Inland Fisheries Ireland is looking to gather information from sea anglers in Clare and nationwide through an online survey as part of a new programme – the Irish Marine Recreational Sea Angling Survey (IMREC).
The findings of the survey will help inform the larger project with the overall aim being to improve the management of stocks and support conservation efforts thereby contributing to increasing the availability of fish to sea anglers in the future. For more information about IMREC,
This online survey seeks to collect information on the behaviours, attitudes and catch preferences of all Irish sea anglers. This information will feed into the IMREC project where it will be analysed by researchers. Inland Fisheries Ireland has established this new programme which will give a clear picture of how fishing activities relate to stock levels. This work is funded by the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF).
Dr Cathal Gallagher, Head of Research and Development at Inland Fisheries Ireland said: “We know that there are approximately 126,000 sea anglers in Ireland and we hope that they will help us to find out how often people go fishing, what they catch and what they release. Sea angling is an important activity here in Ireland and we want to ensure the future of marine fisheries resource.
The data collected will help us to make informed decisions on how to best estimate sea angling catches in Ireland. This catch data will inform management decisions and will prevent the use of worst case scenarios, which can happen when there is a degree of uncertainty surrounding information.”
The survey will take approximately 10-20 minutes to complete and participants will receive an Angling Ireland neck buff and line clipper for taking part.
Participants will also have a chance of winning one of three sets of tackle vouchers for a fishing shop of your choice (1st prize €200, 2nd prize €150, 3rd prize €100). You can participate in the survey here.
Visit https://www.fisheriesireland.ie/Projects/imrec.html where you can learn more, including a full FAQ guide.