gears are used by vessels operating in the Irish EEZ and by Irish vessels operating both inside and outside the EEZ. The catches taken by these vessels results from a complex interaction between local abundance of each species and its vulnerability to be caught by different gear types and fishing practices. The maps presented here are intended to provide some insights into the detailed spatial structure that exists in the fishing activity (fishing effort) and the result of this activity (catches).
]]>The character of the seabed can vary considerably from one area to the next and fishers distinguish fishing grounds based on the bottom type, depth and on the expected catch composition. Marine Institute fisheries observers record the names used for these grounds and although the names may vary between fishers and some grounds have no distinct boundaries, patterns emerge when the observer records are overlaid over fishing effort data from Vessel Monitoring Systems (VMS) and catch composition data from the logbooks.
The seabed around Ireland gradually slopes down towards a depth of around 200m (continental shelf) after which it slopes steeply to the abyssal depth of the ocean floor. A large number of species are caught in the waters of the continental shelf, including Nephrops, cod, haddock, whiting, megrim, plaice, black sole, herring and boarfish. Along the shelf edge, species like anglerfish and hake are targeted as well as mackerel and horse mackerel, which migrate to the Irish shelf edge to spawn. Tuna and blue whiting are mainly caught in waters beyond the continental slope.
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Fishing effort is defined here as the time spent engaged in fishing operations. Therefore, fishing effort of passive gears should be interpreted with caution as it does not reflect the actual fishing time, just the time spent setting and retrieving the gear. Similarly, effort estimates for pelagic trawlers should be interpreted with care, as vessels targeting pelagic species tend to spend most of their time steaming and a relatively short time fishing and not all fishing operations may be captured in the VMS data. Fishing gears have been classified into eight main groups: demersal otter trawls; beam trawls; demersal seines; gill and trammel nets; longlines; dredges; pots and pelagic trawls.
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Fishing effort is defined here as the time spent engaged in fishing operations. Therefore, fishing effort of passive gears should be interpreted with caution as it does not reflect the actual fishing time, just the time spent setting and retrieving the gear. Similarly, effort estimates for pelagic trawlers should be interpreted with care, as vessels targeting pelagic species tend to spend most of their time steaming and a relatively short time fishing and not all fishing operations may be captured in the VMS data. Fishing gears have been classified into eight main groups: demersal otter trawls; beam trawls; demersal seines; gill and trammel nets; longlines; dredges; pots and pelagic trawls.
Less than half of the fishing effort inside the Irish EEZ is carried out by Irish vessels (43%). France accounts for 23% of fishing effort inside the Irish EEZ (dominated by demersal otter trawlers and gill nets); Spain accounts for 22% (dominated by longlines and demersal otter trawlers); UK vessels are responsible for 9% (mainly demersal otter trawlers) and Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands account for 1% each.