Discarded fishing nets to be used for eco-friendly underwater barrier

OLD fishing nets are to be recycled to create an eco-friendly underwater protection barrier for New Ross Marina, Co Wexford.

The accumulation of debris around the Three Sisters Marina, located below O’Hanrahan Bridge, New Ross, has historically caused numerous problems for river traffic, potential damage to the marina infrastructure, as well as being an eye-sore for locals and tourists.

This project will see discarded fishing gear that was previously taken to landfill sites, being recycled to create a “debris deflector” on the River Barrow at New Ross, which will deflect logs and other debris away from the marina.

The Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food has granted 40,000 for this latest recycling project. Since 2005, the fisheries board BIM has assisted in the recycling of 150 tonnes of old nets.

The project is being co-ordinated by BIM, the Irish Sea Fisheries Board, New Ross Town Council, Wexford County Council Green Marine, Geoline and Inland and coastal Marina Systems ltd (ICMS).

The grant is provided under the Marine Environment Protection Measure, funded by the exchequer and European Fisheries Fund. In all, 66,000 will be invested.

Minister of State Responsible for Fisheries Sean Connick said: “The delivery of this project will also have many positive knock-on effects for all users of New Ross Marina and will play a major role in restoring the area's natural beauty.”

Meanwhile, Mr Connick has also announced grant aid support for 129 projects, co-funded by the European Fisheries Fund.

Grant aid of 1,122,084 is being provided to support a total investment of 2,023,127 for safety upgrades on board fishing vessels, lobster conservation, the development of Environmental Management Systems for Ireland’s fishing fleet, and a number of collectively based projects under the new Marine Environment Protection Scheme (MEPS).

Mr Connick said: “The environmental focus for many of these projects will be critical in sustaining Ireland’s fisheries sector during this time of unprecedented economic challenge.”

A range of marine environment, conservation and safety initiatives have been approved.

Included is grant-aid of over 350,000 to assist Irish fishing vessels develop and implement environmental management systems as well as undergoing third-party accreditation for the new BIM stewardship standard.

This international standard is among the first of its kind worldwide.

Ireland introduced the first such salmon scheme in 2005 and has since developed similar schemes for mussels and oysters.