Marine Fisheries Facts

• Ireland administers a large exclusive economic zone (EEZ) that covers some 410,310km² of the North-East Atlantic Ocean [1].
  
  
• Irish fishing vessels also operate beyond Ireland’s EEZ in the high seas (international waters) of the wider North-East Atlantic region plus in the sovereign waters of developing countries, particularly in West Africa.
  
  
• Ireland has some 130 fishing harbours and more than 900 landing places.
  
  
• In 2002, the Irish fishing fleet comprised 1,376 boats, including aquaculture vessels. They landed some 245,165 tonnes (live weight) of sea fish, worth about €209.9 million (these figures exclude landings made by foreign boats into Irish ports).
  
  
• Total tonnage of the fleet in 2002 was 77,888 gross tonnes with a combined engine power of 209,586 kilowatts (kW).
  
  
• Approximately three-quarters of all Irish registered vessels are classed as inshore vessels (less than 15m in length and operating within 12 nautical miles of the coast).
  
  
• The Irish fleet targets a variety of species. The main ones (in 2002) are mackerel, horse mackerel, herring, blue whiting, pilchard, crab, whelk, whiting, Nephrops (Dublin Bay prawn/ Norwegian lobster/ scampi) and orange roughy. In recent years demersal and pelagic species have been equally important in value terms, but with the bulk of the landings coming from the pelagic sector.
  
  
• The Irish fleet currently accounts for approximately 30–35% of the total international landings of fish and shellfish from the region that includes the seas around Ireland and off the west coast of Britain (OSPAR Region III).
  
  
• In 2002, 28% of all Irish sea fish landings were made at foreign ports.
  
  
• In 2002, Irish exports of fish and fish products from sea fisheries and aquaculture were worth about €425 million. Imports were valued at about €142.6 million
  
  
• Total employment on a full and part-time basis in the Irish marine food sector, which embraces all economic activities deriving from the biologically productive capacity of the seas, is around 15,720 persons. Of these, aquaculture employs an estimated 2,200 persons, and fish processing some 4,200 persons (of which 2,100 are full-time). Over half of Ireland’s fishers are classified as working in inshore fisheries.

Footnote

1. Sea Around Us Project. 2006. A global database on marine fisheries and ecosystems. Fisheries Centre, University British Columbia, Vancouver (British Columbia, Canada).

Data Sources

Bord Iascaigh Mhara (BIM - Irish Sea Fisheries Board).

Central Statistics Office Ireland (CSO) Fishery Statistics 2002. [pdf 115k]