Sea anglers wanted to gather information on Irish fish stocks
Inland Fisheries Ireland (IFI) is looking for recreational sea anglers to participate in a citizen science project to help understand the health of fish stocks in Irish coastal waters.
By providing catch information, fishers can play their part in the long-term conservation and sustainability of the resource for future generations.
The IFI says it is looking for shore, small boat or charter fishers to collect and submit information about their sea fishing trips and catches around the coastline and submit it via an online diary for Project Irish Marine Recreational Angling (IMREC).
The IMREC project aims to answer three main questions about sea fishing:
- How many Irish fish?
- How often do they fish?
- What are they catching?
IFI and ESRIs ArcGIS Hub have developed a free fishing log that allows you to create an account and easily submit fishing sessions on your phone or other device, providing information that will aid in the assessment of our marine fish stocks .
The app also creates a handy personal diary dashboard for your own use and every saved diary session will be updated here.
This gives users the ability to see when, where, and what fish you caught as well as any other ratings (tides, rigs, etc.) you may have submitted. A summary is also provided to give you an overview of your season’s progress.
A fishing bundle (including a buff, line cutters and tape) will be sent to the first 20 anglers who sign up, and a draw for a €50 voucher will be held each month for active users of the diary app.
The IFI survey team say they understand the importance of fishing markers for anglers. For this reason, your sessions will only be visible to you and the IMREC survey team.
If you are interested, the IMREC initiative is now live and can be viewed here. To participate, register on the web or send your name and email to [email protected] with the subject line “IMREC Diary Sign Up”.
A comprehensive FAQ as well as further information on the project is available on the IMREC website. Any other questions can be addressed to [email protected]