sherkin comment - sherkin island · sherkin comment 2009 issue no 48 _____ 3 by oscar merne in the...

SHERKIN COMMENT

PPhothotoo grgraph baph by Robbie My Robbie M ururphphyy

Environmental Quarterly of Sherkin Island Marine Station 2009

Greening the Built EnvironmentWalter Mugdan on the way buildings canreduce their carbon footprint. 5

This Island NationSome of Tom MacSweeney’s views on Ireland’smarine resources. 9

Aride Island – The SeychellesBen Sampson describes a wild, beautiful andextraordinarily alive island. 15

The Main Guard – ClonmelMargaret Quinlan tells us about returning thisbuilding to its former glory. 21

Issue No. 48

This Island NThis Island Nationation

2 ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ SHERKIN COMMENT 2009 Issue No 48

ContentsEDITORIAL: Putting a Spotlight on Marine Affairs ..............2

Matt Murphy on Tom MacSweeney’s contributionto marine affairs in Ireland.

The Drake Passage ....................................................3Oscar Merne’s journey toward the Antarctica.

Reform of Planning Service Recommended ......................4Remarks from the Chairperson of An BordPleanála on the board’s Annual Report for 2008.

Greening the Built Environment ............................5Walter Mugdan on ways buildings can reduce theircarbon footprint.

Pipefishes & Seahorses in Irish & European Waters ..6Declan Quigley on a relatively large family of fish.

Darwin’s Real Gift to Science........................................7John Akeroyd’s thoughts on this great scientist whowould have celebrated his 200th birthday this year.

Hay Meadow Restoration in the North Pennines ............8Tony Toole on the value of hay meadow restoration.

This Island Nation ..................................................9Some of Tom MacSweeney’s views on Ireland’smarine resources.

Protection of Water Resources from Livestock ......10EPA guidelines for the farming community.

New EU Organic Aquaculture Rules ....................11Dick Bates summarises these new regulations.

Ancient Cursing Stones of Inishmurray, Co. Sligo ..12Jerry O’Sullivan sheds some light on the island’searly medieval monastic sites.

Developing Greater Innovation in the Irish Seafood Sector ........................................13BIM’s new Seafood Development Centre.

Aride Island – The Seychelles ................................14Ben Sampson describes a wild, beautiful andextraordinarily alive island.

Life on Aride Island ....................................15/16/17Ben Sampson goes back to basics.

Environmental Issues Around the World ..............18Interesting news from Alex Kirby.

Chesapeake Bay – Thirty Years On & Still Dying ..19The failure to restore the quality of the largestestuary in the US is highlighted by Mike Ludwig.

Neantog – Universal Provider ................................20Daphne Pochin Mould on a remarkable plant.

The Main Guard – Clonmel ..................................21Margaret Quinlan tells us about the work carriedout to return this building to its former glory.

Control of Aquatic Invasive Species ......................22The challenge to restore Ireland’s Natural AquaticCommunities.

Through an Exile’s Eyes ........................................23John Akeroyd reviews a nature book originallywritten in the early 1600s.

Publications of Interest ..........................................24A Field Guide to the Marine Fishes of Wales and

Adjacent Water ......................................25Paul Kay’s new book on identifying marine fish.

Captain Cockle ......................................................26More exciting facts from John Joyce.

Grubs Up!..............................................................27Feedings tips from BirdWatch Ireland.

What Am I? ..........................................................28Discovering Ireland’s Rocks and Fossils ................29Gaisce – The President’s Awards............................30

Brid Cheslam on being a President’s Award Leader.

National Launch of www.ringbuoys.ie ..................31Arklow’s Beautiful Beach & Coastcare Volunteers....32

Editorial

Putting a Spotlight on Marine AffairsBy Matt Murphy

THE Celtic Tiger is dead,the property boom is gone,unemployment continues tosoar and the prospects for jobcreation, in the immediatefuture, seem very remote.Economists and politicianshave many and diverse viewsas to how economic recoverycan be attained with so manydifferent solutions being putforward and the finger of accu-sation being pointed at the sinsand actions of the past. Theonly discussion should not bethe futile blame game for whathappened. The focus nowmust change to the creation ofsustainable jobs for the future.One area that must be lookedand realised is the massivepotential of our marineresource, which has beensorely underdeveloped andneglected to our shame.

At present, the future androles of many state agencies isbeing examined because of thedire state of the country’sfinances. In whatever deci-sions are made about thefuture of State agencies serv-ing the fishing industry, itmust be recognised that thereare fundamental differencesbetween the fishing andseafood sector and other foodproduction businesses. Ourseafood processing industry isvery much underdeveloped,the Cinderella of our econ-omy; it has enormous potentialwhich has never been utilisedto the country’s economicadvantage. It surely calls for aserious dedicated and focusedsupport from the State throughwhatever agents the Statedecides to use.

In this issue, we look atBIM’s new Seafood Develop-ment Centre in Clonakilty, Co.Cork, which provides facilitiesfor developing innovativeseafood products, addingvalue to the primary produceof the sea. This initiative is avery positive step in job cre-ation and this and similarinitiatives must be prioritised,fully supported politically,adequately resourced andgiven full commitment.

This leads me to one per-son, where the attribute ofintegrity and commitmentwas always present, who hasdone more to highlight theunderdeveloped potential ofour maritime resources thanany of his peers. He is thatmost principled journalist,

Tom MacSweeney, the RTEMarine Correspondent. He hasfor over 20 years produced anexcellent and informativeweekly radio programme, cov-ering such matters as shipping,the fishing industry, themarine environment generallyand marine leisure activities.His programme, Seascapes(www.rte.ie/radio1/seascapes,is the only regular radio or tel-evision programme of its kindon Ireland’s maritimeresources. Not until 1997 didRTE appoint a Marine Corre-spondent and then only after asustained campaign by Tomfor such a programme. Tomwas appointed - one suspectsto keep him quiet! It is incred-ible that it took over 35 yearsfor our national television sta-tion to make such anappointment. Tom Mac-Sweeney has been the “oldtime professional” as regardsjournalism. He goes out on theroad with his recorder to getthat critical interview. Toooften today the telephone, inthe studio or the office, is sub-stituted for the footwork anddedication of the reporter onthe ground. Tom reachedthose people who are not onthe easily reached “contactlist”. The ones who pop upregularly across all the radiostations. Sadly Tom Mac-Sweeney’s television era withRTE came to an end thisNovember, as he retired fromthe organisation. His radio

programme, Seascapes, ofover a 1000 programmes willcontinue until year-end.

It is to be hoped this greatwarrior who has never beenafraid to ask those awkwardquestions when interviewing,will find another way to con-tinue his quest to see ourmaritime assets used to theirfullest. He has been the “voiceof the marine sector” - thatvoice must not be quenched inthe absence of another voice toreplace him. It is perhaps fit-ting to quote from Tom’s book“Seascapes”, as it sums up thefrustration of the few like Tomwho see the huge potential ofthe seas around our coast:“One of the great failings ofIrish people, in my view, is toappreciate, to relish, respectand accept that they are anisland people. This is particu-larly evident amongst thosewho should give leadership,amongst whom I include lead-ers of state, business andcommerce, church, industryand community. The continu-ous concentration on thecreation of a ‘knowledge’economy is irritating whenthere is no balance in appreci-ation shown of the maritimeresources which those of‘knowledge’ should beactively promoting in anisland economy.”

His book has recalled manyof the stories he has covered.They include: “The only sub-marine commander to survive

an entire war” “The fisher-man from the city”“Rosslare’s proud lifeboat tra-dition” and “Frightened anduncertain on the Atlantic” tomention but a few.

Tom MacSweeney through-out his career had a nose andappreciation for the story of the“little person”; the person whofought the establishment, whowas not doing it for self promo-tion, but because it needed tobe done. He always believed ajournalist should remaindetached from a story, be inde-pendent and above allprofessional. At times he tookflak from politicians, mediacolleagues and superiors inRTE, sometimes being accusedof bias and poor reporting.They surely underestimatedTom MacSweeney because hehas a belief that it is his duty toraise the awareness of themarine environment and reportthe facts, as he sees them, comehell or high water. He loves hiscountry dearly, with pride andpassion. This he has provedthroughout his career as MarineCorrespondent for RTE.

From those of us with aninterest in the marine sectorwe would like to say “thanks”to Tom as we owe him a grati-tude for his relentless workand dedication over the years.

Matt Murphy, Sherkin IslandMarine Station, SherkinIsland, Co. Cork.

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STAFF: Editor, Matt Murphy; Editorial Assistant, Susan Murphy Wickens; Typesetting,Susan Murphy Wickens; Publisher, Matt Murphy. ISSN 0791–2447 © 2009 Sherkin Island Marine Station website: www.sherkinmarine.ie

SSUUBBSSCCRRIIPPTTIIOONN FFOORRMM

SHERKIN COMMENT 2009 Issue No 48 ________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 3

By Oscar MerneIN the last issue of Sherkin

Comment (No. 47) I wroteabout the seabirds which I sawin the Beagle Channel (Tierradel Fuego, Argentina) whilewaiting a few days before join-ing my ship for a voyage to theAntarctic Peninsula in Decem-ber 2008. In this article Idescribe the exciting journeyfrom Tierra del Fuego acrossthe Drake Passage, which sep-arates the two Continents ofSouth America and Antarctica.

The Drake Passage extendsfrom Cape Horn (which isactually on a small island offthe tip of Chilean Tierra delFuego) to the northern end ofthe Antarctic Peninsula, and isa distance of just over 1,000km. It is a notoriously stormystretch of water, with no landmass to slow down the winds

which constantly sweeparound the bottom of theplanet from west to east atthose latitudes. And on myvoyage south the Drake Pas-sage certainly lived up to itsreputation.

As we left Ushuaia on theevening of 6th December thewinds in the relatively shel-tered waters of the BeagleChannel were coming up tofull gale force. As we nearedthe eastern entrance to theChannel at nightfall we had aforce 9-10 storm behind us,with a weather forecast of ahurricane following shortly.Wisely, I thought, the Captaindecided to linger a while inthe shelter of Tierra del Fuegobefore sailings o u t h w a r d sinto the DrakePassage. Thiswe did formost of the

night, while the worst of thehurricane swept through. Atdawn we set off into the openocean and soon were in moun-tainous seas and with thewinds shrieking in the rigging.Instead of pushing south at thenormal cruising speed of 15knots, we were forced by theconditions to take it gently at5-6 knots. The ship, the 117 mlong, ice-strengthened MVAkademic Ioffe, built in Fin-land for the Russian Academyof Science, for oceanographicresearch in polar regions, waswell designed and constructedfor such conditions. Becauseof its operations in ice-strewnseas it could not use tradi-tional stabiliser fins, but

instead it had a state-of-theart, computer-controlledballast water transfer sys-tem, whereby tonnes ofballast water were rapidlypumped from one side ofthe ship to the other inorder to counteract severerolling in heavy seas. Butnothing could be done tostop the ship pitching, andeach time we dipped intothe troughs between 10-15m waves large volumes ofgreen water surged over

the bow and lashed the bridgewindows high up at the frontof deck 7. These rough condi-tions lasted for over 60 hours,gradually abating as we spot-ted the first ice-bergs nearAnvers Island, off the westside of the Antarctic Peninsulaat Graham Land. The RussianCaptain, who had been sailingthe Drake Passage for 13years, said it was the worstsummer crossing he hadmade.

Now, you might think thatbirdwatching from a ship onthe high seas in hurricane con-ditions would be very

difficult, if not impossible. Infact, for most of the journeyacross the Drake Passage, thearea around the Ioffe was alivewith thousands of pelagicseabirds, and I recorded 32different species – rangingfrom tiny Wilson’s and Black-bellied Storm-petrels tomagnificent and huge Wan-dering and Royal Albatrosses.As the winds eased and themountainous seas began toabate towards the end of theopen sea voyage, it was possi-ble to watch the seabirds fromthe warmth and comfort of thebridge as the windows wereno longer being lashed bygreen water and spray. How-ever, at the height of the stormthe only way to get goodviews of the birds was to wrapup well and venture out ontothe bridge wing on the portside of the ship. Being on thelee side of the ship’s super-structure, this was the onlysheltered (and safe!) spot out-side. Through the daylighthours I spent much of my timethere, taking short breaks formeals and hot drinks inbetween watches: I didn’twant to miss the opportunityto see as much as possiblewhile I had the chance.

Many of the seabirdsencountered in the Drake Pas-sage simply crossed our trackand passed by. Some wentwith the wind, but manyglided effortlessly into theforce 8-12 winds. The alba-trosses, in particular, seemedto have no difficulty makingheadway against the wind,progressing in dynamic soar-ing mode, with hardly a wingflap. It was wonderful to seeWandering, Royal, Black-browed, Grey-headed andLight-mantled Sooty Alba-trosses lazily gliding pastclose to the ship. On one occa-sion a pair of Light-mantledSooty Albatrosses suddenlybroke into their graceful andballetic synchronisedcourtship flight, which, appar-ently, is very unusual so farfrom the breeding colonies.

Among the larger seabirdswere many Southern GiantPetrels – which I had seenscavenging at a sewage outfallin the Beagle Channel. Theyseemed more attractive out inthe open ocean, and I saw oneof the rare white forms too.

Almost constantly aroundthe ship, often in large num-bers and wheeling overhead,were attractive black-and-white Pintado or Cape Petrels.Usually there were a few sim-ilar Antarctic Petrels mixed inwith them. Another attractivespecies, seen usually in ones

or twos, was the Southern Ful-mar – very similar to ours butwith a pink bill and silverygrey wings.

I also saw a small group ofGentoo Penguins, c.500 kmfrom the nearest breedingcolony. By this time in theAntarctic summer most breed-ers should have been at or neartheir colonies, but perhapsthese ones were non-breeders.One person I mentioned thesighting to asked me if theywere flying or on the sea – for-getting for a moment thatpenguins can’t fly!

A few of the pelagic seabirdspecies present in the DrakePassage occur in Irish waters,notably the Sooty Shearwaters(which were numerous SE ofTierra del Fuego), which areregular in quite large numbersin our northern autumn. Wil-son’s Petrels and anoccasional vagrant Black-browed Albatross also occur

off Ireland. From pelagic tripsand sea-watching off the Capein South Africa, and in NewZealand and southern Aus-tralia I was familiar with anumber of other species whichI encountered in the DrakePassage. But quite a few wereunfamiliar, and I was veryglad to find the Ioffe had a res-ident expert seabird biologiston board – Tony Croker fromNew Zealand – who helpedme sort out some of the moredifficult species, such as Fairyand Slender-billed Prions.

In the next issue of SherkinComment I will conclude thistrilogy of articles by writingabout the Antarctic Peninsulaand its wildlife.

Oscar Merne retired fromIreland’s National Parks &Wildlife Service in January2004.

The Drake Passage

From top: Black-browed Albatrossflying, Drake Passage;Giant Petrel flying,Drake Passage;Cape and AntarcticPetrels, Drake Passage;Gentoo swimming,Antarctica.

MV Ioffe in Drake Passage.

Phot

os: ©

Osc

ar M

erne

4 ________________________________________________________________________________________________________ SHERKIN COMMENT 2009 Issue No 48

At the publication of An Bord Pleanála’s2008 Annual Report in October 2009, theChairperson of the Board, John O’Connor, saidit would be extremely short-sighted if therewas any tendency to relax good planning stan-dards in response to our current economicdifficulties. Now, more than ever, we need toembrace the principles of good planning andsustainable development in order to preventfurther deterioration of our environment, torespond to climate change, to maximise thereturn from expensive infrastructure invest-ment, to get the most efficient use of limitedland resources and to help restore confidenceby producing well located good quality devel-opments. Excessive and unsustainable zoningof land has been a contributor to the propertybubble and its aftermath.

There is increasing evidence that many ofthe current local authority development/ plansare replete with such zonings. If we are toreturn to realistic development planning someof this land will have to be dezoned and facingup to this has a part to play in deflating thebubble and restoring a sustainable market.

Workload and TimescalesLast year’s total intake of 5,800 cases

while down on the record intake for 2007 wasstill very high by historical standards andmeant that the Board continued to be undersevere workload pressure in 2008. The num-ber of cases of all types on hands peaked atover 3,000 in March 2008. With the contin-ued drop in intake (over 30%) and specialmeasures to maximise output the number ofcases on hands has been almost halved to1550. In September 36% of cases were deter-mined within the 18 week statutory objectiveand the average time taken across all caseswas20.6 weeks. The Board regrets the delaysthat have occurred and believes that we areapproaching the point where routine delayscan be eliminated.

General Trends in 2008 ReportThe following are some general trends in

normal planning appeals contained in the 2008report:-• The percentage of local authority decisions

appealed to the Board increased from 6.7%to 8.1%. (46% were received from 3rd Par-ties).

• The proportion of local decisions appealedwhich were reversed by the Board re-mained steady at 33%.

• First party appeals against refusal resultedin grants of permission in 28% of cases.(29% in 2007).

• Third party appeals against grants of per-mission resulted in 39% refusals. (37% in2007).

Operation of StrategicInfrastructure Act

From the introduction of the Act in 2007, toend September 2009, the Board received 137requests from project sponsors for pre-applica-tion consultation. 211 meetings have beenheld. In 97 of these cases the consultationshave concluded. In 33 of these cases, theBoard determined that they were to beregarded as strategic infrastructure cases, 46were not regarded as strategic infrastructurecases and 18 were withdrawn/otherwise con-cluded.

Housing DensitiesThe Chairperson said he was concerned that

developers may be tempted, in the presentmarket, to return to lower density develop-ment. However, national policies on buildingmore sustainable communities for the futuredo not favour a return to old-style low densitydevelopment due to the greater than ever needfor the most efficient use of expensive infra-structure, for increased environmentalsustainability and for less urban sprawl.

Displacement of Sports FacilitiesThe Chairperson said that the Board had,

over the past couple of years, dealt with a sig-nificant number of appeals relating toproposals to move major sporting facilitiesfrom their long established locations in themidst of urban communities to remote loca-tions. Permission was refused for some ofthese proposals because of their poor accessi-bility, the increased risk to road safety, lack ofservices and diminution of urban amenities.Sometimes these proposals were facilitated byzoning decisions of local authorities that seemto be based on a rather narrow set of consider-ations. The Chairperson said that, while eachcase had to be considered on its own particularmerits, he was concerned about the long termeffects of this trend. The displacement ofsports facilities that were sustainably locatedin established communities could represent aphysical and social loss to the area and couldin the long term impact negatively on partici-pation levels in the sports concerned.

Need for Reform ofLocal Planning Structure

The need for public service reform is widelyacknowledged. The structures that deliver thelocal planning service are a case in point. Wehave 88 planning authorities for a country witha total population of 4.4 million. Whileacknowledging the need to retain their localdemocratic character, many of these authori-ties have administrative areas that are muchtoo small and fractured to constitute meaning-ful planning units in terms, for example, ofefficient infrastructure provision, the strategiclocation of future development or the manage-ment of water catchments. Equally, theycannot be expected to have at their ready dis-posal the full range of skills and experiencedemanded by a modern planning service whichmust operate under an increasingly complex

body of planning and environmental legisla-tion. Sustainable strategic planning issometimes supplanted by localised short-sighted competition for development. This isparticularly evident at the edges of certaincities and large towns.

The Chairperson said he believes stronglythat the public service reform agenda mustinclude rationalisation of the planning servicein the interests of the quality of the planningand public service efficiency.

EU Environmental DirectivesIt is an undeniable fact that European Direc-

tives have been a major force for good inprotecting the environment here in Ireland andacross Europe. An Bord Pleanála in its deci-sions must give effect to the provisions ofvarious EU Directives as transposed into Irishlaw. Of particular importance in this regard arethe EIA, Habitats and Birds Directives. Therehave been several European Court of Justicedecisions in recent years which have given astringent interpretation of these Directives andhave been critical of Ireland and other memberstates’ implementation of them. The Board isconscious of the necessity to carry out itsassessments in accordance with the require-ments of these Directives and to afford thepublic full opportunity to participate in thedecision making process as required by theDirectives. As a result, the assessment of majorprojects affecting designated habitats in partic-ular has become more complex and resourceintensive for the Board, making demands interms of staff upskilling and training at a timeof severe budgetary constraints. It is our expe-rience that developers, their consultants andeven local authorities are still not sufficientlycognisant of the demanding nature of theprocess and the need for detailed informationin support of development proposals.

EU Water Quality DirectivesIn addition to the Directives referred to

already, the EU Water Framework Directivetogether with its Daughter Directives is havingand will continue to have major implicationsfor development in the future. The preventionof water pollution and the achievement ofgood water quality are the fundamental aims ofthe Directive which will require significantinvestment in effluent treatment facilities. Pro-posals which would endanger water qualitycannot be permitted.

Budgetary ConstraintsAs with all other public sector organisations

the Board is facing a very challenging budget-ary situation at present. Current figures for2009 show a significant decrease in fee andother income streams relating to caseworkintake.

It is likely that the situation will becomeeven tighter in 2010. The Board being con-scious of the need for expenditure savings hasreduced its overall expenditure by a significantproportion in 2009 and further retrenchmentwill be necessary in 2010 (actual expenditurein 2008 was €23.2m and is currently estimatedto be €20.6m in 2009).

An Bord Pleanála, 64 Marlborough Street,Dublin 1. The full report can be downloadedfrom the web at: www.pleanala.ie

Reform of Planning Service RecommendedAN Bord Pleanála (the Irish Planning Board)has recently published its annual report. In hisaccompanying press statement, the Chairperson,Mr. John O'Connor, has raised many importantplanning issues, the most important being theneed to reduce the number of planningauthorities, which at the moment stands at 88.The following are the main points from hisstatement:


By Walter Mugdan1

DURING the past several years,the long overdue awakening of pub-lic concern about global warminghas sparked a strong interest in“green” construction – finding waysto make the construction, operationand eventual deconstruction of our“built environment” more eco-friendly and sustainable. Amongthe primary interests of the greenconstruction movement is the reduc-tion of the “carbon footprint” (thetotal greenhouse gas or GHG emis-sions) resulting from development.Other objectives include reducingtraditional air and water pollutants,conserving water, and minimizingthe use of natural resources.

This article focuses on ways toreduce the carbon footprint of build-ings. In future articles I will addresssome of the other green constructionapproaches being promoted by theU.S. Environmental ProtectionAgency (EPA) and others.

In the U.S., commercial and resi-dential buildings account for 36% ofnational energy consumption – morethan the entire transportation sector.It is therefore of paramount impor-tance that our built environmentuses energy as sparingly as possible.The high price of energy, which islikely to continue to escalate, makesthis the only sensible approach tobuilding design, even when consid-ered from a purely economicperspective. A goal of EPA’s EnergyStar program is to improve energyefficiency in the nation’s buildingsby 10%, but individual buildingscan realize substantially greaterreductions. Cushman & Wakefield,one of the world’s largest real estatemanagement firms, last year enteredinto an agreement with EPA com-mitting to reduce energy demand30% by 2012 across the more than3,000 buildings it operates.

There are many strategies forreducing energy usage in a building.Some are familiar, such as goodinsulation, modern heating and ven-tilation systems, passive solardesign, low-E glass, and use ofenergy-efficient light bulbs. Someare novel– for example, elevatorsdesigned with regenerative drivesthat capture the energy of braking asthe elevator descends; Otis Elevatorrecently exhibited such an elevatorthat uses 75% less energy than a tra-ditional design.

A large part of a building’s carbonfootprint comes from its use of elec-tricity, most of which is stillgenerated by burning fossil fuels.However, in most parts of the U.S.residential and commercial con-sumers can choose to purchaseelectricity generated from renew-able sources – primarily wind andhydro power, but in some locationsalso geothermal and solar power.All of EPA’s buildings across theU.S. purchase renewably generatedelectricity. The giant firm PepsiCois the nation’s top purchaser ofrenewable energy, with an annualpurchase of 1.1 billion kwhs.Today, electricity from renewablesources costs a little extra – typi-cally 1 to 2 cents per kilowatt.Given the virtual certainty that fossilfuel prices will continue to climbover the long run, and in view ofanticipated technological advances,renewably generated electricity islikely to become even more compet-itive in the future.

An even more ambitiousapproach is for a development proj-ect to make its own green energy.Sun Edison, the largest solar energyservice provider in the U.S., hasdeveloped an intriguing businessmodel. The company enters into along-term (typically 20-year) agree-ment with a “big box” store such asWalMart or Home Depot. Sun Edi-son installs a photovoltaic array onthe roof of the store. The storeagrees to purchase the electricitygenerated at a specified price for theduration of the contract, while SunEdison operates the system. Thestore buys electricity from the gridto make up for any shortfall, whileany excess electricity is sold back tothe grid. Sun Edison gets a long-term purchase contract from a large,well-known entity, which enables itto borrow the necessary capital tobuild the solar array, while the bigbox store gets a long-term, pre-dictable supply of electricity at aspecified rate. Sun Edison hasinstallations in California, Hawaiiand Colorado, unsurprising loca-tions for solar energy facilities.However, the company also has 13installations in New Jersey, two inConnecticut and one in RhodeIsland – states not commonly con-sidered as ideal for photovoltaics.(The world leader in solar electricgeneration is Germany, also not gen-erally thought of as a sun-drenchedlocale.)

Solar arrays can also be installedover parking lots at shopping mallsand similar locations. A mall underconstruction in Syracuse, New Yorkis doing that, and is going even fur-ther by installing over a dozen 5-kwvertical axis wind turbines on top of42-foot high light poles around theparking lot, which will generate asmuch electricity as would be neededto power 6 homes.

Municipal facilities can be anexcellent venue for on-site energydevelopment. The Atlantic CountyMunicipal Utilities Authority inNew Jersey operates both a solararray and five large wind turbines onthe grounds of its sewage treatment

plant. Sewage treatment plants andsolid waste landfills also generatemethane gas – a product of decom-position. Methane is over 21 timesas potent a greenhouse gas as carbondioxide. It’s also a potentially valu-able fuel, essentially identical tonatural gas. The technology forrecovering methane and using it forfuel is well understood and widelypracticed.

Discussions about how to reduceGHG emissions often focus on largepower plants, and on the transporta-tion sector. But every sector mustcontribute if we are to have a chanceof slowing and reversing the danger-ous buildup of greenhouse gases inour atmosphere. It is essential that theowners of all buildings, both old andnew, play their part by reducing theirreliance on non-renewable energy.

1Any opinions expressed in thisarticle are the author’s own, and donot necessarily reflect the position ofthe U.S. Environmental ProtectionAgency

Walter Mugdan, Director,Emergency & Remedial ResponseDivision, U.S. EnvironmentalProtection Agency, Region 2, NewYork City, NY, USA.

Greening the BuiltEnvironment

500 kw solar array at Atlantic City Municipal Utilities Authority sewage treatmentplant (Atlantic City, New Jersey)

Five large wind turbines installed on grounds of Atlantic City Municipal UtilitiesAuthority sewage treatment plant (Atlantic City, New Jersey)

MW solar installation on roof of a "Staples" office supply store.

Vertical axis wind turbine of type beinginstalled on lighting fixtures aroundparking lot at Destiny shopping mall inSyracuse, New York.

Phot

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sy o

f US

EPA

US Energy Usage by Sector (2004)

By Declan T. QuigleyPipefishes (Syngnathinae)

and seahorses (Hippocamp-inae) belong to a relativelylarge family of fishes (Syng-nathidae) which includesabout 52 genera and at least232 species known world-wide. Although mostSyngnathids are confined toshallow inshore marinewaters, a few species ofpipefish are found in offshoreoceanic waters while othersoccur in brackish water (37)and some are confined tofreshwater (18). The 53 cur-rently recognised seahorsespecies are only found inmarine waters. Most Syng-nathids occur in warmtemperate and tropical seasbut some pipefish range intorelatively cool waters.

Although only 6 species ofpipefish and 2 species of sea-horse have been recordedfrom Irish and Northern Euro-pean waters, an additional 8species of pipefish and onespecies of seahorse (whichrecently migrated from theRed Sea via the Suez Canal)have been recorded from theMediterranean and Black Seas(Table 1).

The reproductive biology ofthe Syngnathidae is character-ized by one of the mostspecialized forms of parentalcare – male pregnancy. Afterfertilization, females depositthe developing eggs in a spe-cialized male incubation arealocated on the abdomen ofseahorses or tail of pipefish.The male subsequently caresfor the embryos for a more or

less long incubation periodprior to giving birth to thefully formed juveniles.

Snake (Ocean) PipefishEntelurus aequoreus (L.)Up until the beginning of

this century, the SnakePipefish was considered to beprimarily an oceanic speciesextending from the Azores toIceland which was rarelyrecorded from inshore waters.However, since 2002 unprece-dented numbers have beenrecorded from the NEAtlantic, not only from off-shore waters as far west as theMid-Atlantic Ridge but alsofrom inshore waters. Sincethen, there have been numer-ous reports of the speciesblocking vessel cooling waterintakes, covering both pelagicand demersal fishing nets, tan-gling around fishing creels,ropes and salmon cages. Hugenumbers have also beenobserved by SCUBA-diverscarpeting the seabed ininshore waters while ornithol-ogists have increasingly notedseabirds attempting ratherunsuccessfully to feed onthem as well as using them asnesting material. Some scien-tists suggest that increased seasurface temperatures in theNorthern Hemisphere, linkedto global warming, may be thelikely cause for the phenome-nal Snake Pipefish populationexplosion.

Worm PipefishNerophis lumbriciformis

(Jenyns, 1835)The Worm Pipefish is found

in inshore waters (depths

<30m), usually among rocksand algal holdfasts and rangesfrom Norway (Bergen),excluding Holland, toMorocco. It is one of thesmallest (max. 15-17cm TL)species of Syngnathid foundin NW European waters andprobably the most abundantand widely distributed speciesfound in Irish waters.

Straight-nosed PipefishNerophis ophidion (L.)The Straight-nosed Pipefish

is found in inshore waters(depths <15m), includingestuaries and occasionallyfreshwater, usually in associa-tion with long-stranded algaeand/or eel-grass (Zostera)beds. It has been recordedfrom Norway (Trondheim)southwards to northernMorocco, including theMediterranean and BlackSeas, but appears to be absentfrom Danish and Dutchwaters. The species isregarded as scarce in Irishwaters where there are only afew confirmed records:Youghal & Glandore, CoCork; Dingle Bay, Co Kerry;Galway Bay (CaherloughlinSands, Ballyvaughan, CoClare; Mweenish Bay andKilkerrin Bay, Connemara, CoGalway); Ballynakill, Elly &Blacksod Bays, Co Mayo;Killinchy, Co Antrim; andStrangford Lough, Co Down.However, its perceivedscarcity may be due to eithermisidentification or lack ofrecording effort in suitablehabitats.

Greater PipefishSyngnathus acus L.

The Greater Pipefish is thelargest (max. 47cm TL)species of Syngnathid foundin NW European waters andis relatively common andwidely distributed in Irishwaters. The species is gener-ally found in coastal waters(depths <20m, occasionallydeeper) and is wide-ranging:from the Faroe Islands andsouthern Norway southwardsto Gambia, including theAzores and Canaries,Mediterranean and BlackSeas. It is also found in theSouth Atlantic from Namibiato SE South Africa.

Nilsson’s (Lesser) PipefishSyngnathus rostellatus

Nilsson, 1855Nilsson’s Pipefish is found

in coastal waters (depths<18m, but commonly <2m),particularly in sandy estuarineareas. The species ranges fromNorway (Bergen) southwardsto the Bay of Biscay and hasrecently been discovered inthe Mediterranean Sea. Priorto the late 1950s, the specieswas regarded as rare in bothIrish and British waters whereit was frequently misidentifiedas S. acus. However, sincethen, the species has beenfound to be relatively com-mon and widely distributed.

Broad-nosed PipefishSyngnathus typhle (L.)The Broad-nosed Pipefish

is found in both coastal andestuarine waters (depths 4-

20m), particularly amongstseaweed and Zostera. Itranges from Norway (Vardo)southwards to Morocco,including the Mediterraneanand Black Seas. The speciesappears to be relatively scarceand only locally abundant inIrish waters. It has only beenrecorded from Co Cork (CorkHarbour, Glandore, Roaring-water Bay & Bere Island),Dingle Bay, Galway Bay(Ballyvaughan, Mweenish &Bertrabouy Bays), Ballinakill& Blacksod Bays, and LarneLough, Co Antrim.

Short-snouted SeahorseHippocampus

hippocampus (L.)The Short-snouted Sea-

horse is generally found inshallow inshore waters, par-ticularly amongst algae andZostera. The species rangesfrom the north of Scotland,North Sea and Dutch coast(Wadden Sea) southwards tothe African coast (Gulf ofGuinea), including theCanaries, Mediterranean andBlack Seas.

For many years the specieswas regarded as exceptionallyrare in Northern Europeanwaters but in recent decades ithas been recorded withincreasing frequency in UKwaters, particularly in theEnglish Channel. Neverthe-less, to date, there is only oneconfirmed record from Irishwaters (Caherdaniel Island,Co Kerry, October 1995).

Spiny (Long-nosed) SeahorseHippocampus guttulatus

Cuvier, 1829The Spiny Seahorse is also

found in shallow inshorewaters, particularly amongstalgae and Zostera. The speciesranges from the Shetlandssouthwards to Morocco,including the Azores,Madeira, Mediterranean andBlack Seas. For many yearsthis species was also regardedas exceptionally rare in North-ern European waters but inrecent decades it has beenrecorded with increasing fre-quency in UK waters,particularly in the EnglishChannel. Nevertheless, thespecies has only rarely beenrecorded from Irish waters (c.15 records) and 60% of thesewere reported during the1880s. Indeed, it wouldappear that most, if not all, ofthe earlier records were incor-rectly identified as H.hippocampus.

It seems likely that many ofthese cryptogenic species aremore frequent in their occur-rence in Irish waters than thecurrent limited number ofrecords would suggest. Theauthor would be very inter-ested in obtaining informationon any additional records.

Declan T. Quigley, DingleOceanworld (Mara Beo Teo),The Wood, Dingle, Co Kerry.Mobiles: 087-6458485 &086-8057227; Email:[email protected]

PIPEFISHES and SEAHORSES(SYNGNATHIDAE)

in IRISH and EUROPEAN WATERS


Clockwise from top: Greater Pipefish Syngnathus acus; Broad-nosedPipefish Syngnathus typhle; Spiny (Long-nosed) SeahorseHippocampus guttulatus; Short-snouted Seahorse Hippocampushippocampus (Images courtesy of Steve Trewhella).

By John AkeroydTHIS year marks two centuries since the

birth of Charles Robert Darwin (1809–82). Anastonishingly modern person, he remains a piv-otal figure in science and human thought. It isalso 150 years since the publication of his greatwork On the Origin of Species by Means ofNatural Selection. Darwin was geologist, zool-ogist and botanist, and great Victorian man ofletters. An inspiration to all naturalists, hewrote lucidly on animal and human behaviour,climbing and insectivorous plants, coral reefs,earthworms, orchid pollination, cross- and self-fertilization, plant responses to light, and theliving and fossil barnacles. He was a pioneer ofbiology, ecology and evolutionary genetics.

One thinks of him cocooned in his study, butDarwin spent much time out in the 18-acregrounds of Down House, his home in Kent,where he settled in 1842 after marrying hiscousin Emma Wedgwood. This was a botanicgarden, field station and laboratory for his sim-ple but powerful experiments, and alsothinking space, especially the secluded bound-ary path or ‘Sandwalk’ where he’d stroll eachday. Both scholar and family man, he doted onEmma, his eight children (two others died ininfancy) and various pets. He possessed a life-

long passion and curiosity for Nature, aninquisitive mind, boundless enthusiasm forcareful observation, and repeated flashes ofintuition.

Darwin showed little promise at school in hisnative Shrewsbury. He studied medicine brieflyat Edinburgh, leaving to study theology atCambridge, with a view to joining the Church.Still no conventional scholar, he neverthelessimpressed older colleagues, notably botanistJohn Stevens Henslow, who recommended himto Captain Robert FitzRoy as ship’s naturaliston the 5-year round-the-world voyage of thenaval survey-ship, HMS Beagle. Darwin’stravels, especially in South America and theGalapagos, stimulated a remarkable intellectand launched his scientific career after hisreturn to England in October 1836. A chronicsemi-invalid and with substantial financialmeans, Darwin rarely travelled far again buthappily received visitors and wrote thousandsof letters. He had several correspondents in Ire-land, for example algae expert William Harvey,Professor of Botany at Trinity College, Dublin(none too sympathetic to Darwin’s writing onevolution) and James Torbitt, a Belfast grocertrying to breed blight-resistant potatoes. Hereceived one particularly hostile review (“toohorrid”) from Samuel Haughton, Professor ofGeology at Trinity, but generally his work waswell received.

Slowly and meticulously, Darwin worked onevolution, although only a letter from Indone-sia from the naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace,proposing a similar theory – and the pleas ofbotanist Joseph Hooker and geologist CharlesLyell – persuaded him to ‘go public’. Darwinwasn’t there on 1 July 1858 when a joint Dar-win-Wallace paper on evolution was read to theLinnean Society of London. The meetingattracted little interest – but the publication ofthe Origin in November 1859 caused a publicsensation. In June 1860 the British Associationmet to debate Darwin’s work. Darwin, in poorhealth, wasn’t there to hear the Bishop ofOxford ridicule him – to be mightily rebuffedby ‘Darwin’s Bulldog’, the young zoologistThomas Henry Huxley.

But Darwin wasn’t being idle. In early May1860, he’d shown how primroses and cowslipshave ‘pin’ flowers, with hidden stamens and astigma filling the mouth of the flower-tube, or‘thrum’ flowers with a ring of stamens in themouth. This heterostyly ensures that insectstransfer pollen between plants, promoting out-breeding and increasing variation in theprogeny. Darwin had pioneered pollinationbiology and he’d found another clue to evolu-tion. In late May and June he was probingorchid flowers to imitate insect mouthparts. Ashis pencil touched the club-shaped pollenmasses, they stuck to the tip and he removedthem intact and ready to transfer pollen toanother flower. Darwin repeated this with sev-eral species on a chalk grassland patch hecalled ‘Orchis Bank’. Here was another of whathe called his “little discoveries”.

Then, in July came another ‘eurekamoment’, one that developed a strong Irishlink. He began to work out how Round-leavedSundew (Drosera rotundifolia) and otherplants trap and digest insects. He showed thatthis animal protein helps them overcome low

nutrient levels in the peat-bogs where theygrow. He later obtained wild and cultivatedmaterial from Ireland of other insectivorousplants, his correspondents ranging from DavidMoore, Director of the Botanic Gardens atGlasnevin, to Thomas Copland, a civil serviceclerk at the Custom House in Dublin who grewexotic sundews at home. You can still seeLarge-flowered Butterwort (Pinguicula gran-diflora), such a feature of the Cork and Kerrymountains, growing in one of the glasshousesat Down House.

Darwin relied on his network of contacts tofeed him information, but still did plenty him-self at home. For, above all, Darwin showedthat science needn’t be difficult, and how any-body can do simple research in house or garden– a wonderful message to young people. Alas,few of us have his sheer genius.

Forty years ago, John Akeroyd’s zoology teacherintroduced him to Charles Darwin and hislife and times, by giving impromptu talks(sitting on the rocks waiting for the tide toturn) during marine biology excursions.Darwin remains one of John’s chiefinspirations.

Darwin’s Real Giftto Science


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Round-leaved Sundew (Drosera rotundifolia)

Cowslip (Primula veris)

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Primrose (Primula vulgaris)

Charles Darwin

By Anthony TooleIN the late 1980s, Hannah

Hauxwell became an unlikelycelebrity as a result of a televisiondocumentary, “A Winter Too Far,”which depicted her struggle to sur-vive on her lonely farm inBaldersdale, one of the wilder val-leys of the North Pennines. Thismodest, but very remarkable ladyhad run the farm, single-handedly,for more than fifty years, withoutthe benefits of modern conven-iences, such as electricity andrunning water. Upon Hannah’sretirement, the fields were boughtby the Durham Wildlife Trust, andare now managed as a naturereserve and a Site of Special Sci-entific Interest.

Hannah’s main legacies are thehay meadow and pasture that liebetween the farm and the valleyroad, and are crossed by a shortsection of the Pennine Way foot-path. These fields have evolved,over centuries of traditional farm-ing practice into a species-richenvironment, of a kind that is nowrare throughout Europe.

In contrast to fields of mono-culture, in which the emphasis ison a high yield of a single crop, a

traditional hay meadow may con-tain thirty-or-more plant species ineach square metre. These mead-ows were once a ubiquitousfeature of the countryside, butmodern farming methods have ledto their rapid decline. The loss ofplant diversity has been accompa-nied by a decrease in the numbersand variety of invertebrates, whichhas had a knock-on effect on pop-ulations of the birds that dependon them for food.

In traditional farming, animalsare allowed to graze in springtime.From the end of the lambing sea-son until mid-July, the fields areleft for the hay to grow. No fertil-izers are added other thanfarmyard manure, with fieldslimed sparingly to prevent theirbecoming too acidic. By late sum-mer, the hay is harvested, andcattle brought in to graze again fora few weeks, during which theytrample seeds into the ground,thus aiding germination.

Of the eleven square kilometresof remaining upland hay meadowsin the UK, 40% are to be foundwithin the North Pennines Area ofOutstanding Natural Beauty(AONB), which includes parts ofNorthumberland, Durham andCumbria. Unlike elsewhere in

Britain, lead mines occupied thevalley floors of the North Pen-nines. These forced agriculturehigher onto the hillsides, with con-sequent evolution of an ecologythat was favoured by cool, dampconditions. The flowers that growin the high meadows are mostlynorthern species, and for many,the North Pennines mark the mostsoutherly limit of their range.

To prevent further loss of thisnow rare and valuable habitat, theAONB Partnership has begun aHay Time Project, under the lead-ership of Project Officer, IrishmanJohn O’Reilly. This will encour-age and involve farmers in therestoration of 200 hectares of haymeadows in the region.

As John explains, “Not allfields are suitable for regenerationas hay meadows. Where nitroge-nous fertilizers have been used,soil fungi that are important forplant growth will have becomedepleted. Fields containing plantssuch as cow parsley, docks andthistles are also unsuitable, asthese would out-compete mostintroduced species.

“Suitable donor fields are onesthat grow significant quantities ofyellow rattle, buttercup, red cloverand sweet vernal grass.”

Red clover is capable of fixingatmospheric nitrogen. Yellow rat-tle is a semi-parasitic plant thatfastens onto grass roots and soprevents many grasses from thriv-ing. This leaves room for flowersto become established.

“Seed from these donor fields,”John adds, “is machine-harvested,by cropping the top one-third ofthe growth. This is supplementedby seed taken from roadside grassverges.

“When a field is to be restored,its crop is harvested, then theground bared, either by harrowingor allowing cattle to feed on theremnants. After a week, the seed isscattered. Further species can beintroduced by re-seeding over a 5-or-10-year period.”

In addition to the species men-tioned, upland hay fields, of whichHannah’s Meadow is an excellentexample, contain a rich andcolourful mixture of flowers:ragged robin, wood crane’s-bill,pignut, vetches and water avens,as well as grasses like meadowfox-tail, crested dog’s-tail andcock’s-foot. These attract a widevariety of invertebrates, which inturn become a food source forbirds and small mammals such asvoles and bats.

The results of an earlier experi-ment in hay meadowre-generation can be seen at BlackBank, in the Allendale valley,

Northumberland. This former cornmill and smithy was built in 1664,and linked two ends of a loop inthe River East Allen. It wasbought in 1993 by Dr WendyNicholson, who has since exten-sively re-furbished the buildingsand grounds.

In 2003, aided by a Governmentgrant, she began restoration of thesmall, species-poor field enclosedby the loop of the river. Flooding,in the past, had contaminated thesoil in this field with heavy metaleffluent from the lead and zincmines. Even now, the riverbanksdisplay clusters of metal-tolerantflowers, such as mountain pansyand alpine pennycress, a few spec-imens of which survive in the hayfield.

More than twenty species ofplant are now fully established inthe field, and Dr Wendy plans toadd more. These include largenumbers of buttercups, yellow rat-tle, red clover and ribwortplantain. Also present are threevarieties of vetch, and parsleyssuch as pignut and sweet cicely.Among the grasses and sedges aresweet vernal, crested dog’s-tail,Yorkshire fog and meadow fox-tail. Scattered examples ofmouse-ear, ox-eye daisy, sorrel,hawkbit, crosswort and woodcrane’s-bill add flashes of colourto the field’s texture. Indeed, thisrichness of colour provides strongcontrast with the surroundingfields, when observed from theslopes above Black Bank.

“In the first three years of theHay Time Project,” John O’Reillyconcludes, with justified satisfac-tion, “around 70 hectares ofmeadows were seeded. More than50 farmers sought advice andalmost 200 fields were surveyed.”

The main value of hay meadowrestoration lies in the preservationof a plant diversity that has nowgone from much of Europe. Manybirds, such as curlew, yellow wag-tail, black grouse, twite andlapwing thrive in the high mead-ows. The late cutting gives timefor chicks to fledge. Scatteredseeds are a winter bounty forfinches. Grazing after cuttingleads to an increase in insect pop-ulations.

And to all of this must be addedthe undeniable enrichment suchmeadows give to the beauty of theNorth Pennines.

Anthony Toole, 65, CheswickDrive, Gosforth, Newcastle uponTyne, NE3 5DW, U.K.Email: [email protected]: http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/anthonytoole

Hay Meadow Restorationin the North Pennines


From top: Hanna Hauxwell's Meadow; Hay meadow in Allendale, Northumberland.

From top: Plantains and buttercups; Mountainpansy; Yellow rattle; Wood crane's-bill; Water avens;Ragged robin.

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By Tom MacSweeneyIT was the late Dr.John de Courcy Ireland, a

man I was honoured to know as a friend, whowrote, broadcast and campaigned unceasinglyfor the recognition of the importance of thesea, that turned my mind to the question ofwhy our planet is not called OCEAN instead ofEARTH, when so much more of it is coveredby water, by the seas, than by land. Perhaps itis called EARTH because it is those solidpieces of land to which we humans cling andspend our lives amongst the heaving, restless,never-ending movements of the oceans.

On one of those small pieces of land, anisland on the western periphery of Europe, weIrish live our lives, the first piece of solid earthagainst which the mighty Atlantic Oceancrashes, having rolled uncontrolled for thou-sands of miles across the face of the planet.The sea accepts no boundaries upon itself, nomatter what humans attempt to impose.

Every minute of every hour of every day, thesea is there, a huge resource, available to asmall island nation. But it is not in the fore-front of public attention.

The sea which surrounds us is not a barrierbetween ourselves and other nations, but achannel of opportunity, which should createpride in the distinction of being an island peo-ple, therefore, a maritime nation.

It is time for a revival of Irish maritimeinterest and there are some signs that this isoccurring. Irish marine researchers and thequality of their research are respected interna-tionally. Irish research vessels are to the fore inoffshore marine exploration. The Marine Insti-tute and the Irish Maritime DevelopmentOffice are amongst Government commit-ments. There are commercial shippingcompanies, thriving ports, there is a strong andgrowing interest in marine leisure. But moreneeds to be done, particularly the recognitionof the marine sector as a primary Governmentrole.

Most of the GDP of this nation has, formany years, arisen from outside investment inthe creation of an industrial fabric which, itnow appears, is not rooted, which is withoutfoundation in Ireland. There has been muchless investment in one of our greatest naturalresources – the sea which surrounds us. Whyhas this resource been neglected?

At present, our economy is in trouble. Weare “in deep”... Our Government is “at sea” …Our banks are “floundering in choppy waters”… Our economy is “holed beneath the water-line”…. There is uncertainty about whether weare “on the right course,” if there is a “safe har-bour” for our “ship of State” ….. There areconcerns about a “rush to the lifeboats” ...Some people are “abandoning ship,” leavingthe country… A need for “steady hands on thewheel of State,” calmness and control “on thetiller”.. The storm will pass and, if we’re “sail-ing in the right direction,” we will “ride out thestorm…..”

All of those words, comments and sayingshave been used in recent months by politicians,members of the parties which comprise boththe present Coalition Government and theOpposition.

Isn’t it somewhat ironic that in a countrywhere successive Governments have displayedindifference and disregard for the marine

sphere, to the point where the present Govern-ment removed the Marine Department fromthe Cabinet in an island nation and spread itsremnants across several Departments, thatmaritime references and language should beused so liberally by politicians to describe thecurrent economic crisis?

While marine terms may be used in theircomments, there has not been a single refer-ence, by any politician, in all of the concernexpressed about our economic problems, to thepotential existing in the resources of the seawhich surrounds us. While unemploymentincreases, while multi-national companiesshow they have no loyalty to anything otherthan the profit motive and move their opera-tions away from Ireland, the sea still rollsincessantly against the Irish coastline, everyminute of every day, its full potential still unre-alised in this nation.

The Government has laid emphasis on the“knowledge economy” as the way forward, butthe basis on which it has built Ireland’s indus-trial, economic fabric is wobbling. Theexecutives of foreign-owned companies havearrived, in pursuit of the interests of theirshareholders and left, taking with them jobsfrom Ireland, to be relocated elsewhere – jobswhich had no foundation in Ireland, for whichIreland meant nothing other than the making ofprofits and when that reason disappeared, sodid the jobs.

There is nothing wrong with making profit –they are essential to business survival. But jobsfrom the sea in Ireland could not be taken away– they would have a foundation in Ireland.

As a people we seem to have forgotten fromwhence we came. Our ancestors arrived on thisisland by boat. Should there not be a pride inthat heritage? Should our maritime locationnot be seen, not be supported as a strong con-tributor to the basis of our economy?

There are people with pride and belief in themaritime sphere and in what it can provide. AsI drive to ports and coastal locations, I have inmy car a badge on which people have com-mented. It says: “JOBS FROM THE SEA –IRELAND’S FORGOTTEN RESOURCE” andwas given to me by Matt Murphy, who runs theSherkin Island Marine Station in West Cork. Formany, many years he and his family havedevoted their efforts to marine research and pro-motion of the importance of the sea. That badgeis a reminder of what the marine sphere shouldmean to this island nation, but regrettablynational policy has ignored the sea, ignored thefact that we are islanders, living on the biggestoffshore island in Europe, the most western out-post of Europe. We are not the physical centreof Europe; we are not the most dominant eco-nomic force in Europe. But we could and shouldbe at the heart of maritime Europe.

The European Union, working on the cre-ation of a common maritime policy forEuropean waters, produced statistics whichshowed that there were 22,500 jobs in themarine industry in Ireland – made up of 10,584in fisheries:

• 3,836 in coastal tourism• 5,322 in ports and harbours• 2,800 in short sea shipping• 800 in recreational boating

It estimated the shipping sector’s contribu-tion to the national economy in the region of€2 billion. Add to these aspects the value ofour inland waterways and the growing interestin marine leisure, the resources of our ports,harbours, bays, how vibrant our fisheries couldand should be and the vision of what we couldhave as an economic benefit becomes moreapparent.

But how much of this is appreciated,realised by the public. The national media, ingeneral, does not give consistent coverage tomaritime affairs. The marine is more likely tofeature in terms of tragedies and disasters thanin positive terms. There is little analysis, regu-lar coverage generally apart from ourselves inRTE and that The Irish Times has a MarineCorrespondent. Where is the rest of thenational media, where also is the provincialpress, the regional papers which are read, sup-ported in the coastal areas, in giving regular,sustained coverage to maritime affairs?

Educationally, where does the marine spherecome? Not high on priorities. Is it explained tochildren in school, do parents appreciate howdependent Ireland is on its ports, on transportby sea? It has become quickly evident whenthere have been industrial disputes affectingthe ports.

But how much public understanding, reali-sation, is there that, without ships, seafarers,the ports, there would be no oil, no light, noheat, and no power for our factories. We wouldhave no tea, coffee, oranges, bananas, wine, nocars – even no trains, no buses and so on andso on. How little could get to this island on thewestern flank of Europe without the sea?

We do need more appreciation of our mar-itime heritage, our traditions – and pride inthem; to be proud of being islanders, which iswhat we are. In comparison to the offshoreislands of this nation, we live on a larger one,but that itself is small in comparison to theEuropean mainland. Appreciating our heritagebestows self-belief and Irish maritime interestshave shown over the centuries what can bedone: Arklow was a thriving port; Youghal aschooner centre; Dublin and Cork were ship-building centres; Galway was once atransAtlantic port, as was Cork; Ports aroundthe country had thriving fleets...

We cannot expect the same today, modernlife has changed things. But there have beenpositive developments:Dublin and Cork haveestablished themselves in the Cruise ship trade– both ports are looking at further development,so are Rosslare and Galway. There is potentialin the Shannon Estuary and in Bantry Bay. Wehave a National Maritime College in Cork, aCoast Guard, a Marine Institute and the MartinRyan Marine Science Institute in Galway – anational seabed survey is making new discov-eries about Irish coastal waters. There are Irishshipping companies – Arklow for example,

continues the maritime tradition of that port –and there are several other operators: a Mar-itime Campus fostering innovation, clusteringresearch and training was announced for Cork,though State investment has been slower thanhoped, but the concept is appropriate.

Twenty years of presenting a weekly mar-itime programme has been an experience ofhighs and lows, questions and answers and puz-zlement about maritime policies at national andEU level. Recently for example, why is a Gov-ernment Department proposing to close downthe national eel fishery and cause the loss ofhundreds of jobs at a time of severe employ-ment problems, when there is no need for this?Why is the EU proposing controls on leisureanglers who catch fish for sport? But also in thepast months …. An indication that the public isagain beginning to appreciate ferry travel andto use it, with more shipping service develop-ment. At a time of national economic woes, ofconcern and worry, I believe that Ireland has amaritime future – in all aspects of the marinesphere. However, there are issues still to beresolved. In a nation which has no more thanthe population of Birmingham or Manchester,is the policy of several independent ports com-peting with each other and with severaldevelopment plans the best national approach?Why is there not a better interfacing betweenrail transport and the ports? Could, or should,inter-port shipping along the coast be devel-oped? Can we develop a seafood industry withadded value through processing and market-ing? What is the future of marine leisure? Howwill young people be introduced to the sea andits importance to this island?

Soon I will be leaving RTE, coming to theend of my term with the station, but I hope toremain a voice for the sea, as some listenershave been kind enough to describe me. I wouldlove to see a Foundation for the Sea, to repre-sent the cause of the sea in national planning.Perhaps that will, some day, be achieved ….

Excerpt from a speech given by Tom Mac-Sweeney, at the annual memorial lecture to theChartered Institute of Transport at the UCD -Michael Smurfit School of Business in Dublin,March 2009.

Tom MacSweeney retired as MarineCorrespondent for RTE this November butcontinues to present SEASCAPES.SEASCAPES is broadcast at 10.30p.m. eachFriday night and repeated at 5.02 a.m. onMonday mornings on RTE Radio 1. Theprogramme is also available as a Podcast and isbroadcast twice a week on the Digital Station,RTE Choice, on Wednesday mornings at 7.30a.m. and Saturday lunchtimes at 12.30 p.m.Call them anytime with your views, news andcomments on maritime matters.

This Island Nation“The sea which surrounds us is not a barrier between ourselves andother nations, but a channel of opportunity, which should create pride inthe distinction of being an island people, therefore, a maritime nation.”

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THE River Suir SurfaceWater Working Group estab-lished under the aegis of theEPA’s Office of Environmen-tal Enforcement has prepareda guidance leaflet for thefarming community. Waterand habitat quality is beingadversely impacted in manyareas as a result of livestockaccess to waters. This has sig-nificant potential implicationsin terms of public health,safety of water supplies andfisheries and wildlife issues.From the farming perspective,it is essential that Ireland’sreputation of quality food pro-duction from a healthyenvironment is maintained.

This leaflet describes theproblems as a result of live-stock access to waters. Itidentifies benefits to the farm-ing and the wider community.For those agencies and author-ities charged withresponsibility for environ-mental and habitat qualityprotection and improvementand for provision of watersupplies, it is intended toassist in delivery of Ireland’sobligations under the WaterFramework Directive.

Protecting the qualityof our water resourcesand riparian habitat.When farm animals have

free access to streams, rivers,canals, lakes and other waterbodies, many things happen:

• Banks become eroded.• Bank-side vegetation is

damaged and sometimeseliminated.

• Large amounts of mattercontaining animal faeces,soil and nutrients enter andcontaminate waters.

• Blanketing or smotheringof riverine gravels can to-tally destroy nursery andspawning areas for fish.

• Aquatic macro-invertebrateand plant life, essential con-stituents of the food chainare reduced or eliminated.

• Water abstraction facilitiesare affected, and treatmentprocesses to remove con-taminants have to be up-sized and upgraded withmajor cost and other re-source implications.

Sheep and cattle, particularlywhen lambing or calving, aresignificant sources of Cryp-tosporidium. Deer (also whenpresent at high numbers in thewild) and pigs, particularly iffarmed close to water sources,can also be a source of Cryp-tosporidium. The risk is higherwhen animals have directaccess to water. Therefore, it isimperative that access to sur-face waters used as drinkingwater supply sources is ade-quately protected.

Stakeholders and whoare affected?

• Group water scheme mem-bers who have set up atlocal level their own watersupply arrangements.

• The general public onwhose behalf water is ab-stracted and treated byLocal Authorities prior tosupply through distributionnetworks.

• The farming sector forlivestock watering andcrop irrigation.

• Industry for use as processwater.

• Recreational users engagedin boating, swimming,water sports, angling etc.,and wildlife, particularlyour inland fisheries re-source for which Ireland isinternationally renowned.

Fencing and bankstabilisation benefitsfor all stakeholdersThere are many benefits

from fencing of waters andlimiting livestock access, andfrom maintaining existing nat-ural boundaries such ashedges and stonewalls border-ing waters such that these arestock proof.

• Fencing, especially wherea narrow strip is left be-tween the fence and riverbank, allows for the devel-opment of stable banksidevegetation by prohibitinganimal access, tramplingand grazing.

• Well developed riparianzone vegetation compris-ing grasses, shrubs andtrees help maintain bankstability, mainly due to thebinding influence of rootstructures.

• Fencing allows for a recov-ery of riparian zones wherethey have been trampledand overgrazed, and for re-establishment of a widerange of plants and inverte-brates which cannot surviveon intensively fertilised or

heavily grazed lands. (O' Grady, M. F., 2006)

• Fencing ensures that theriver corridor is a contin-uum thereby ensuring mo-bility of many forms ofwildlife along a networkof river channels acrossthe countryside, and pro-vides opportunities forground nesting birds suchas mallard. (O'Grady, M.F., 2006)

• Stable bankside vegetationacts as a barrier and filterpreventing soil(s), nutrientand pesticide run-off fromfarmlands gaining directaccess to waters.

• Fish stock assessments un-dertaken by the Centraland Regional FisheriesBoards have establishedthat consistently, wherefencing and creation of sta-ble riparian zone vegeta-tion has occurred, there aredirectly associated im-provements in fish popula-tion numbers.

• Shade and cover is partic-ularly important in termsof the well-being of fish-eries resources. Shadingdue to growth of grasses,trees and shrubs in areasof land fenced off betweenthe actively worked landand waters reduces growthof in-stream vegetation bylimiting light penetration.Shading also helps to keepwater cool especially dur-ing summer conditionswhen fish might otherwiseexperience temperaturestress. The wide range ofinsect life inhabitingbank-side cover providesa very useful source offood especially for fish.

Good Farming PracticeLivestock watering should,

where possible, take place atdrinking troughs which shouldbe located so as to avoid poach-ing. Drinking troughs shouldnot be located where there is arisk of runoff to surface waters,or where there is fissured lime-stone, and should be aminimum of 20 metres fromboreholes and wells. Livestockshould not have direct access towaters where downstreamwater abstraction for humanconsumption is taking place.

In constructing drinkingaccess points, emphasisshould be on bringing water tothe livestock, rather thanallowing livestock to walk outin the river or stream channel.

It is preferable that there be afall created back towards thelands on which the livestockare standing, thereby allowingfor contaminated depositswhich inevitably will containurine and faeces to be rou-tinely removed.

Specific benefits to thefarming communityApart from the environ-

mental benefits in terms ofhabitat and water quality,there are some very obviousbenefits to the farming com-munity from good fencing andelimination of animal accessto surface waters. Theseinclude:

• Protection of farmers owndrinking water suppliesagainst potential Cryp-tosporidium contamination.

• Reduced risk of animallameness, infection and in-jury.

• Reduced incidence of mudon udders and reduction inrisk of contamination tomilk.

• Saving in losses of valu-able topsoil and nutrientswhich could otherwiseoccur during run-off anderosion of land.

• Reduction in the amount oftime spent in rounding uplivestock.

• Less animal straying lead-ing to improved relation-ships between farmers andother rural dwellers.

In terms of agri-tourism, ariver corridor which is fencedoff is a much more valuableasset which will improvepotential for conservation andrecreation enterprises such asangling and farm walks, withthe potential to improve theincome and diversity of thefarm in question.

Excerpts from the leaflet“Guidance for the farmingcommunity on protection ofwater resources and habitatquality from impacts due tolivestock access to waters”,prepared by PatrickKilfeather, Southern RegionalFisheries Board and JohnFeehan, Office ofEnvironmental Enforcement,Environmental ProtectionAgency. The full leaflet can bedownloaded from:http://www.epa.ie/downloads/advice/water/drinkingwater/name,26792,en.html

Protection of WaterResources from Livestock


Available from:Sherkin Island Marine Station, Sherkin Island, Co CorkTel: 028-20187 Fax: 028-20407 [email protected] www.sherkinmarine.ie

Have you ever wanted to put a name to the wild flowers you seeabout you every day, or while on a walk, or on holiday? With thehelp of this pocket-sized guide, you will be able to do just that.Beginners of all ages will be introduced to the many commonwild flowers found around Ireland. Price:€7.50 plus €1.00 p&pISBN-13: 978-1-870492-23-2 Softback 208pp Published by Sherkin Island Marine Station

A pocket-sized guide, suitable for beginners of all ages. With thehelp of this book you will be able to explore the wonders ofmarine life on the shores around Ireland. Price:€7.00 plus €1.00 p&pISBN-10: 1-870492-96-X ISBN-13: 978-1-870492-96-6 Softback 208ppPublished by Sherkin Island Marine Station

A Beginner’s Guide to Ireland’s Wild Flowers

A Beginner’s Guide to Ireland’s Seashore

Gift Ideas

Livestock watering!!

An example where although partly limited, livestock access is verylikely to contaminate water and affect downstream uses.

Limited fenced access to a hard standing area of the stream forlivestock watering.

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SHERKIN COMMENT 2009 Issue No 48 ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ 11

By Dick BatesIN 2007 the EU agreed a new regulation on

organic production and labelling which for thefirst time includes aquaculture. Organic is aprocess rather than an end product certifica-tion and it is important to state that just asgame is excluded from the scope so are wildfish. The regulation lays down objectives,principles and general production rules fororganic farming.

In 2009, after extensive discussion withexperts, the Commission agreed implementingrules for aquaculture and seaweed and the newregulation was published in August. This has tobe read in conjunction with the detailed rulesfor organic agriculture which were publishedthe previous year1.

The need for European organiclegislation for aquaculture

Up to now organic aquaculture has been reg-ulated through a mixture of private schemesand, in a few Member States, national rules. Bymid-2009 some ten approved private schemeswere operating in the Community, but only afew of these operate outside a single MemberState. Denmark was the first Member State toadopt national rules for organic aquaculture in2004. France followed suit with very compre-hensive rules in 2007; these deal with a largerange of species. Ireland had developed draftrules by 2007 but decided to wait for the EUrules to finalise national rules and the Spanish

region of Andalucía notified the Commissionof its draft rules in 2007.

The situation up to now has been far fromsatisfactory in terms of the single market asfree movement has not been guaranteed. Pro-ducers had to undergo multiple certifications toaccess markets in the various Member Stateswhich is costly and time consuming. Evenwithin a single country a processing plant han-dling fish certified organic under onenationally-approved scheme has not alwaysbeen permitted to process fish certified under asecond nationally-approved scheme, even if nooverlap in processing occurs.

The new Commission Regulation aims toachieve a balance between the existing nationalrules and private schemes so as to give a mini-mum standard for organic aquaculture andseaweed products on the Community market,from both Community production and imports.

The regulation sets conditions for the aquaticproduction environment, for impacts on otherspecies, separation of organic and non-organicaquaculture units, and requires animal welfareconditions in husbandry and slaughter to beaddressed (including maximum stocking densi-ties). It specifies that biodiversity should berespected, and does not allow induced spawn-ing using hormones. Organic feeds should beused where they are available and there are pro-visions for fish feeds to be derived fromsustainably managed fisheries. Special provi-sions are made for bivalve mollusc productionand for seaweed. The final Annex lists produc-tion requirements including maximum densityby species grouping and type of farming.

Organic food production:a dynamic sector

Though small in relative terms, organicfarming is one of the most dynamic food pro-duction sectors in the Community and shouldexpand further now that obligatory EU ruleshave been completed. It is seen as part of a sus-tainable farming system and a viablealternative to the more traditional intensiveapproaches.

According to the publication ‘Organic Aqua-culture 2009, Production and Markets’ byNaturland and Organic Services, there aresome 123 certified organic aquaculture opera-tions in Europe (including Norway andSwitzerland, and not including producers ofseaweed), out of a total of only 225 such farmsin the entire world. European organic aquacul-ture produces 24,500 tonnes of certified fishannually, or a little less than half of total worldproduction, which is currently running at over50,000 tonnes.

In descending order of production volume,the main European nations for organic aquacul-ture production are: UK, Ireland, Norway,Hungary, Greece, France, Austria, Spain, Italy,Germany, Denmark and Switzerland. The sin-gle most important fish species in Europeanorganic production is salmon. The above publi-cation outlines the seminal role of Ireland in thedevelopment of organic fish farming in marinewaters and states that last year half of Ireland’sfarmed salmon production of 11,800 tonneswas certified as organic with gutted fish selling

for an average €6.09 per kg versus €4.24 forconventional fish.

The majority of the rules will enter intoapplication as of 1 July 2010. The MemberStates may permit units already producingunder nationally-accepted rules a further threeyear transition period to adapt to the Commu-nity rules.

1Council Regulation 834/2007 is the new legal basis andthe detailed rules for agriculture are contained in CommissionRegulation 889/2008. The latter was amended by Commis-sion Regulation 710/2009 in August 2009 as regards organicaquaculture animal and seaweed production. All texts areavailable from the European law site: ‘http://eur-lex.europa.eu/’.

Richard Bates, Trade and Markets Unit, DGMaritime Affairs and Fisheries, EuropeanCommission, 1049 Brussels, Belgium.

New EU Organic Aquaculture Rules

Dick Bates

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By JerryO’Sullivan

INISHMURRAY is a smallisland off north County Sligo,in Donegal Bay. The islanditself is unremarkable – a low,gently-inclined table of sand-stone in the Atlantic, rising tosheer sea cliffs on its westernaspect. In the modern period itwas home to a small commu-nity of islanders that subsistedon farming and fishing, butwho were evacuated to newhomes on the mainland in1947. In antiquity it was hometo a community of monks andthe island’s fame todayderives from its spectacularlywell preserved early medievalmonastic buildings.

The main monastic enclo-sure is simply known as theCashel. It contains TeachMolaise, the tomb shrine ofthe island’s patron saint, aswell as one or possibly twoother churches, Templemo-laise and Templenatinny. TheCashel also contains severalclochans or beehive cells, andwas the burial ground of theisland men in the modernperiod. The women wereburied elsewhere, at thechurch and graveyard knownas Templenaman. A third bur-ial ground at Relickoran hasno recorded history, butarchaeological investigationsin 1999–2000 discovered amixed cemetery population ofmen, women and sub-adults,with skeletal remains datingfrom the eighth to the 17thcenturies.

At these burial grounds,and at several other locationsabout the island’s shoreline,there is an enigmatic series ofdrystone altar cairns orleachta. These were the sta-tions of a pilgrimage or turasobserved each year on 15August in modern times. Theorigins of this are certainlymedieval, however, thoughthe leachta may originallyhave been erected for liturgi-cal use by the island’s clergy,only afterwards becoming

incorporated in an annual pil-grimage.

The principal leacht istopped by a group of large,rounded, beach cobblesknown as the Clocha Breaca(‘speckled stones’). There aredozens of beach cobbles onthis leacht and they are all‘speckled’ to some degree, byweathering and lichens. Butonly a dozen of these are thecursing stones. Careful exam-ination in favourable lightreveals them. They are theones delicately carved withcrosses in a variety of forms.

The Clocha Breaca are alsoknown as the ‘cursing stones’.The earliest reference to thisstrange tradition is on a mapof Donegal Bay and its hinter-land made in 1603 by anElizabethan adventurer calledCaptain John Baxter. Theisland of Inishmurray is in aprominent central position onthe map and is accompaniedby this legend.

In this ilande theredwelleth a holye man namedScanlon of whom the contriepeople holde a superstitiousopinion that if he be angrywith anyone, and he doeturne the speckled stones

uppon them, which he kepethfor that use, they shall die

within that yeare.

Formal liturgical cursingwas particularly prevalent inEurope in the 10th and 11thcenturies. Liturgical ‘clam-ours’ or appeals for justice toGod were often pronounced inthe presence of the lay popula-tion and could involve cursingindividuals who were consid-ered responsible for injusticesagainst a church or commu-nity. The practice developedin the absence of strong cen-tral government. Swearingoaths on altars or over saints’relics – and the correspondingthreat of liturgical curses onthe oathbreaker – becamemechanisms to enforcetreaties and stave off militaryconflict. In the absence ofstrong government in Irelandduring the Merovingian andCarolingian periods, liturgical

cursing developed here at anearlier date than on mainlandEurope and in all probabilityinfluenced later Europeanpractice. Cursing by holy menis frequently recorded in Irishsaints’ lives from the 7th cen-tury onwards and is alsomentioned in the Irish canons.

Fasting was used to give acurse greater potency and thisis paralleled on Inishmurray,as recorded in the tradition ofthe islanders. Here, a cursewas preceded by preparationover a nine-day period: threedays of total fasting, threewith one meal and three withnormal meals. Hence theintensification of the fast wasthe reverse of what would beexpected. The preparationalso included a devotional cir-cuit of the island and, again,this was performed in reverseof normal practice, in atuathail (i.e. left-hand or anti-clockwise) rather than adeiseal direction. During thecurse itself, the curser walkedtuathail around the clochabreaca and, while doing so,rotated the cursing stones orturned them upside.

In modern island tradition,turning the speckled stoneswas not the exclusive preroga-tive of the clergy. This isunsurprising as Inishmurray isunlikely to have had the bene-fit of resident clergy for atleast 300 years before itfinally became uninhabited.For all we know, a ‘holye mancalled Scanlon’ was the last ofhis kind. It is all the moreremarkable, therefore, thatknowledge of this ancientpractice was faithfully pre-served in Inishmurray’sfolklore until the evacuationof the island in 1947.

Jerry O’Sullivan and TomásÓ Carragáin wroteInishmurray: Monks andPilgrims in an AtlanticLandscape. Volume 1:Archaeological Survey andExcavation 1997-2000.Published by Collins Press,Cork, 2008. Price €49.95(hbk). ISBN 978-19051724.

THE ANCIENTCURSING STONESOF INISHMURRAY,CO. SLIGO


Inishmurray, County Sligo. The cursing stones or clocha breaca rest on an altar cairn in the monasticenclosure (Mel Cameron).

Inishmurray, County Sligo. A detail from Captain John Baxter’s map (1603) of the north-west part ofIreland (above) records the ‘speckled stones’ (left), used for ecclesiastical cursing in antiquity and formingpart of the modern pilgrimage or turas (National Maritime Museum [UK], Greenwich).

Inishmurray, County Sligo. Aerial view of the Cashel or main monastic enclosure (Con Brogan, NationalMonuments Service).

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By Matt MurphyTHE newly opened BIM

Seafood Development Centre(SDC) based in Clonakilty,Co. Cork, aims to help Irishseafood companies exploitand maximise the marketpotential for Irish seafood.

The SDC is the first dedi-cated innovation facility forthe Irish seafood sector. Theimpressive 768 square metrefacility includes wet fish pro-cessing areas, businessincubation units, graduate lab-oratory, product developmentkitchen and an innovation anda product concept room. Herelarge and small companieswill be able to test new prod-ucts and processes. BIM seesignificant potential for value-added produce in terms ofseafood health and wellnessbenefits, consumer friendlypackaging and convenientready meals, organic seafoodand optimising by-productsfrom fish processing.

On the day of the officialopening John Fagan, the Tech-nical Advisor was on hand to

explain how the various facili-ties can help create newopportunities. He had on dis-play some 60 variety ofseafood products, which areon sale in the Irish retail mar-ket. This wonderful array hadone downside – most wereadded value products fromoutside of Ireland. Mr. Fagansaid that all of these could be

processed here in Ireland. Dis-played next to a sauce-makingmachine were various ingredi-ents for use in such sauces,supplied by a small Irish com-pany in nearby Dunmanway,Spice O'Life Ltd. This com-pany is already supplying anumber of seafood companiesas well as butchers and meatprocessors nationwide.

The centre can create won-derful opportunities not onlyfor large companies but alsofor the "little person". It couldlead to seafood cottage indus-tries being established andpeople should be queuing upto use this facility. As well asbeing able to test new prod-ucts, expert staff are on handto advise on marketing andbusiness management and toget an objective view on thecommercial viability of theproducts.

The Irish Seafood Industryis an important indigenousindustry providing vital rev-enue to the country andproviding employment to ourcoastal communities. The sec-tor generated total seafoodsales on both domestic andexport markets of €715 mil-lion in 2008, which is a strongperformance in the midst ofrecession but BIM believesthere is greater potential toincrease sales by focusing ongreater innovation and aswitch to value added produce.According to BIM's CEOJason Whooley; 'traditionalbusiness models need tochange for some species if weare to ensure we are bestplaced to take advantage of theinevitable upturn in the econ-omy'. Currently in Ireland,85% of fish is made up of bulkcommodities or 'exported onthe hoof'. Mr. Whooleyexplains why this model is nolonger sustainable; 'Whilst thisfits with the market demandfor some species, particularlyin the pelagic sector, it doesnot deliver for other species asthey can be dependant on fluc-tuating global markets leavingthem open to predatory pricingby larger international tradeplayers. By focusing on deliv-ering value-added seafood

relevant to end consumerneeds; the sector can developmore stable markets andgreater profitability. For every10% conversion from com-modity to value-addedseafood, an additional €37million per annum in salescould be generated.'

During the opening of thecentre a most impressivepresentation "Changing Con-sumer Trends in EatingSeafood" was given by Ms.Marie Burke, TNS World-panel. If this new centreneeded an endorsement that itis an essential new tool forthe seafood industry then Ms.Burke's presentation was thatendorsement. It highlightedthe changing habit of the Irishshopper, with a shift in themarket from loose counterfish sales to pre-packed sales;the dominance of the multi-ples within the fish market,with the specialists fish storesjust 1%; and the discountstores, such as Aldi and Lidl,now major players in thefrozen fish market. But whatis most concerning for theseafood industry is that theyhave a major challenge toencourage young people toeat fish.

I recently spoke to BIM'snew Seafood InnovationCoordinator, Dr. Susan Steeleabout how she intends work-ing with seafood companiesto develop greater innovation.'I am aware that Innovation isa term that can be usedloosely and can sometimeslose its meaning as a result.Our main aim through theSDC is to foster innovation,to facilitate new ideas and toassist companies to developstructured business plans toascertain if these ideas are theright course of action beforethey commit to capital invest-ment. Innovation is nowrecognised as the single mostimportant ingredient in anymodern economy and forthose working in the seafoodsector, new ideas and newways of doing things is noth-ing new. Specialised fishinggear, boat designs integratingGPS, different types of fish-

ing equipment are just someexamples of how the industryhave used innovation toenable their business to oper-ate more effectively. We nowneed to concentrate on themarket and the move frombulk commodity to deliveringadded value….' Susan under-stands that innovation is hardwork and for some large com-panies, it can sometimes take3,000 ideas for one new prod-uct to develop successfully.

'In order to change and tofacilitate a switch to valueadded, industry will needassistance and we are lookingforward to helping companiesto achieve this. With all inno-vation, there will be ideas thatdo not succeed and it takestime and a very structuredprocess to follow ideasthrough to launch'

Susan Steele is someonewho always loved working inthe industry. 'I still do. I amexcited about this new devel-opment and I am lookingforward to working closelywith companies to bring theirconcepts to fruition. We feelthat we can really make a dif-ference and we haveambitious targets in place todrive us forward. The industryis ready for change and itdeserves to get the maximumreturn for the high qualityseafood that it produces. Inaddition to the business devel-opment and innovationexpertise BIM already deliv-ers, the SDC will provide uswith the necessary tools to testnew products at the conceptstage enabling industry tomove with the times and con-stantly re-invent to stay ahead'

It is vital that those involvedin the seafood industry use thiscentre to its full potential.This, I believe, is one of themost creative initiatives fromBIM in many years.

For further information onBIM's Seafood DevelopmentCentre, please contact Susanand her team on 01-2144280 or [email protected]

Developing Greater Innovationin the Irish Seafood Sector


Pictured at the official launch of BIM’s Seafood Development Centre (SDC) in Clonakilty, Co. Cork is Dr. SusanSteele, BIM Seafood Innovation Coordinator.

BIM’s John Fagan at work in the processing room.

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BIM

By Ben SampsonWHEN you think of the Sey-

chelles, stunning beaches andexclusive hotels probably spring tomind, not rugged hills, thick forestand all the scent and sound of a mil-lion seabirds.

The Seychelles comprises 115islands scattered over 500 miles ofthe tropical Indian Ocean, 1000miles off the coast of Africa. Thegranite islands to the north of thearchipelago are the world’s oldestoceanic islands, dating back to thebreakup of Gondwanaland. Giventheir antiquity and isolation, andonly settled by man in the 18thcentury it is perhaps not surprisingthat there are many unique plantsand animals to be found here.There are more endemic giant tor-toises in Seychelles than in theGalapagos and many other com-parisons can be made withDarwin’s famous islands. Even onthe main islands of Mahé, Praslinand la Digue where the vast major-ity of the human population live

there are still many endemicplants, birds and other animals tobe found, but it is on the smaller,scarcely inhabited islands wherenature truly rules supreme and ofthese, none more so than Aride.

Barely 1½ miles in length and lessthan half a mile wide, Aride is a tinyisland by any standards, but what itlacks in size it more than makes upfor in sheer abundance of life. Noth-ing can quite prepare you for theexperience of your first landingthere. Once you have recovered fromthe beach landing on the island’sboat (no other boats are allowed toland in case invasive species areaccidentally introduced) you cantake in the lush, green forest risingsteeply from the back of the beach;above it a cloud of birds swirls inconstant motion. The noise duringthe breeding season is deafening;sooty terns giving their characteristic“wideawake” cry, lesser noddieschattering to each other from theircompost heap nests, along withmasses of fairy terns, brown noddies,tropicbirds and roseate terns.

Below the canopy small birds flitthrough the bushes: Seychelles war-blers and Seychelles fodies. Aride ishome to the world’s largest popula-tions of both these endearing, ifslightly drab looking little birds.Then you notice the lizards. Every-where. Aride has possibly thehighest density of lizards on earth,and it is easy to believe. Sit still toolong and a Seychelles skink or itslarger cousin, the Wrights skink(both unique to these islands), willgive you a nip to test whether youare carrion yet! Leave a plate offood unguarded for a minute and itwill be invaded...

It is not only the island that isprotected. The surrounding sea is amarine reserve, with over 500species of fish recorded, andalthough the coral reef was dam-aged by the el Niño event of 1998,it is recovering and important num-bers of the critically endangeredhawksbill turtle come ashore tonest.

As night falls, the shearwatersstart to arrive. More Audubon’s

shearwaters live on Aride than any-where on earth and together withwedgetailed shearwaters, the nightcomes to life with their eerie callsechoing through the trees. Theseburrow nesting seabirds return tothe island to feed their chicks atnight. It is a common job to have toremove disorientated shearwatersfrom your house at night andrelease them on the beach (hope-fully without them vomiting theirsemi-digested catch of fish andsquid).

It could have been very different.For much of its recorded history,Aride’s seabirds and eggs were har-vested for food and in the 19th andearly 20th century much of thenative forest was felled to allowcoconut palms to be planted. All itsendemic landbirds were lost andprobably many of its plant species,but the seabirds remained andamazingly rats never colonised. Bythe 1960s the island was no longercommercially viable as a coconutplantation and in 1973, the greatconservationist Christopher Cad-bury (of the chocolate family)bought the island and presented it towhat is now the Royal Society ofWildlife Trusts as a nature reserve.

Work then started on restoring thevegetation: felling the coconuts andpropagating native trees. Twoendemic land birds found their ownway back – the Seychelles sunbirdand Seychelles blue pigeon, andthree more were reintroduced – theSeychelles warbler, Seychelles fodyand the Seychelles magpie robin(once numbering fewer than 20birds in the world, now thanks toconservation efforts there are over200 and rising). In 2004 the islandwas leased by the Wildlife Trusts toa Seychelles charity specialising inthe restoration of island habitats, theIsland Conservation Society, givingmore local involvement.

This is very much the wild side ofSeychelles. Only six people live onAride (plus two or three volunteersand researchers), all employed toprotect, restore, record and promotethe wildlife. Research and monitor-ing are crucial and the island holdsthe most important environmentaldataset in the country. Day visitorscome from neighbouring islandsbringing vital income to support theconservation work and need landingand guiding. Small but persistentnumbers of poachers still try to landunseen to take eggs and birds,requiring night time patrols at keytimes.

The day to day experiences ofjust living on Aride are permanentlyetched into my memory: taking abucket to the well for a shower; thesound of torrential rain on the tinroof reminding me to start collect-ing drinking water; fishing trips forbonito and snapper; harvestingcocoyams in the marsh; beach bar-becues and creole feasts with all theislanders; digging a new toilet;launching the boat through heavysurf to go shopping; but above all itis the island that I will alwaysremember – wild, beautiful andextraordinarily alive.

Ben Sampson, Warden of Aride2006 & 2007; Volunteer at SherkinIsland Marine Station 1994.

Aride Island – The Seychelles14 ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ SHERKIN COMMENT 2009 Issue No 48

Aerial view of Aride Island.

Aride Seabird factfile:200,000 pairs of lesser noddies (world's largest colony)

100,000 pairs of Audubon's shearwaters (world's largest colony)

100,000 pairs of sooty terns (largest colony in the granitic islands)

20,000 pairs of wedgetailed shearwaters (Seychelles 2nd largest

colony)

8,000 pairs of brown noddies (Seychelles' largest colony)

2,500 pairs of fairy terns (Seychelles' largest colony)

800 pairs of roseate terns (Seychelles' largest colony)

600 pairs of whitetailed tropicbirds

200 pairs of bridled terns

4 pairs of red-tailed tropicbirds (the only ones nesting in the region)

The largest roost of frigatebirds in the granitic islands (up to 5000 birds) The noise from birds on the island during the breeding season can be deafening.

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By Ben SampsonALTHOUGH the wildlife of Aride was

stunning and the job completely absorbing,simple day to day living on the remote islandnature reserve provided a wealth of unforget-table experiences, something I was fortunateto share, my wife Emma being employed asassistant warden.

Living conditions were pretty basic, butthis, if anything, added to the experience andcertainly put our western lifestyle into per-spective. Water was a constant obsession.There was no running water; water for wash-ing and cooking came from a well and wascarried home by bucket. Drinking water wascollected from the roofs during heavy rain. Itusually took at least half an hour for the birdmuck and other debris to be washed offbefore collection could start, even then, wehad to filter the water before it could be used.A 200L barrel lasted about a month for thetwo of us – our six barrels held enoughdrinking water for six months without rainand each house had its own supply.

No plumbing meant no flushing toiletseither. Without going into too much detail,our loo was a short walk from the house, acorrugated iron hut with a seat set over a pit,with a sack of leaves alongside to flush andaid the composing process. This simple tech-nology worked brilliantly and a new pitneeded to be dug only every 10 years or so.Unfortunately this happened to coincide withour time on Aride...

Solar panels provided enough power for afew hours of light after dark, and a telephoneand laptop to run during sunny weather. Thetelephone link had been installed ten yearspreviously and with internet access meantthat we were never too isolated from the out-side world. Cookers and fridges ran offbottled gas, the fridges in particular werevery temperamental and between the sixhouses there were usually only one or twoworking. Life was transformed when twolarge generators were donated to the island –cold drinks, icecream and the ability to storefish at last!

Life on Aride is dominated by two sea-

sons: from November to March the windsare generally light and from the northwestwith calm seas and heavy rain showers; fromMay to September the monsoon winds arestronger and steadier, blowing from thesoutheast. The only safe landing is on thesouth facing beach, meaning that for almosthalf the year, rough seas made sea journeysbumpy and launching tricky, if not impossi-ble. Patience is key; capsizing is a realpossibility if the boatman misjudges it. For-tunately the Seychellois are expert mariners,and although we sometimes had to wait inthe surf for 30 minutes or more before thecry of Allez! we never had a serious acci-dent.

It is not only the boat journeys that areaffected by the seasons – the monsoon windcarries a haze of salt spray, coating everysurface, rotting clothes and books, peelingpaint from the walls, rusting metal and caus-ing electrical equipment to fail. The influx ofseabirds at this time brings another hazard –droppings. Clothes and bedding all have tobe laboriously washed by hand at the welland were often dirty again before they dried!The monsoon wasn’t all bad news: thebreeze brought a welcome coolness andmosquitoes were generally few and farbetween. Cool, rich sea currents broughtabundant food for the seabirds and meantexcellent fishing, if the sea wasn’t too rough.This was the time when trolling a lure couldmean yellowfin tuna, bonito, dorado or evensailfish for dinner.

The soil, being well fertilised with guano,grew crops at an astonishing rate. Lemons,limes and papaya were always in season aswere aubergines and chillies. Pineapples,guavas and custard apples were a seasonaltreat (if the fruitbats didn’t get to them first).Bananas grew around the edge of the marshbut the developing fruit had to be protectedwith a sack if the moorhens weren’t to getthem first. During the wet season these birdsbehaved as they do in Europe, swimming inpools and snapping up insects. For much ofthe time on Aride however there was nostanding water and the moorhens lived in theforest, climbing trees for fruit, taking birdseggs and raiding the houses, scattering potsand pans looking for scraps. They could be amajor garden pest and even took to eatingchillies off the plants!

Creole cooking was delicious and welearned a lot from the Seychellois rangers –

barbecued fish with a zingy marinade of gin-ger, garlic and chilli, octopus curry withcoconut milk, saltfish stew; bouillon bred – aspicy fish and spinach soup. The staple pud-ding was ladob – a heavy, sticky concoctionmade from a starchy vegetable such as yamwith coconut milk, sugar and vanilla.

The only real pests were mosquitoes andother biting invertebrates – a nuisance attimes but not dangerous. Giant centipedeshad a nasty bite and for some reason wereparticularly attracted to me. They grow up toabout 15cm long and three times I waswoken in bed by a painful bite to the arm orleg. An even bigger surprise was a robbercrab that climbed in through the window onenight. These animals can grow to 50cm longand are capable of opening coconuts withtheir claws. Fortunately this one was a baby– but I was still very careful as I ejected it.

Having a beautiful beach at our doorstepwas an enormous privilege, and the lure ofthe sea was irresistible, with much of ourfree time spent swimming and snorkelling.Sunset was a particularly special time andwe would always try to sit on the beach infront of the house watching day turn to night.As the light rapidly faded the noise intensi-fied, with shearwaters adding their cries tothe cacophony. Shoes, rarely worn by daybecame important after dark as centipedesbecame active and the thousands of scurry-ing ghost crabs on the paths were almostimpossible to avoid.

Life on Aride was a privilege, a pleasureand at times a challenge but the memoriesand lessons learned will continue to motivateme for a lifetime.

To find out more about Aride, visitwww.arideisland.net.

Ben Sampson was Warden on Aride Island,The Seychelles in 2006 and 2007.

Life onARIDE ISLAND


Emma, Assistant Warden (and Ben’s wife), outside the Warden’s house on the island.

The view from the Warden’s house.

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Tagging a Hawksbill Turtle.

The waters around Aride Island are teeming with life.

Carrying out the seabird census.Blue-fin Jack A view from the hill.

Day visitors to the island from neighbouring islands bring vital income, whichhelps support the conservation work.

Horned Crab

Launching the boat off the beach.

Sooty Tern with its egg. Fairy Tern The world’s only forest-nesting Roseate Terns. Seychelles Magpie Robin Lesser Noddy on its nest. White-tailed Tropicbird

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SHERKIN COMMENT 2009 Issue No 48 ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ 17 16 ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ SHERKIN COMMENT 2009 Issue No 48


By Alex KirbyA LEADING UK climate

scientist, Dr Richard Betts ofthe Met Office Hadley Centre,says new research shows thatglobal average temperaturescould increase by four degreesCelsius before the end of thecentury, with some extremeregional implications. Thisscenario is based on theassumption that no action istaken to reduce greenhousegas emissions significantlywithin the next few years. Ifclimate feedback mechanismsare strong, then a 4oC warm-ing could occur even earlier.The Met Office research saysregional implications includea warming by 10oC or more inthe Arctic, because the melt-ing of snow and ice will causemore of the Sun’s radiation tobe absorbed. In Africa too, Dr

Betts says, the western andsouthern regions could warmby up to 10oC. He said: “Peo-ple will say it’s an extremescenario, and it is an extremescenario, but it’s also a plausi-ble scenario.” Scientists say a4oC rise could threaten thewater supply of half theworld’s population, drive upto half of all animal and plantspecies to extinction, andinundate low-lying coastlines.

With climate change caus-ing the area of Arctic sea iceto shrink, the number of prob-lem polar bears appears to beincreasing. Ian Stirling, azoologist at the University ofAlberta in Edmonton, Canada,says this in many cases isbringing them into settlementsand hunting camps. His teamfound that around the town ofChurchill on the shores ofHudson Bay the number ofbears reported as attacking

humans, homes and campsmore than tripled between1970 and 2005, from 20 to 90per year. The shorter the seaice season, the more reports ofproblem bear activity werenoted. This increase is occur-ring despite a 22% decline inthe west Hudson Bay polarbear population since the late1980s. Sea ice in Hudson Baynow melts three weeks earlierthan in the 1970s, cutting thetime available to bears to huntseals and build up enough fatto survive the ice-free summerwithout food. This drivesthem to search for food intowns. Scientists expect tofind evidence that climatechange is also causingincreases in problem bearnumbers in towns on Alaska’snorth coast and in easternRussia.

The US EnvironmentalProtection Agency has fined a

Los Angeles-based company,Kop Coat, Inc., $126,000 forviolating hazardous wasterequirements. During a 2007inspection EPA investigatorsfound that Kop Coat, anindustrial coatings manufac-turer, had committed anumber of hazardous wasteviolations. The plant is nolonger working. The companystored hazardous waste withouta permit; failed to meet emis-sion standards for tanks andcontainers; failed to provide aninternal communications oralarm system able to provideimmediate emergency instruc-tions; failed to carry out weeklyinspections; and failed to prop-erly provide and maintain stafftraining.

In the UK, the Environ-ment Agency of England andWales brought a case against aSomerset man who ran an ille-gal skip business. He wasgiven a two-month prison sen-tence for dumping waste attwo sites near Weston-super-Mare. He is the third rogueskip operator the Agency hasprosecuted and put out ofbusiness in the Bristol andNorth Somerset area this year.The court was told that theman ignored advice given bythe Agency and continued toflout the law, depositing skiploads of waste without alicence.

An oil trading firm hasagreed to pay more than $46m(£28m) in compensation topeople in Ivory Coast who saythey were made ill by dumpedwaste in 2006. Trafigura,which has offices in London,Amsterdam and Geneva, said30,000 people will eachreceive $1,546 (£950). Themoney is over and above thenearly $200m which the com-pany paid the Ivoriangovernment in 2007.Trafigura and the plaintiffs’lawyers agreed that a linkbetween the dumped wasteand deaths had not beenproved. A joint statement bythe company and the Britishlawyers representing the Ivo-rians said at worst the wastehad caused ‘flu-like symp-toms. Trafigura said it hadbeen completely vindicated bythe agreement, but it still faceslegal action in the Netherlandsover the case. In August 2006many truckloads of the wastewere dumped at 15 sitesaround Abidjan, the biggestcity in Ivory Coast. In theweeks that followed tens ofthousands of people reported arange of similar symptoms,including breathing problems,sickness and diarrhoea. AUnited Nations report has sug-gested a strong link betweenat least 15 deaths and toxicwaste dumps. Trafigura criti-cised the report as prematureand inaccurate, saying: “Weare appalled at the basic lackof balance and analytical

rigour reflected in the report.”Trafigura has always insistedit was not responsible for thedumping of the waste, as thiswas carried out by a subcon-tractor. It also denies that thewaste – gasoline residuesmixed with caustic washings -could have led to the seriousillnesses the residents claim,which include skin burns,bleeding and breathing prob-lems.

Containers of hazardouswaste alleged to have beenillegally exported from the UKto Brazil have been returned toBritain. The containers, said toinclude syringes and condomsamong their contents, have tobe fumigated before they canbe examined. The Environ-ment Agency beganinvestigating after the wastewas found by Brazilian offi-cials in three of the country’sports over the past fewmonths. The Brazilian authori-

ties said the waste had beenexported as recyclable plasticbut actually contained haz-ardous and toxic waste. Wastecan be sent abroad for recy-cling, but not for disposal. Themaximum penalty for export-ing waste illegally is anunlimited fine or up to twoyears in prison. Three menwere arrested in July in con-nection with the shipment.

Investigators in Italyexamining a shipwreck con-taining possible radioactivewaste say they may havefound two bodies on board. Anunderwater camera alsoshowed pictures of orange bar-rels, with the word “toxic” ontheir side. The boat lies in500m of water off south-west-ern Italy. Officials say theybelieve the vessel may havebeen sunk by the Calabrianmafia as part of a racket tomake money out of the wastedisposal industry. It was dis-covered after a mafiainformant told the authoritieshe was involved in an opera-tion to destroy vessels at seacontaining radioactive andother waste. Local prosecutorssay it is possible some of thecrew were either unaware ofthe plan to sink the ship orwere deliberately killed by themafia. The mafia informantsays he personally sank twoother vessels and that he knewof at least 30 more ships sabo-taged by the mafia. The mantold his interrogators the wastecame from European pharma-ceutical companies and themafia was paid between $2mand $20m to sink the ships.

The Kenyan Governmenthas ordered that 40-50% oflivestock bought through agovernment scheme should beslaughtered where they arebought. The step is aimed atminimising losses the KenyaMeat Commission is incurringfrom buying animals dyingthrough lack of pasture in thecurrent drought. About 2.5million people are receivingemergency food aid acrossKenya, but the effect of thedrought means a further 1.3million now also need help.The World Food Programmesaid the drought was beingdescribed as the worst since2000. A World Health Organi-sation study has said foodinsecurity in East Africa isexpected to increase by 25%by 2015.

Helping farmers and com-munities in poor countries toadapt to climate changeappears to be benefiting themin two ways. By combiningenvironmental farming meth-ods with family planning, theConsortium for Integration ofPopulation, Health and Envi-ronment (CIPHE) in AddisAbaba says, farming produc-tivity in the Wichi wetlands insouth-western Ethiopia hasincreased, though it does notyet know how much of this iscaused by a reduction in fam-ily size. Since 2005, about14,000 people in Wichi havefed their soil with animalcompost and planted vetivergrasses, which trap moisture.At the same time, families arebeing offered access to contra-ception and advice.

British conservationistsare planning to reintroduce aspecies of bumblebee declaredextinct in the UK nearly adecade ago. The short-hairedbumblebee officially died outin 2000, but its descendantssurvive in small pockets inNew Zealand, where theywere taken to pollinate redclover in the late 19th century.If the project works it willmark the first time bees havebeen reintroduced to anycountry after dying out. Bum-blebees and honeybees havebeen in decline throughoutBritain recently. Large areasof bumblebee habitat, includ-ing wild flower and haymeadows, have been lost, anddisease and parasites havewiped out honeybee colonies.The director of the BumblebeeConservation Trust said theproject would be difficult, andmight be the bees’ last chance.The insects have been badlyaffected by changes in agri-culture.

For five years Asianpredatory hornets have beenthriving in south-westernFrance, scaring people withtheir venomous stings andattacking the local bees.

EnvironmentalIssues Aroundthe World

Salmon, Trout & ShellfishMarine & Freshwater

North, South, East & West

Delivering results for Aqua-Business

For more information contact:IFA Aquaculture Section, Irish Farmers’ Association, Bluebell, Dublin 12ph: 01-4500266 fax: 01-4551043 e-mail [email protected]

“A World HealthOrganisation study hassaid food insecurity inEast Africa is expectedto increase by 25% by2015. ”

Continues on page 19


French beekeepers say theinsects have now been sightedin Paris for the first time, andentomologists fear they couldeventually reach Britain. Thehornets are thought to havearrived on container shipsfrom China. They areexpected ultimately to spreadacross the whole of Franceand into other European coun-tries. Biologists say thisspecies of Asian hornet,which can grow to an inchlong, is no more ferociousthan its European counterpart,although its stings can be verypainful and may need hospitalattention. In the south west ofFrance one beekeeper said hehad lost 30% of his hives inthe past two to four years.Neither pesticides nor trapsseem to be very effectiveagainst the invaders. But ascientist at London’s NaturalHistory Museum said theymight be defeated by “good,old-fashioned British sum-mers. They wouldn’t copewell with heavy rain.”

Scottish scientists are tobegin a survey to determinehow many earthworms thereare in Scotland. Researchershope the results will help themunderstand how climatechange is affecting earthwormnumbers. They will visit 100farms across the country tocount the worms and comparethe results with a similar sur-vey 18 years ago. The studywill also consider what otherfactors might influence wormnumbers. Worms are some-times called “ecosystemengineers” because of theirability to influence soil struc-ture. The Scottish CropResearch Institute says thereare three groups of earth-worms - those that stay nearthe top of the soil, those thatburrow horizontally and thosethat burrow vertically. “Thepaths of the horizontal andvertical earthworms cross, cre-ating important naturaldrainage channels in the soil”,said a spokesman. “If there isa reduction in the earthwormpopulation there would be lessnatural drainage, and thatcombined with increased rain-fall caused by climate changecould result in more flooding.”

The European eel’s migra-tion to the Sargasso Sea tospawn has mystified biolo-gists for many years. But nowscientists using satellite tagshave tracked 22 eels, findingout what they do in the first1,300km of their 5,000kmmigration. A report in thejournal Science says thestudy’s findings includewhere and at what depth theeels swim. The eel has a mys-terious life cycle, spending itsearly years in rivers in north-west Europe before headingacross the Atlantic to the Sar-

gasso in the western Atlanticnear the Bahamas. Here, it isbelieved, the fish spawn andlay eggs. But no-one has everseen them do this. The eggshatch into transparent larvaeand return to Europe floatingon ocean currents, developingon the way into tiny glass eelsthat swim against the currentinto Europe’s rivers. Therethey can grow up to 1m long.In 2006 the team attachedminiaturised satellite tags to22 large adult eels which theyreleased from the coast ofGalway. The tags record notonly the location of the eel butalso its daily activity, record-ing speed, depth anddirection. The tags aredesigned to detach themselvesafter six months and float tothe surface, sending data viasatellite back to theresearchers. They found thedirection the eels take wasn’ta straight line from the westcoast of Ireland towards theSargasso Sea, but to the southof that, as if they were head-ing toward the Azores. Thismeans they head towards theconveyor belt current whichhelps to drive them toward theSargasso, implying some abil-ity to navigate. The data alsoshow that during the nighteels swim in shallow warmwater before diving steeply atdawn to 1,000m where theystay all day. As they do notfeed during their migrationthis can have nothing to dowith foraging, but it may helpthem to avoid predators.

Using human urine as afertiliser produces bumpercrops of tomatoes that are safeto eat, scientists say. The Jour-nal of Agricultural and FoodChemistry reported thatresearchers at the Universityof Kuopio, Finland, gave pot-ted tomato plants one of threetreatments: mineral fertiliser,urine and wood ash, urineonly, and no fertiliser. Urine isrich in nitrogen, phosphorusand potassium. Yields forplants fertilised with urinequadrupled and matchedthose of mineral-fertilisedplants. The urine-fertilisedtomatoes also contained moreprotein and were safe forhuman consumption. Theresearchers think the ideacould improve sanitation byencouraging toilet-building.They plan to launch a pilotprogramme in Nepal beforethe end of 2009. But theamount of urine that can becollected from a person or afamily is fairly small - equiv-alent to about two bags offertiliser per year for a westAfrican family. So the ideacould help a subsistencefarmer but not a medium-sized cash-crop farm.

Alex Kirby is a former BBCenvironment correspondent.

By Mike LudwigALTHOUGH it has been more than thirty years since rescue

efforts started, Chesapeake Bay is still dying. Water quality isnot improving significantly. The famous Chesapeake Bay oys-ter population is just two percent of its level in the 1950s. Bluecrab numbers are down more than thirty percent and stilldeclining. Sea grasses that once covered the Bay floor havedisappeared across much of the Bay along with the communitythat used them. The only things expanding are the problems.Nutrient discharges to the Bay are increasing, unwanted algaepopulations are increasing, oyster disease continues to ravagethe natural and farmed crops of oysters and we spend moremoney.

Sadly, the source of the problems causing the Bay’s slow butcertain demise have been known throughout the entire thirtyplus years of effort: too much phosphorous and nitrogen isbeing carried to the Bay from agriculture, urban and suburbanrunoff, sewage treatment plants and air pollution. The nutri-ents stimulate algae growth. In freshwater, the culprit is thephosphorous that stimulates the growth and in saltwater it isthe nitrogen. The excess algae as it grows and dies createunnaturally wide swings in oxygen levels in the water. The useof oxygen at night along with the algae’s death and decay cre-ate low (hypoxic) or worse, no oxygen (anoxic) conditions inthe Bay’s waters. The result is an annual, oxygen starved,“dead zone” that may cover as much as 40 percent of the 180mile long estuary during the summer months.

In the mid-1970s, Senator Charles Mathias from Marylandbegan a fact-finding tour of marine science institutions aroundChesapeake Bay to determine why the Bay’s resources weredeclining. That effort led to the formation of the ChesapeakeBay Program, a multi-jurisdictional partnership of State and theFederal Government that began working to restore the Bay andits many resources in 1984. That effort built on restorationefforts that started in 1978 with a $27.5 million dollar (US)grant to the States. The cumulative efforts have now spent morethan $9 billion dollars (US) without attaining a single Bay-widegoal. Today, Chesapeake Bay continues to show only marginalimprovement or even declines in virtually every targeted recov-ery parameter. The once touted restoration program thatultimately spawned the U.S. Environmental ProtectionAgency’s National Estuary Program’s (NEP) of twenty-eightother attempts to restore estuaries, finds itself sitting near the

bottom of the ladder except in cost. While NEPs such as LongIsland Sound and Tampa Bay have achieved remarkable suc-cess with their water quality problems, the 64,000 square milewatershed of Chesapeake Bay has not.

The Chesapeake Bay Program leadership assembled a BlueRibbon Finance Panel to look at the entire watershed and pro-vide information on how things were progressing. Thefindings of the group included a pessimistic review of theefforts to date and the estimate that the total water qualityrestoration would cost more than $28 billion if nothingchanged—more than $200 per year for every watershed resi-dent. More recent estimates now report that more then $36billion dollars are needed. This recent finding came in thewake of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation’s (CBF) annualreport card that continues to warn that the Bay is an ecosystemin peril. Although the restoration target date is 2010 they findthat instead of seeing significantly improved water quality theBay is dangerously out of ecological balance and in criticalcondition. The CBF uses 13 indicators to grade the conditionof the Bay: oysters, shad, crabs, striped bass (rockfish), under-water grasses, wetlands, forested buffers, resource lands,toxics, water clarity, dissolved oxygen, as well as phosphorusand nitrogen pollution. CBF scientists examine historical andcurrent information regarding each indicator and assign it anindex score and letter grade. Taken together, the indicators pro-vide an assessment of Bay health. (An “A” would mean thatthe ecosystem was recovered and a grade of 100 would meanthat the Chesapeake had returned to conditions described in theearly 1600s, when clean water, meadows of sea grasses, vastoyster reefs and abundant fish life was present.) This year theygave the Bay a grade of “D” regarding its present conditionand a health index rating of 28 - a long way from the desiredgoal of 40 by 2010.

The core problem is that no one is accountable for the fail-ure. Goals established in 1983 and 1987 calling for a40-percent reduction in nutrient pollution by 2000 wereextended to 2010. Now the US Environmental ProtectionAgency and the Bay Program say 2020 is more realistic. Theproblem arises from the program’s collaborative structure andits lack of regulatory authority. They actually impede seriousprogress on water pollution. The National Oceanic andAtmospheric Administration (NOAA) reports that aggressivemanagement can reverse the trend, citing the Tampa Bay estu-ary, which has improved due to regulations that requiredsignificant reduction of nutrient pollution, thereby cleaning thewater and allowing the environment to rebound.

In the Chesapeake, NOAA reports that it has one of thelargest dead-zones in the nation, resulting from nutrient pollu-tion from throughout the watershed. The fundamental problemfaced by the Chesapeake clean up team is not a lack of tech-nology or solutions. The problem is poor policy andinstitutional inertia. The Chesapeake needs a policeman towrite tickets for violations and a judge to make sure the viola-tions stop. The nation’s biggest estuary, sitting at the front doorof the capital, deserves restoration.

Mike Ludwig, Ocean & Coastal Consultants, 35 CorporateDr., Trumbull, CT, USA 06611.

CHESAPEAKE BAYThirty Years On and Still Dying

A satellite view of Chesapeake Bay.

Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in the United States ofAmerica, encompassing six states and the entire District of Columbia.

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By Daphne PochinMould

NEANTOG, Urtica dioica,the common stinging nettle, is amost remarkable plant. Few ifany other have so many uses.You can eat it, drink it, sleep init, wear it, and use it to soothethe pain of arthritis. And it willhelp your garden to blaze forthin a riot of almost orientalcolour.

No wonder then that it pro-tects itself with stinging hairs,otherwise it might be entirelydevoured by man and beast. Fornettle are a tasty vegetable. Pickthe young leaves in spring (weargloves!), wash and cook likespinach. Only much nicer. Don’tovercook, and eat with lashingsof fresh butter.

Traditionally country folkadded young nettle leaves tostews and soups to bring aspring freshness and good foodafter the monotony of muchwinter diets. You can prolongthe season of fresh nettle leavesby cutting them back, so theygrow again. Nettle soup, like allsoups, has various recipes (the

internet has some of them) andare a pleasant light vegetablebroth. In recent years, gourmetrestaurants have taken them upand met with diners’ approval.

The full grown nettle is asturdy plant, and you will find itquite hard to break off a stem.(Grasp it firmly and it won’tsting you.) It spreads both by itsroots, which form a dense massand by seed. The flowers aresmall, catkin like, hidden underthe leaves and plentiful. Look atthem closely for they have theirown delicate under-statedbeauty. It seeds itself readily.

The strong stems depend onvery strong fibres, so if you cutyour nettles and let them rotdown like flax, you have, likeflax, material that can becleaned and spun and woveninto cloth. Natural vegetableshirts and pants, and no jokeabout them. They exist rightnow. And in World War I pro-vided uniforms for the GermanArmy.

People have slept on nettlesheets with nettle pillows and assoundly as ones made from flax.

No wonder then that theplant protects itself with asting. The mechanism is deli-

cate and effective. The littlehairs on the plant act like ahypodermic syringe, a tinycontainer of the stringing drugand a sharp point to inject itwhen touched. Traditional folkmedicine uses the stings to easethe pain of arthritis by applyingnettles to the joint. Bee keepersclaim similar good results frombee stings. Unless you are oneof those unfortunate folk whohave allergies to various things,the nettle treatment is wellworth trying. But don’t over doit, or like some of the moreascetic saints, go roll in a bedof nettles, unless you are toughenough to take the conse-quences!

Nettles thrive in rich soil andso they are often found amongthe ruins of old houses andtheir yards and gardens. Nettleson a formless rickle of stonessuggest that here people oncelived.

Cherish your nettles. Letthem grow tall and strong anddon’t cut them down as sum-mer ends. For let alone theywill bring coloured splendourof butterflies. Nettle leaves areone food of some butterflycaterpillars, so look out for

them. Butterflies are having ahard time, with so many of thefood plants destroyed withintensive farming and weedkillers.

In fact, it might be a goodplan to know the plants the var-ious butterfly caterpillars eat,and try to encourage theirgrowth, and not needlessly cutthem down once they haveflowered.

You brushed against it and itstung you? Well, no seriousharm and if you have stiffjoints, maybe some good. Asthe old word has it, “worsethings happen at sea”.

Neantog - Universal Provider

Food for caterpillars.

Common Stinging Nettle

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By MargaretQuinlan

THE Main Guard stands atthe centre of the old town ofClonmel, Co. Tipperary, fac-ing along the main street andclosing the vista as oneapproaches under the recon-structed west gate of the oldwalled town. Until an inves-tigative study in 1990 by thewriter, little was known of thebuilding except that it datedfrom 1675, had once beenarcaded, and was converted toshops in the 19th century. Itsoriginal features were thoughtnot to have survived, apartfrom elements of the facades.However, the study revealedthat substantial parts of the17th-century building had sur-vived, concealed within thelater 19th-century fabric. As aresult, Clonmel Corporationhanded the building over tothe OPW in 1994 and anextensive programme ofworks was carried out by theNational Monuments Service.

The BuildingThe building was commis-

sioned as a courthouse for thepalatinate of County Tipper-ary by James Butler, 12th Earland 1st Duke of Ormond, bornin 1610 into one of the mostpowerful dynasties in thecountry. The Butlers had beengranted the manor of Carrickby Edward II in l315, and anearldom in November l328.Within seven days, they hadalso been granted the ‘regali-ties and liberties of the Countyof Tipperary’, later called thepalatinate – effectively a king-dom within a kingdom. Jameswas one of the Butlers of Kil-cash, the fabled castle underSlievenamon which gave itsname to the great 18th-centurylament, “Cad a dheanfaimidfeasta gan adhmad...” Twocarved stone plaques on thefaçade bear the Ormond arms,the arms of Clonmel and thedate 1675. The architect isunknown. Sir William Robin-son has been suggested – hebuilt the Royal Hospital forthe Duke of Ormond in the1680s – and a Captain JamesArcher is also a candidate.The palatinate was extin-guished in 1716 because the2nd Duke supported the Stu-arts over the Hanoverians intheir bid for the crown. Thepalatinate court was sup-pressed, and from that timethe assizes were held in the‘Tholsel’, as the buildingbecame known. The infamous

trial of Father NicholasSheehy took place there in1766. Clonmel’s new court-house was built in 1802 andall court functions were trans-ferred there. An 1820 sourcedescribes it as ‘devoted to theuse of the soldiery’ and namesit the ‘Main Guard’. By 1810,the lower level had alreadybeen converted into shops andthe building had undergonedrastic alteration to suit thisnew function.

In 1990, the site contained a

labyrinth of building, alteredand adapted following its con-version in the early 19thcentury. The original buildinghad been simple, consisting ofa single level over an openarcaded ground floor, with arear return. The 19th-centuryintervention saw the insertionof five levels where there hadbeen two; the insertion of twofull-height dividing walls; theremoval of the columns in thearcade; and the cutting throughof the centre of the arches to

accommodate an additionalrow of windows for the newintermediate floors. Fortu-nately, the outer sections of thearches survived in place. Thefront wall was supported onpairs of beams, re-used fromthe former principal floor,which in turn supported on thenew dividing walls, supple-mented by slender cast-ironcolumns. The result was ahighly unstable structure, fur-ther weakened by the insertionof several sets of flues throughthe surviving masonry.Because of its dangerous con-dition, in the 1980s theCorporation acquired thebuilding from two owners, anderected protective hoarding.

The ApproachThe principal debate that

arose following the discovery

of the 17th-century structurecentred on how this buildingand its significance could beconserved into the future. Theoption of retaining the 19th-century configuration waseventually set aside, as itwould have entailed the vir-tual obliteration of survivingelements of the 17th-centurybuilding to preserve a struc-ture which itself neededlarge-scale intervention due toits deteriorated and unstablestate. The diagnosis was thatthe structural problems of thebuilding could be best solvedby re-establishing the originalstructural form – replacing theremoved portions of thearches and floors.

Accordingly, the decisionwas taken to reinstate thearcade, and to undo the drasticinterventions of the nineteenthcentury. In this process, referral

was made to the internationalcodes of conservation practice,among them the Burra andVenice Charters. The aim wasto conserve the building and torecover its significance, whichwas seen to lie principally inthe building being at the transi-tion between mediæval andmodern. With it, the Renais-sance had arrived – a classicalbuilding was introduced to thecentre of a mediæval town,placed symmetrically on theaxis of the main thoroughfare.To add to the rich mix of his-tory, it was discovered duringthe works that the Main Guardcontained much stone from the12th-century Cistercian abbeyof Inislounaght, two milesupriver.

Where evidence existed, thefabric was restored. Whereinsertion of new elements wasnecessary, it was ensured thatthey were clearly identifiableas being of contemporary con-struction. Care was taken toavoid speculative intervention.As no evidence of internaldetailing survives, there hasbeen no attempt to recreate it.

NowThe main chamber takes up

the entire first floor and con-tains a permanent exhibitionon the building. The additionalancillary accommodation is amodern construction on thefootprint of the rear return andholds a stair hall, lift, escapestairs, offices, toilets andstores. The junctions with the17th-century front block havebeen carefully articulated. It ishoped that a structure to therear, known as the square block– perhaps part of the duke’sdocumented Clonmel house –may be integrated with thisaccommodation in the future,to provide additional space anda small lecture room. Thebuilding is open to the publicas an OPW Visitor Centre andalso hosts cultural events andexhibitions.

Margaret Quinlan runs aprivate practice with Grade 1Conservation accreditation.Loughlin Kealy was part ofthe design team along withMichael Punch, ConsultantEngineer. OPW architect incharge of the project wasAighleann O'Shaughnessy ofthe National MonumentsService. The Main Guardwas awarded the BestConservation project in the2004 RIAI Irish ArchitectureAwards.

The Main Guard – Clonmel

Main Guard, Clonmel, Co Tipperary, in the 1970s. Main Guard as it is today, with the arcade reinstated.

The clock tower following restoration.Hoarding covering the clock tower.

The building stands in a prominent position in the centre of themediæval town of Clonmel.

The restored arches.

The spacious interior hosts cultural events and exhibitions.

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IRELAND is currently facing many environ-mental challenges and we are all accustomed tohearing about the issues relating to globalwarming and climate change. Less well knownperhaps but also of great importance are thechallenges facing Ireland’s natural aquatichabitats and the serious threats posed to themby the ever increasing numbers of non nativeinvasive species arriving to our shores.

Invasive non native species are plants andanimals that have been introduced from out-side their natural surroundings and arenon-native to an area. They can take over thehabitat of native Irish species very quickly,resulting in the decline or total exclusion of ourown native species. They can cause economicand environmental harm and in certain circum-stances may even adversely affect humanhealth. Their presence can curtail our enjoy-ment of the great outdoors and disrupt angling,swimming and the pursuit of other water basedrecreational activities.

Non-native invasive plants have the capacityto rapidly out-compete native Irish species anddamage our natural habitats. They can impactnegatively on tourism and damage the recre-ational and amenity value of the waters whichthey inhabit. It is vital that all efforts focus oneradicating these aggressive non-native plantsif we wish to prevent the ecological and eco-nomic devastation caused by them. If invasivespecies were allowed to spread uncheckedthroughout Ireland the economic and ecologi-cal cost to the country would be too great tocontemplate. However, the impacts of many ofthese non native species can not be fully under-stood until they are well established.

The most cost-effective means to control nonnative invasive species is to prevent their initialarrival and measures need to be taken to reducethe risk of introduction. The introduction oflegislation to regulate and control the importa-tion, distribution and possession of non nativeinvasive species and surveys and checks forthese non native species at ports of entry wouldhelp reduce their introduction and afford addi-tional protection to our vulnerable native Irishspecies and water habitats.

In an attempt to mitigate the effects of exist-ing non native species and prevent furtherintroductions and infestations, a project to con-trol aquatic invasive species was started by theCentral and Regional Fisheries Boards in Sep-tember 2009. The project which has beenfunded through the European Life+ programmeaims to restore natural aquatic communities inIreland. The project which is being managed byShireen Sayed of the Central Fisheries Board isdue for completion early in 2013.

The broad objective of the project is toreduce and prevent the further loss of nativeaquatic plants and habitat in Ireland caused byhigh impact non native aquatic invasivespecies. This will be achieved by the Boards

through the development and demonstration ofeffective control methods, a programme ofstakeholder engagement and awareness raising,the enactment of appropriate robust legislationand policy development and dissemination.

Some objectives of the project include theprotection of the native biodiversity in LoughCorrib by eradicating, controlling or containingthe plant Lagarosiphon major (Curly LeavedWaterweed), which has spread rapidly through-out the upper Lough. The huge scale of the jobto be done is highlighted in the following exam-ple. In 2005, Lagarosiphon major was found innine locations in L. Corrib and occupied circa12 hectares of the 20 hectare area of RineroonBay. In 2006, it was recorded in 24 separatelocations and appeared to be spreading towardsthe shallower lower lake. Currently, it is foundin circa 113 locations on L. Corrib. The teamwill be combining the use of new existing meth-ods in order to achieve this objective.

In addition to this, the project aims to pre-vent further spread of high impact aquaticinvasive species by implementing controlmeasures in a key dispersal corridor (i.e. thecanals and Barrow Navigation).

The project team from the Central andRegional Fisheries Boards will also be con-ducting a detailed desk study and consultingwith experts and authorities widely, in order tocollect data on the ecology and invasive capac-ities of the more problematic alien species andon effective control methods. This informationwill permit the development of informedguidelines for effective aquatic invasivespecies management.

In addition to the above activities the teamwill be looking to implement the widest rangeof containment, control and eradication proce-dures as is available, in an effort to eliminatenon native species from the targeted waters.The success of these methods will be scientifi-cally monitored and the results will be used toinform ongoing control proposals. Specificresearch focus will be placed on developingnew and innovative containment and controlmethods for use against the range of invasivespecies present in Irish waters.

During the project key stakeholders groupswill also be consulted and an education andawareness programme aimed at preventingnew invasions, further spread and reinvasionby existing high impact species will belaunched by the Boards.

The team will also exchange and disseminateinformation on control and management meth-ods with other European invasive speciescontrol teams and policy makers leading tomore effective control of aquatic invasives inIreland and across Europe. This will add to theprotection of biodiversity in Ireland and con-tribute to the European target to haltbiodiversity loss by 2010 by building capacityon invasive species control.

The Central and Regional Fisheries Boardsare working to ensure that the prevention of theintroduction and spread of invasive alien specieswill be addressed through the programmes ofstakeholder engagement and education andawareness described above, and via the provi-sion of robust legislation. In order to manage theproject, key action plans that tie into the overallproject objectives have been identified.

This important national research projectwhich is funded through the EU Life+ pro-gramme will inform the control andmanagement of invasive species in Ireland andelsewhere for many years to come.

Central Fisheries Board, Swords BusinessCampus, Swords, Co. Dublin, Ireland.www.cfb.ie

Control of AquaticInvasive Species

Restoring Ireland’s Natural Aquatic Communities


The OSMA weed cutting boat's maiden voyage onLough Corrib.

Lagarosiphon major

The Central and Regional Fisheries Boards areworking to prevention the introduction andspread of invasive alien species.

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By John AkeroydA REMARKABLE early account of Ire-

land’s natural history is now available*. Thisfascinating book derives from a neatly writtenLatin manuscript from c.1626 that turned up in1932 at the University of Uppsala in Sweden.Its author, Philip O’Sullivan Beare(1590–1636), wrote several books, including ahistory of Catholic Ireland. Denis O’Sullivan,retired consultant urologist and classicsscholar, who has translated and edited the text,now in English for the first time, has revealed aremarkable document shedding new light on

the Ireland of the Elizabethan conquest. Natu-ralists will find all manner of gems here, whilethose interested in history will discover muchon the O’Sullivan Beares.

Born on the island of Dursey at the mouth ofBantry Bay, Philip was the son of DermotO’Sullivan, chieftain of Dursey, who aided hisnephew Donal Cam O’Sullivan Beare duringhis escape from the Beara peninsula andmomentous march to Ulster (Dermot survivedto die in bed, aged 100!). Philip was one of 17siblings, most of whom died young. In Febru-ary 1602 after the catastrophic Irish defeat atKinsale, his father sent him to Spain, where hewas educated at Santiago de Compostella, later

becoming both soldier and scholar. He joinedthe Spanish navy and in 1618 fought at seaagainst the Turks.

O’Sullivan’s book is an eccentric, poignantpostscript to the eclipse of the old Gaelic Ire-land. He himself entitled it Zoilomastix, areference to Zoilos – an ancient critic ofrenowned Greek poet Homer – and a whip(Greek: mastix). He set out to correct informa-tion and assertions in Topographia Hiberna byGyraldus Cambrensis (1188), and subsequentwriters, which he felt to be the propaganda ofthe English, whom he saw as evil heretics whohad laid waste his country. O’Sullivan was nogreat naturalist, but an enthusiast who hadclearly absorbed much of what he saw aroundhim in boyhood. Perhaps as a work of recordthe book suffers from his being too long away,but is steeped in the exile’s longing for hisfamiliar native home. He can be repetitive andvague – yet packs the text with vivid fragmentsof observation and description. He concurswith several previous writers, back as far asclassical authors and Bede, who alluded to Ire-land’s temperate climate, her clean waters,pastures full of cattle and sheep, and wealth offish, bees and metals such as copper. He too isnever afraid of a little propaganda – Irish isusually best!

As an educated Renaissance man, O’Sulli-van owed a debt to Roman naturalist Pliny theElder, and he lists animal and plant names inLatin, Greek, Spanish and Irish, the latter lan-guage being widely spoken within Spain’s Irishcommunity. His knowledge of ancient texts andthe Mediterranean world in which he foundhimself greatly influenced the text. But O’Sul-livan’s little details are enough to show that hiswork is based on more than hearsay. He talks ofthe wagtail, with the “almost constant motionof his rather long tail”; the “frequent plaintivecall of the curlew”; coralline algae nearWhiddy island; crops such as buckwheat andflax; and two good West Cork plants, Arbutus(still on the Beara) and Enula Campana [Ele-campane] “near the Leap” and “in plenty onCape Clear Island”, where it survives today asa relic of former medicinal use. He mentionsBetony (Stachys officinalis) too, a plant of“many uses”, which is rare in Ireland but stilloccurs in several places on Dursey, Bere Islandand the Beara peninsula.

He notes how the pilchard “abounds in Ire-land”, as it certainly did in his native BantryBay (these fish mysteriously departed for Cor-nish waters in the 18th century). In a very Irishdetail, he writes of the ‘wren boys’, who wellinto the last century would kill and exhibit awren round villages on St Stephen’s Day. Hepraises hops and some garden flowers, and thenapologizes that he is no botanist. He empha-sizes the harmlessness of Irish Nature, evenspiders – there are a few nasty ones in Spain!But he does mention wolves, still about in Co.Cork in those days, alongside genuinely harm-less mammals such as marten, fox, badger,hare, weasel (sic, presumably stoat) and redsquirrel. He records bittern, corncrake, egretand heron, even pheasants. Bee-eaters derivemore from Pliny than reality, and Carrion Crowmay actually be the commoner Hooded Crow!

Here indeed is a book to enjoy and onepacked with tantalizing nuggets of informationthat fire the imagination. Anybody interested inIrish history, natural history and early literaturemust be grateful for Denis O’Sullivan’s dedica-tion and skill in taking this importantmanuscript to a wider readership.

Dr John Akeroyd, who has studied the Irishflora for 30 years, edited The Wild Plants ofSherkin, Cape Clear and adjacent islands ofWest Cork (1996) and is author of ABeginner’s Guide to Ireland’s Wild Flowers(2008).

THROUGH AN EXILE’S EYESNNaturature in 16e in 16thth centurcentur y Iy Irrelandeland

Dursey Island – the birthplace of the author Philip O’Sullivan Beare (1590–1636).

Fox are mentioned in the manuscript, alongsideother mammals such as marten, badger and hare.

Once he retired as a consultant urologist, Denis O’Sullivan (with his wife Marie above) went back toUniversity to study the Ancient Classics. Having complete his studies, he heard about the Zoilomastixmanuscript and decided to start translating it. This is the first book.

O’Sullivan’s Beare records many birds, includingthe heron.

*The Natural History of Ireland. Philip O’SullivanBeare. Translated and edited by Denis C. O’Sullivan.Cork University Press. 296pp. 2009. ISBN 978-185918-439-4.

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Collins Digital PhotographerBy Steve Bavister

HarperCollins

www.collins.co.uk

ISBN: 978-0-00728739-0

Price: £12.99stg/2008The Collins Digi-

tal Photographer is abook designed fortoday's marketplace.With photographynow being so acces-sible to so many peo-ple, there is a needfor a book whichgives straightfor-

ward instruction in the basics of photogra-phy. Collins Digital Photographerprovides guidance in all aspects of pho-tography, from the types of equipmentavailable and the techniques of capturingstunning photographs in different situa-tions, through to the final output on com-puter or printer. This stylish book isclearly laid out, with colour coded sec-tions, and a rubberised cover makes itideal for carrying on location. A valuablereference source and an ideal travellingcompanion.

The World of LakesLakes of the World

By Mary J Burgis & Pat Morris

The Freshwater BiologicalAssociation

www.fba.org.uk

ISBN: 978-0-900386-76-3

Price: £25.00stg/2007In the preface to

this book, the au-thors state "we havetried above all tomake science acces-sible and readable".They hope the bookwill be enjoyed bythe many that are in-terested in fishing,birdwatching, sail-

ing, geology, geography and engineering. Ineleven chapters, they take the readerthrough different aspects of lakes, includinglakes in landscape, lake water, lake commu-nities, polar and mountain lakes, deepestlakes, manmade lakes, use and abuse oflakes, and the conservation of lakes.

We learn so much from each page.Plant and animal life is explained in lay-man's language - the plankton, the insectsand the many animals that are part of thefood chain in almost every lake ecosys-tem. Africa has over 1500 species of fishin its lakes, in contrast to the 215 speciesfound in Europe and the 687 in N. Amer-ica. Lake Victoria alone has 500 species offish, many are endemic to the lake (beingfound nowhere else). Lake Baikal, inSiberia, is 1620 metres deep and is thehome to the Baikal seal (found only in thislake). It contains one fifth of the world'stotal reserves of freshwater. The RiverAmazon has over 8,000 discernible lakes,10% of which are more than 7 km wide

and 60 km in length. Most importantly,this book shows how essential healthycatchment areas are for lakes. Highly rec-ommended, especially for secondaryschool libraries.

Roadless RulesThe Struggle for the Last Wild

ForestsBy Tom Turner

Island Press

www.islandpress.org

ISBN-13: 978-1-59726-440-2

Price US$35.00/2009This is a story

about wildlandsthat have beenspared from theroad builders. It’san exciting storyabout how peoplecan come togetherto fight govern-ment. The RoadlessArea Conservation

Rule was put in place at the end of the BillClinton administration in the US to protectvulnerable national forest lands. Subse-quently, a substitute rule was issued by theGeorge W Bush administration to replacethe Clinton ruling. We read of the legalbattles concerning the two rules whichraged for over six years. It shows thestrength of the environmental organisa-tions in the US who are prepared “to puttheir money where their mouth is” to pro-tect the national forests. Chapter 1,“Showdown in Cheyenne” describes acourt case in Wyoming, where a highlypolitical judge, who had a fierce antipathyto President Clinton and his administra-tion, presided. The details of the case out-lined how the State of Wyoming had askedthe judge to declare illegal the RoadlessArea Conservation Rule, which bans roadbuilding on about 50 million acres on thecountry’s national forest. The argumentsfor and against in this case makes fascinat-ing read. Each of the other 16 chapterswhich include “Shoot outs in Idaho andWyoming, Skullduggery in Alaska” and“The Bush Rule is Blocked and the GameIs Up” is a wonderul story of the ordinaryperson taking on the vested interests, in-cluding the Bush administration. This isan inspirational book and highly recom-mended.

Resiliency of Gadid Stocks toFishing and Climate Change

Editors G.H. Kruse et al

Lowell Wakefield FisheriesSymposium

Alaska Sea Grant College Program

www.seagrant.uaf.edu

ISBN 978-1-56612-126-2

Price US$50.00/2008These proceed-

ings include eight-een paperspresented at a sym-posium held in An-chorage, Alaska.The family Gadidaeinclude about 30species of fish, suchas cod, haddock,pollock, ling, whit-

ing and hake that inhabit cold water seasof the North Atlantic, North Pacific andArctic Oceans. Papers focus on gadid pop-ulations and fishery dynamics and explorepotential biological, ecological and envi-ronmental mechanisms underlying thesechanges. Several key conclusionsemerged from the symposium.

For example, participants agreed thatconservative catch limits and excellentcatch monitoring programs are largely re-sponsible for the generally healthy statusof gadid stocks in the northeast PacificOcean. On the other hand, in the northeastand northwest Atlantic there are manyclear cases of overfishing where the con-tinuing inability to effectively controlfishing mortality remains a major resourceconservation issue to this day. In some ofthese areas, catch limits are consistentlyset above scientific advice and realizedcatches are higher still. Instances of illegaland unreported catches exacerbate theseproblems. Second, evidence has emergedthat selective fishing practices are associ-ated with shifts in biological attributes,such as growth and maturity schedules,which, in turn, affect stock productivityand the ability to recover, even if fishingmortality is later reduced to conservativelevels. A book for fish biologists and man-agers.

Sustainable InvestingThe Art of Long-Term

PerformanceEdited by Cary Krosinsky

& Nick Robins

Earthscan

www.earthscan.co.uk

ISBN 978-1-84407-548-5

Price: £19.99stg/2008This book arrives

at a time when weneed to look for al-ternative investingeconomies to thecurrent one that re-lies on the assump-tion that the Earthcan support infinite

growth and expansion. Sustainable invest-ing is defined as "an approach to investingdriven by the long-term economic, envi-ronmental and social risks and opportuni-ties facing the global economy."

Krosinsky and Robins clearly explainthe theories and practices behind Sustain-able investing, outlining both the positiveand negative aspects and how to make itwork in the long-term. Useful to both thelayman and businesses to show the direc-tion that investment should be heading inthe 21st century.

Voluntary Carbon Markets2nd Edition

Written & edited by Ricardo Bayon,Amanda Hawn and Katherine

Hamilton

Earthscan

www.earthscan.co.uk

ISBN 978-1-84407-561-4

Price: £24.95stg/2009Voluntary Carbon

Markets is a conciseyet in depth overviewthat delves deep intothe relatively new areaof carbon marketing.Carbon markets, de-scribed as the buyingand selling of emis-sions credits, distrib-

uted either by regulatory bodies orgreenhouse gas emissions reduction bod-ies can be regulated or voluntary. Volun-tary carbon markets are unlike regulatedcarbon markets as there is no statuary re-quirement to purchase the emissions cred-its on offer. Included in this book is a verydescriptive guide to the workings of themarket and a number of varied opinionsfrom leading professionals involved. Foranyone interested in participating in vol-untary carbon markets this book is awealth of easily understood informationand ideas, in my opinion a perfect startingpoint to necessary carbon neutrality inbusiness.

The Business Guide toSustainability

Practical Strategies and Toolsfor OrganizationsBy Darcy Hitchcock& Marsha Willard

www.earthscan.co.uk

ISBN: 978-1-84407-766-3 (sb)

Price: £29.95stg/2009This is a very unusual book in that it

gives a table at the beginning “What chap-ters should be read?” for whatever posi-tion a person holds i.e. finance, human

resources, office and board members.There are 13 chapters beginning with“Sustainability as a Strategic Issue” - ben-efits, risks, explanation and whether yourorganisation is sustainable.

At the end ofeach chapter thereis a checklist to seehow many of thepractices discussedyou have imple-mented in the pastfive years. This isdone through apoints system.Within each chapter the authors have re-source boxes giving details of books forfurther ready on the specific issue. Onemight think sustainability is an airy fairissue but there is a very impressive list ofcompanies pursuing sustainability, includ-ing energy companies such as Shell andConoco, and manufacturing companiessuch as Coca Cola, Ford, HewlettPackard, Intel and Nike. Many States inthe US and countries like New Zealand,Australia and Canada. Ireland is notlisted! Universities mostly in the US. Yes,this book is a must for anyone involved inwanting to be sustainable.

Selling SolarThe diffusion of renewableenergy in emerging markets

by Damian Miller

Earthscan

www.earthscan.co.uk

ISBN: 978-1-84407-518-8

Price: £49.95stg/2009Selling Solar is a

comprehensive andeasily digestiblelook at the use ofsolar photovoltaicsand their relativelyslow diffusion intoc o m m o n p l a c eusage in develop-ing markets. Miller

begins with a brief introduction on lifewithout electricity; reality for an esti-mated 1.64 billion people, and why solaris a viable option for communities andgovernments across the globe. Thendrawing from case studies from aroundthe world Miller examines some of thebarriers to the uptake of solar units intoemerging markets. The book finisheswith some policy guidance for introduc-ing solar to more homes. Written in aneasy-to-read style and full of facts andstatistics this book provides anyone inter-ested in international development andrenewable energy with a comprehensivebackground to the diffusion to technol-ogy in emerging markets.

PUBLICATIONS OF INTEREST

LIBRARY EXHIBITION:‘Darwin, Praeger and the Clare Island Surveys’

Celebrating the 200th anniversary of Darwin’s birth, the 150th anniversaryof the publication of The origin of the species and the 100th anniversary ofthe 1st Clare Island Survey, the library is presenting an exhibition featuringexhibits from its rich Natural History Collections as well as loans from the

National Botanic Gardens and the Natural History Museum. The exhibitionaims to explore the work of Irish naturalists both in Ireland and abroad and

the influence of Darwin on those whose collections are displayed here.

The exhibit is on display at the Meeting Room inAcademy House until 14th December 2009

Royal Irish Academy, 19 Dawson Street, Dublin 2.Tel: +353-1-6762570, Fax: +353-1-6762346 Web: www.ria.ie

Visit

www.naturesweb.ieDownload an exciting newsletter for children,

featuring interesting and informative news on natureand the environment.

Produced by Sherkin Island Marine Station

By MauriceO’Callaghan

“But having caught,obtained, or

photographed a fishwhich needs

identifying how doesone go about finding

out what it is?

Well, “A fieldguide to themarine fishes of Wales andadjacent waters” may appearat first sight to be a very spe-cialised and localised book butdoes in fact cover many of thespecies found not just aroundthe Welsh coast, but also thoseoff the rest of the Britain andIreland. It is clearly the mostcomprehensive, photographi-cally illustrated guide tomarine fish of Britain and Ire-land as yet published, andeven provides an appendixwith a thorough (although notclaimed to be definitive) listof the fish found in thesewater too.

In the past the majority ofidentification guides to fish

have relied on line drawingsand descriptions provided byscrutinising dead specimens inorder to produce sufficientinformation to enable identifi-cation. The authors of thisguide have for the most parttaken a different approach andhave tried to rely on high qual-ity underwater photographs inorder to provide information.

This is especially evident forcertain fish like the gobieswhere clear images of the livecreatures makes identificationfar easier (especially fromunderwater photographs) thantraditional fin counts andexamination of prepared spec-imens – the aim of the authorsthat this book should be afieldguide has clearly influ-enced their researches.

Marine fish can be dividedup into several categories;those caught by fishermen,those caught by anglers, thoseseen by divers and thoseobtained from scientific sam-pling. There is of course somecrossover, but certain fish areonly ever seen by certain cate-gories of observer.

For example, an angler mayneed to be able to identify asilvery member of the codfamily by its fin shape, lateralline and barbell (or lack of),whilst to a diver such fish areoften seen as they swimquickly past so few identify-ing observations can be made.On the other hand, divers maywell see small fishes such asthe smaller gobies which can-not be caught by anglers, aretoo small to be obtained by

commercial fishermen anddifficult to obtain even by sci-entific sampling. Armed withan underwater camera, a divercan record such fish and iden-tify them later at leisure. Thisbook does cater for all thesecategories and will be usefulto anyone who is interested infish whatever the reason andway of seeing them

The book lists in its appen-dix some 500 species of fishconsidered to have been‘found’ in British and Irishwaters. Of these over 200 aredealt with comprehensively inthe main section of the bookand for the most part illus-trated by clear photographs, orin some cases detailed draw-ings (of the other 300 manyare records of deep waterspecies, pelagics and obscuri-ties). Most of the photographsaccompanying the text are oflive fish and the excellent linedrawings, which make pointsclear too, are also drawn as ifthe fish is alive.

The book is not based on akey but explains about thesalient features which need tobe observed in order to be ableto identify fish. It assumesthat anyone interested in fishwill actually read it andbecome familiar with theobservational details whichneed to be recorded prior togoing out into the field. Giventhat there are probably onlyaround 200 fish most likely tobe encountered by the vastmajority of people interestedin fish this is not too dauntinga task.

The book contains addi-tional information and isespecially keen on promotingthe use of digital photogra-phy to record fish (bothabove and below water) andhas sections on the best waysto photograph them (even thegobies). It is cleanlydesigned, easy to navigatearound and sized to be bothreadable and carriable (a use-ful asset in any fieldguide).

Physically it appears wellcovered and bound which,since it is quite likely that itmay well get used in damperenvironments than manybooks is a good thing.

In addition to the book, awebsite has been set up to pro-vide additional informationnot contained within the book– www.welshmarinefish.org.

All in all, this is a bookwhich can be recommended asa very welcome and overdueaddition to the library of any-one interested in the marinefish found around all ofBritain and Ireland. Copiescan be obtained viawww.marinewildlife.co.uk orthe UK’s Marine Conserva-tion Society.”

Paul Kay can be contacted at:[email protected]: 0044 (0) 1248 681361 0044 (0) 77 02411614 www.paulkayphotography.co.uk

A Field Guide to the

MARINE FISHESof WALES

and adjacent waters


“A fieldguide to the MarineFishes of Wales and adjacent

waters" by Paul Kay &Frances Dipper is now

available at £19.95 + £3.25P&P. Copies can be ordered

by contactingwww.marinewildlife.co.uk

A red gurnard 'walking' on modified fins and searching for food by feeling for it with these fins.

A solitary pollack swims effortlessly over the kelp in the shallowcoastal waters off the cliffs of Lewis.

A two spotted clingfish (or sucker) on a mixed seabed with somefragments of maerl. The yellow fringed purple spot behind pectoralfin indicates that his is a male two spotted clingfish.

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JJUUNNIIOORR PPAAGGEESSTHE PROBLEM OF PLASTIC

Plastic in the MarineEnvironment

Floating pieces of plastic have been seen in the oceanssince the 1970s and today some 250 species of marineanimals show signs of "plastic stress" either fromeating plastic, or becoming trapped in plastic fishingnets and packaging.A study carried out in the North Sea showed that 25out of 27 fulmars had small pieces of plastic in theirstomachs1. Turtles are known to mistake floating plasticbags for the jellyfish they feed on2 and cod can chokeon plastic cups that they mistake for tasty squid3.The plastic rings that hold drink cans together in "sixpacks" can mean a slow death for fish and diving birdsthat find their heads trapped inside them4.Fishing nets that are abandoned at sea or stuck on thebottom can remain "ghost fishing" for years, catchingfish that nobody can ever harvest5.

How You Can Help ...In Ireland, the PlasticBag EnvironmentalLevy which wasintroduced in 2002,has been recognisedby marine scientistsas having reduced theamount of plasticlitter on Ireland'sbeaches. Prior to theLevy, some 1.26BILLION plasticshopping bags weregiven out each year,which then dropped by

90%. Projects such as DEEPCLEAN, which aredesigned to locate and recover lost fishing nets, areunderway between scientists and the fishing industry.And you yourself can play an important part in cuttingdown on plastic pollution of the seas each time youvisit the beach, by always disposing of your plasticrubbish sensibly or by bringing it home for recycling inyour "Green Bin".

But the most serious threat from abandoned plastic in the marine environmentrecognised by scientists is the presence of "micro pellets" of abandoned plastic, someas small as two microns (two millionths of a metre) in diameter, which can be eatenby mistake by filter feeding animals at the bottom of the food chain. Not only do these micro pellets provide no food value whatsoever, but scientists fearthat because of their extremely small size and relatively large surface area, thesepellets might act as magnets for chemical contaminants such as heavy metals. Toxinssuch as these, suggest the scientists, may poison the ocean's food chain at its verycore, with a knock on effect right up to the larger fish we rely on for our food.

1

23

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5 Captain Cockle’s LogCopyright John Joyce 2009Log onto www.captaincockle.com

"Micro-Plastics" - a new threat

PLASTICAn Important Part of Our Lives

Because of its flexibility, strength andlightness, plastic is an important part ofour lives today - from plastic bottlesand bags, to computers, cars andaircraft, with worldwide productiongrowing from 5 million tonnes of plasticin the 1950's to some 230 million tonnestoday. But the fact that plastic breaksdown so slowly, makes it a real problemwhen it is discarded at sea.


Learn aabout bbirds wwithBirdWatch IIrelandFeeding Wild Birds LeafletDownload this leaflet from the Learn about Birdssection on BirdWatch Ireland’s website atwww.birdwatchireland.ie

Learn how to identify the birds in your gardenwith our Free Garden Bird Charts. Send a SAEto: BirdWatch Ireland, P.O. Box 12, Greystones,Co. Wicklow.

BirdWatch Ireland hasover 10,000 members andhas branches throughoutthe country whichorganise events andoutings in your area. Whynot get your school tojoin? Write to us or visitour website for details:www.birdwatchireland.ie

BirdWatch Ireland has two educational websites, catering for learning about birds in schools.

0 Visit the Working with Birds web site tolearn about watching and feeding birds

Simply go to www.birdwatchireland.ie and go tothe ‘learn about birds’ section

BirdWatch Ireland, P.O. Box 12, Greystones,Co. Wicklow.Tel: 01-2819878 Fax: 01-2819763 Email: [email protected]

Website: www.birdwatchireland.ie

By providing as many different types of food as possible you can be sure that you will attract themaximum amount of species for your area. However as the number of birds visiting your gardenincreases so will your peanut bill!!

Counting Garden BirdsEvery year BirdWatch Ireland runs a Garden Bird Survey with over 1,000 gardens takingpart – all you need to do is count the birds in your garden each week. The Survey starts on30th November and you can download forms at www.birdwatchireland.ie

GRUBS UP!BY DECLAN MURPHY – The best place to start birdwatching is in your own backgarden, no matterhow small or large your garden is it is usually possible to attract a wide variety of species, manyof which are easier to watch feeding on your birdtable then in the countryside.

FEEDERSFeeding birds on the ground isgenerally not encouraged as thistends to attract both vermin andlarger birds such as Rooks whichmay prevent smaller birds fromfeeding. The simplest and cheapestmethod is simply to hang up a coupleof wire mesh peanut feeders on aconvenient tree and fill them withunsalted peanuts. You may also wantto hang up a seed feeder to feedwild bird seed.

BIRD TABLESIf you have the space you can putup a roofed bird table and hangyour feeders from the sides of thetable. The advantage of this isthat you can locate your feedingstation in a suitable part of the

garden, close to the kitchen window but away fromany shrubbery which might allow cats to hide in. Awide variety of birdtables are now available tocater for all size gardens and courtyards. LargeSelection of bird tables, feeders and accessoriesavailable online at www.birdwatchireland.ie

HOW TO FEED?

WHAT TO FEED?

NUTSPeanuts are the most popular food for garden birds and attract a wide range ofspecies. Be sure to buy from a reputable supplier as mouldy peanuts can kill birds.When feeding during the spring and summer ensure all peanuts are fed from a meshpeanut feeder, as whole peanuts can be harmful to young birds.

SEEDS‘Mixed Wildbird Seed’ is often sold at a seemingly good price in many supermarketsand pet shops but often doesn’t attract the smaller birds; much of this mixture iseither wheat or corn and, apart from pigeons, few garden birds can digest this foodsource. Far better is black sunflower seed, a highly nutritious and popular food forbirds, especially the tits and finches. It has a higher oil level and energy value thanthe striped-shell variety of sunflower seed, often sold alongside, which tends not tobe as popular with the birds, although they will eat it. Black Sunflower seed is moreexpensive than ‘wild bird seed’ but it is better value as there is almost no wastage.

FATSDon’t waste any fat! It’s a nutritious food for garden birds. Lumps of suet may behung out, and meat trimmings, bacon rinds and table scraps will also be eatengratefully. The large ‘Fat Balls’ which can be bought in pet shops often prove highlypopular - you can also make your own homemade version by pouring melted fat overbread or cake scraps to make ‘bird cake’. This can be made even more nutritious ifsome seeds, nuts, oatmeal, grated cheese or dried fruits are added.

FRUITOften overlooked, fruit will attract several species of bird which may not otherwisevisit your garden. Apples and pears cut in half and placed on the ground will attractBlackbirds and Song Thrushes, and in particularly hard weather they might bring inRedwing and Fieldfare. Spearing cut apples onto the ends of branches will alsoattract Blackcaps.

WATERAs well as providing food it is also necessary to provide a clean supply of water. Thiscan be provided from a hanging bird bath (available from www.birdwatchireland.ie) orby using an upturned dustbin lid. Be sure to locate this in an open area well awayfrom cats. In cold weather bird baths often freeze – you can help prevent this byusing hot water to melt the ice or by placing a light rubber ball in the water; itshould move about enough to keep the area immediately around it ice-free.


a. I am an insect (which means I have six legs) and Ican fly. What am I?

b. I have wings, two legs and a beak... but I am not aninsect! What am I?

c. I have a beak, no legs, swim in the water and have afin on my back. What am I?

d. I have no legs, swim in the water but have no fin onmy back. What am I?

e. I have no legs, live on land and have a slimy body.What am I?

f. I have four legs, eat small animals and fruits such asblackberries. What am I?

g. I only eat green food, have four legs and a tail.What am I?

h. I will make a huge change to my appearance duringmy lifetime. I like wet places and am slimy. What am I?

i. I will also make a huge change to my appearanceduring my lifetime. I will soon able to fly, but not yet!What am I?

j. I have eight legs, like to spin and love to eat insects. What am I?

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Can you name the mystery animals in the circles?Next, try to match the animals with theirdescription. Answers below.

What Am I?ANSWERS: a = 8 (bee); b = 5 (bird); c = 2 (dolphin); d = 4 (seal); e = 3 (slug); f = 9 (fox); g = 7 (cow); h = 6 (frog); i = 10 (caterpillar); j = 1 (spider).

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Discovering Ireland’sRocks and Fossils


'DiscoveringIreland's rocks andFossils – an activitybook' by AdamStuart Smith andPatrick WyseJackson is a bookfilled with fun andeducational activitiesfor children, helpingthem to learn aboutgeology. Visitwww.geoschol.comto learn more aboutGeology for Schoolsin Ireland. There youcan also downloadindividual activitypages or even a PDFof the entire book.

Answers to all activities are available online at: http://www.geoschol.com/activities.html

By Brid CleshamI AM a Chaplain in Dunmore

Community School in Galway andhave been working with Gaisce –ThePresident’s Award for the past 2years. I find my role as President’sAward Leader (PAL) both challeng-ing and enjoyable and I am going toshare my experience with you.

I am into my 3rd year of Gaisceand enjoying every minute of it. In away I was somewhat familiar withthe award when my son undertookthe award while in Transition Year. Iheard the many stories of his adven-tures and an update on what he wasdoing for his skills.

When I took over as a President’sAward Leader I was aware of themany challenges that lay ahead – itwas new territory for me and it wasvery rewarding when it came to dis-cussing the different challenges. Itopened up a wealth of possibilitiesfor the young people in my care. Itgave me an opportunity to engagemore effectively with the young peo-ple and plan with them. Newhorizons were opened. It was sorewarding to see how these youngpeople were gaining confidence andenjoying their experiences. I amreminded of the group of boys whotook on Guitar lessons and the evi-dence of their learning and skills wasevident on the night of their Transi-tion Year Graduation – they sang andplayed music, not alone did theirself-esteem improve, their talentshone. It was a new experience forthem and they have actually estab-lished a band since.

I find the role rewarding in thesense that there is no element ofcompetition involved – the young

people set their own pace and theirown challenges.

Imagine my delight when I climbedCroagh Patrick. It was not a journey Itook alone, the students kept my spiritgoing and helped me on that last lap.That trip to Croagh Patrick was aworthwhile experience and the stu-dents learned many things such as the

importance of planning, training,team spirit and self actualization. Atypical adventure journey involves thestudents preparing and training, mak-ing plans and working together in acooperative spirit and they learn allabout determination and perseverancethroughout the experience.

The adventure journey has really

made me appreciate how much theyoung people have been challengedby the whole experience. For some ithas been their first time togetheraway from home as a group. Allsorts of skills come into play, teambuilding, cooking, long walks, insome cases a hike, money manage-ment shopping and cooking are allparts of the norm. To see youngsterswork as a team and make decisionsisn’t that what it’s all about!

The interaction with people in theircommunity as part of their commu-nity involvement reaped enormousrewards. Organising visits to the daycentre, carol singing, linking up withSt. Vincent De Paul and taking ontasks that will equip them for futurelife makes us all realise that no man isan island and in reaching out to otherswe’re doing something for our com-munity and getting an insight intohow others live. The experience forthe students in helping to teach com-puters to the elderly afforded a stronglink with the local community. Thewhole challenge brought up so manynew interests for so many in the dif-ferent areas. The young people areeager to try new things and this I feelengenders a love for interests in laterlife. A sense of belonging and com-munity was established. They felt alink with their community, theybecame more aware of the needs ofthe community.

What I like most about thisNational Challenge Award is that itrequires persistence and commit-ment. I get to know the students in adifferent way. I have been part oftheir struggle at times and sometimesmaybe all a person needs is a fewwords of encouragement from a Palto continue on. Some girls as a resultof their interest in the physical chal-lenge took part in the Dublin CityMarathon.

Looking back on the past twoyears I find my role as a Pal veryenjoyable and indeed during the yearwhen I managed to climb CroaghPatrick I found it so rewarding as Ihadn’t done so for 20 years! I got toknow the students in a different way,way beyond the classroom. It hasbeen very rewarding to meet up withparents during the year and espe-cially on Awards night and see thelook of delight when theirson/daughter receive their award.

One young person who undertooka correspondence course in law aspart of her personal skill found it sorewarding she has decided that is thecareer she wishes to pursue next year.

I have experienced first hand howmany of these young people havematured throughout their experi-ences and made many new friendsand are so eager to take on the nextchallenge. Relating with elderlypeople in the community helped toforge many links in the communityand with that connection quite a fewof the elderly people in the commu-nity attended the Transition YearConcert and indeed the TransitionYear Graduation. That link is thereand there is continuity in that link asthe Silver Award challenges them togo that step further.

Gaisce empowers students to gobeyond themselves and to achievetheir very best. Indeed as a Pal I findparticipation and engaging withyoung people enjoyable and satisfy-ing. I will finish with a few linesfrom Alyssa Rienne that capture theessence of Gaisce –

You know that voice somewhereinside you that says you can doanything?Listen to it. That voice is yourheart, your passion, yourdestiny speaking.Believe in yourself. You aredestined for great things.

Brid Clesham is a PAL at DunmoreCommunity School in Galway. If youare interested in entering for aGaisce Award please contact: Gaisce– The President’s Award, The StateApartments, Dublin Castle, Dublin2. Tel: 01 4758746. Email:[email protected] or check out theirwebsite: www.gaisce.ie


Gaisce – The President’s AwardsA Journey of Learning

From top left: Brid Clesham, President’s Award Leader; Gaisce Participants; Climbing Croagh Patrick; Award Presentation.

Dingle Peninsula Bird Report2005-2007by Michael O'Clery

With 94 pages, full-colour throughout, tables, graphs,colour maps and 74 colour photographs it gives thestatus of all the bird species recorded on the peninsula.

On sale @ €12 in Ventry Post Office; Dingle Bookshop, Green Street, Dingle;Castlegregory Information Centre.

Available by post from Lucie Hankey, Monaree, Dingle, Tralee, Kerry, Ireland.Email: [email protected] 066-9159904

Cheques made payable to “The West Kerry Branch of BirdWatch Ireland”. €14.00 includes P&P (Europe and worldwide), or email Lucie to pay via PayPal.

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WWW.ringbuoys.ie “isa public service offeredby Irish Water Safetythat will allow membersof the public to reportmissing, stolen, locatedor damaged ringbuoys tothe relevant local andharbour authoritiesacross Ireland” com-mented Minister ofState, Mr. MichaelFinneran, TD, at itsrecent launch.

“This service willassist in reducing thenumber of tragic pre-ventable drownings in allCounties. “The highly vis-ible ringbuoys placed atmany waterways nation-wide not only serve as awarning to passersby ofthe potential risk associ-ated with aquaticenvironments but also todeliver a lifeline in anemergency,” added Min-ister Finneran, “theabsence of a ringbuoydue to theft or vandal-ism can have tragicconsequences when amember of the public

needs to effect a res-cue.”

Local Authorities ontheir regular checks,particularly in urbanareas, discover thatRingbuoys are oftenmissing. Regrettably,there are also continuingincidents of maliciousdamage to these lifesav-ing appliances byirresponsible membersof the public and there isa continuing need for thepublic, particularly late-night revellers under theinfluence of alcohol, tobe made aware that dam-age or theft of suchringbuoys or theattached rope couldresult in the loss of life.Any person seen tamper-ing or in possession ofthis lifesaving equipmentshould be reported tothe Local Authoritiesand/or the Gardaí, whocan enforce a convictionand a fine.

Irish Water Safetyappeals to the public toassist in maintaining

these vitally importantlifesaving appliances ingood condition at alltimes. This new website,

www.ringbuoys.ie, devel-oped by Kildare WaterSafety Area Committee,has the potential to save

lives and we thank you inadvance for any supportyou can offer to assistus to reduce drownings.

An average of 158 peo-ple drown in Ireland eachyear. Most of these tragicdeaths happen inland, inrivers and lakes, on farms

and in and around homesand these accidents arepreventable.

Further Information: IrishWater Safety, The Long Walk,Galway, Tel 091-564400;Fax 091-564700;[email protected]; Leo Mahon,Chairperson, Kildare WaterSafety: 086-814 6261;Brenda Wynne, PRO, KildareWater Safety AreaCommittee: 085-1405850;Irish Water Safety HeadOffice: John Leech: 087-6789600; Roger Sweeney:087-6789601

National Launch ofwww.ringbuoys.ie


(www.ringbuoys.ie will let the public report missing or damaged ringbuoys directly to a local authority sothat they can be replaced without delay.)

By Corey BatemanSOUTH beach, just outside Ark-

low Town, is not very big – in fact itis only about 1000 metres long – butit has been the focus of intense activ-ity over the past two years. ArklowCoastcare began as a simple projectto clean up a local amenity. And wedo that. Every Thursday lunchtimewe meet, often in appalling weatherto fill black plastic bags with otherpeople’s beer cans, fast food wrap-pers, fishing lines and dog poo.

From the beginning, social inclu-sion was an important part of ourobjective. Volunteers from SunbeamHouse and the National LearningNetwork make up the largest part of

our enthusiastic pickers.A year ago, a talk given by Karen

Dubsky of Coastwatch inspired us tomake a bigger contribution to coastalconservation. One of volunteersbegan collecting and recording sam-ples of plant life on our beach. If wecan encourage other people to caringfor their coast to make similar obser-vations the information could be vitalto the documentation of climatechange and its affects on our coasts.After a visit to the Sherkin IslandMarine Station, we decided to enlargeour collection to include marine crea-tures and other coastal inhabitants.

In August last year we held a pho-tographic competition for the publicwith the title “Wicklows’ BeautifulBeaches”. We hoped to encouragepeople to discover, or perhaps redis-cover, the fun they could have on thebeach. In spite of the dreadful sum-mer weather and limited opportunityfor photos of babies in sunhats andgirls in bikinis, the response was ter-rific. Fifty pictures were chosen anddisplayed in Wicklow County Build-ings during Heritage Week. Next year

the competition will be bigger andbetter and will include a display of“found objects”. We are hoping thatan installation of driftwood, pebbles,shells and seaweed found on thebeach will open people’s eyes to thebeauty around them – and make themless likely to litter.

We must be doing something right!Last year we received four awards :An Arklow Mayor’s Award, TheCoca Cola All Ireland Best CoastcareGroup Award, The Wicklow TimesPeople of the Year Award, and thebeach won a Green Coast Award.Along with several grants, the moneyhas enabled us to buy a large steelcontainer where we keep all our toolssafely – and it’s a great place to shel-ter and chat when it rains.

Corey Bateman, Arklow Coastcare,c/o Arklow Town Council, AvocaRiver House, Northquay, Arklow, Co Wicklow, Ireland. Email:[email protected]. Checkout the the Arklow Coastcare websiteat: www.arklow-coastcare.com.


Arklow’s Beautiful Beach& Coastcare Volunteers

The stretch of coastline, which is the focus of attention of Arklow Coastcare.

Members of the Arklow Coastcare team.

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sherkin comment - sherkin island · sherkin comment 2009 issue no 48 _____ 3 by oscar merne in the...

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