Cork city is preparing to welcome visitors from 90 countries and dignitaries from over 30 countries this weekend for the SeaFest festival and the Oceans Wealth Summit.

More than 100,000 visitors are expected to attend the country's largest free maritime festival which gets underway in Cork today.

THE celebration tomorrow of World Oceans Day underlines the major role they play as the lungs of our planet, providing most of the oxygen we breathe.

Along with a jam-packed schedule of sea-related activities, there will be a range of events highlighting the problem of plastics in our oceans.

Gardeners could be the “canaries in our coal mine” because they already see the effects of climate change, President Michael D Higgins said at the opening of the Bloom festival.

VISITORS to the Bloom 2019 garden festival in Phoenix Park next week can expect sustainability to be one of the key themes.

Fishing gear including nets, lines, pots and ropes are accounting for 27% of all beach litter, but only 1.5% of it is effectively recycled.

Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Michael Creed has denied that a roll-out of several million euro for coastal projects has been delayed to tie in with his party’s European election campaign.

Former US Secretary of State John Kerry has been announced as a keynote speaker at Ireland’s flagship blue economy conference Our Ocean Wealth at City Hall Cork in June.

A fishermen’s health manual in six languages — English, Irish, Arabic, Malay, Russian, and Spanish — has been launched by Bord Iascaigh Mhara.

Offshore racing in Ireland is witnessing a significant increase both of participants but also as a course area if 2018 is used as a measure.

Rose Martin looks at the new Ovo range of furniture and Ikea’s wild venture into Saville Row tailoring

The Sustainable Seafood Garden hooked the top prize at Bloom yesterday.

Ireland is aiming to become a world leader in the seafood market with a new strategy for the sector including plans for a seafood innovation ‘Centre of Excellence’.

Algae and duckweed could clean up fish-farm pollution and be used to feed the stock at the same time under a project being undertaken by scientists at UCC.

Beach lovers and commercial fish farmers are gearing up for a further battle over a planned shoreline industry in Co Kerry.

Fishermen dealing in crab, lobster, and shrimp have appealed for financial assistance. They claim their autumn and winter catch prospects have been devastated by Hurricane Ophelia.

Three of the eight finalists shortlisted for the inaugural BIM Seafood Retail Business Award 2018 are from Co Cork. 

The State agency with responsibility for the fishing industry has spent over €216,000 on an application for a proposed salmon farm off the coast of Co Mayo.

Trish Dromey hears how West Cork company DC Fish has diversified and invested in new technology to thrive.

Brexit challenges facing food and drink exporters will be top of the agenda for Tara McCarthy when she takes up her new post as Bord Bia chief executive in January.

Tara McCarthy is to be appointed as the new chief executive of Bord Bia, it was announced today.

Good morning. Here’s everything you need to know before you start your day.

Ray Ryan reports that the future of Irish seafood is in safe hands, as BIM unveils an impressive shortlist for Young Fishmonger of the Year

Good afternoon. Here’s all the news you need to know this lunchtime.

A casual walk on a beach anywhere will tell you the ocean has become a massive dumping ground.

Ireland is looking to be a global leader in high-quality, sustainably produced seafood in order to take a greater share of the international market and expand its €1bn annual contribution to the economy.

The country’s seafood industry will have much to celebrate and many challenges to ponder in Galway this coming weekend when Bord Iascaigh Mhara holds its second maritime festival.

A popular restaurateur has spoken of her heartbreak and devastation after being forced to close her family’s critically acclaimed riverside business.

There was a strong recovery in fish and shellfish farming production in Ireland last year, according to the latest Bord Iascaigh Mhara figures.

Bord Iascaigh Mhara and Nofima in Norway are to form a partnership that will see the two agencies share knowledge on adding value to their national seafood products.

Aquaculture sales rose by €34m in value and by 25% in volume during 2015, according to new statistics from Bord Iascaigh Mhara.

Taste the Atlantic is a seafood journey that stretches south from Erris in Co Mayo to Connemara and on to Galway Bay.