News
August 2018
29/08/18 ISPP End of Project Conference
Final meeting of the project held at the Red Cow Moran Hotel in Dublin. Stakeholders from both sides of the Irish Sea were invited to the event to hear presentations from project staff from Bangor university and Bord Iascaigh Mhara, and to take part in a panel discussion. The first three sessions were chaired by Ben Dallaghan from BIM, who started the proceedings by remembering our industry friend, Richie Flynn who had recently passed away. The final panel session was chaired by Terence O'Carroll, BIM.
Session 1 - Introductory Presentations
- Introducing the Irish Sea Portal Pilot
- ISPP - an example of cross border co-operation
- The impact of the ISPP Project for the bottom mussel industry
- Mussel seed collecting in Bantry Bay
Session 2 - Science Presentations
- Results of the mussel monitoring (Bangor University)
- Genetics of bivalve larvae
- Larval and drogue studies - the Irish Sea
- Where do the shellfish larvae go?
Session 3 - Portal and Activity Book
- Activity Book - Impact and Distribution
- ISPP portal and APP
Session 4 - What happens next? Panel Discussion
- ISPP and the Future - potential research/industry projects
- Future of the Welsh mussel industry
- Invasive Alien Species
- Surveying / tracking
The event was recorded in real time by Laura Sorvala (Auralab - www.auralab.co.uk), who graphically recorded each session as it happened.
We are delighted to be the first project at Bangor University to be awarded the Sustainability Lab's "A Project Committed to Sustainability" CharterMark.
Read all about activities here in a recent Case Study written by Gwen Holland, CCT Officer, Sustainability Lab
July 2018
11/07/18 Activity book launched in Wales
True cross border cooperation between the ISPP partners saw Amy and Niamh from BIM, along with the books illustrator John Joyce, travel to Wales to launch the Activity Book with Bangor project staff.
To complement the book the children hand a range of activities laid on for them and they were all enthralled and fascinated by seeing live mussels and using microscopes.
Huge thanks to the staff and pupils at Treffos School, Ysgol Tregarth and Ysgol Porth Y Felin – we all enjoyed it!
Ysgol Tregarth
Ysgol Porth Y Felin
Treffos School
02/07/18 ISPP @Seafest 2018
Mussel Power Activity Book proving very popular at Seafest 2018
June 2018
28/06/18 Activity Book launched in Ireland
John Joyce, illustrator of the ‘Mussel Power’ Activity book joined Amy and Niamh from BIM at dlr LexIcon library in Dun Laoghaire. The children were captivated with his amazing drawings.
27/06/18 Activity Book - HOT OFF THE PRESS!
Developed by both BIM and Bangor University, “Mussel Power” highlights the secret life of the mussel. From both an Irish and Welsh perspective, this activity book takes the reader on an interactive journey from the seedbed to the plate, describing how the mussel industry work. In a world of ever-increasing technological advances, the reader will be able to access the answers to the quizzes in the book by logging on the Irish Sea portal app and website when it goes live in August 2018
26/06/18 Drouge Releases
This month both Bangor and BIM have released drouges, resulting in some very interesting tracks.
18/06/18 New Mussel Longline System
Our new experimental longline system has finally been deployed – the weather was a little against us! However, we finally managed to get all anchors in and the header lines set up. Exciting times ahead as we are hoping that the mussel settlement rate will be as high this year as it was last year. Thanks to AquaMoor and Leask Marine who were instrumental in the design and logistics of the new system.
08/06/18 World Oceans Day
Let's celebrate the small but mighty BlueMussel!
May 2018
31/05/18 The Sustainable Seafood Garden named overall winner at Bloom 2018
A garden that tells the story of how Irish seafood is being sustainably produced to help protect fish stocks, protect the marine environment and develop and sustain fisheries dependent coastal communities in Ireland has been announced as the overall winner of Bloom 2018.
18/05/18 Multilingual Coffee Morning
Not a bad start to a Friday as ISPP joined in with the ‘Multilingual Coffee Morning’ promoting our diversity, the Welsh language. Fun learning a few different phrases and enjoyed sharing some food from various countries.
09/05/18 Europe Day
It was great for the ISPP team to meet up with other EU funded projects at Bangor University and celebrate Europe Day. Again great to see one of stakeholders attend the event as well as our Vice Chancellor Prof. John Hughes.
08/05/18 Drift Buoy Deployment
After BIM noticing D larvae appearing in Wexford Bay, May has been the month to release drift buoys to monitor currents. Bangor released one near to Puffin island and BIM have released two near Castlemaine Harbour and Dingle Bay.
April 2018
10/04/18 New Longline System
A great day with AquaMoor who were successful in the tender to install our new mussel longline system (Bangor). Exciting times ahead after a morning of discussions followed by an afternoon on the Mare Gratia discussing logistics, tides and weather!
March 2018
10/03/18 Mussel Ropes and Microscopes
ISPP Bangor Team took part in the annual ‘Hidden Worlds’ event at Bangor University this year. An outreach science event open to members of the public. ISPP project staff produced an extensive interactive exhibit consisting of a live rope mussel display in a cylindrical aquarium tank (supplied by BIM), microscopes for the public to identify plankton from samples collected that morning. Video footage of the successful mussel settlement on the ropes from 2017 and a side scan sonar treasure hunt for kids and big kids alike (supplied by BIM).
With over 1300 people visitors, it was the biggest and best Hidden Worlds Event to date 2018. It was great to see one of our stakeholders visiting us at the event too.
Throughout the day, we had some amazing children visit our area and at such a young age were able to accurately pick out in the plankton id book what they were looking at down a microscope.
An uplifting and inspirational day for all members of the ISPP team involved.
06/03/18 ISPP Stakeholder Meeting
Motivating morning with our Irish and Welsh Stakeholders held in Bangor. A series of presentations given by both BIM and Bangor ISPP team. Discussions and knowledge sharing carried on from the morning session in the meeting room, to the afternoon whilst out on the Mare Gratia seeing the Welsh mussel beds first hand.
February 2018
08/02/18 ADCP
BIM have also been out in County Kerry deploying ADCP’s to gather hydrodynamic data at their case study site in Cromane.
07/02/18 Cross-border Collaboration
Collaboration in action with Nicholas Chopin (BIM) visiting Bangor University to trial the drift buoys in the Menai Strait, and train the Bangor team on how to deploy them. Weather could have been a bit warmer but deployment was successful. Back in the warmth of the Marine Centre Wales, the team then undertook some GIS training.
January 2018
12/01/18 Mussel time!
BIM have started organising their 2018 mussel larval sampling kits together to be dispatched to four locations on the Irish coast.
December 2017
October 2017
13/10/17 Longlines
A long but successful day with our industry partners out on the Menai Strait bringing in the mussel longlines. Huge amounts of mussel settlement on the ropes. Now all we have to do is count the mussels!
10/10/17 Conwy Mussels on the Radio
September 2017
19/09/17 BU Team Check Longlines
Thankfully it was a beautiful sunny and calm day to go out and check the mussel settlement on the longlines.
All excited to see that there was a huge amount of mussel settlement on the rope.
August 2017
07/08/17 visit by Mark Drakeford, Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Local Government
During his visit to Bangor University, Welsh Government Finance Secretary Mark Drakeford, stressed the importance of continuing to forge links with European partners.
July 2017
13/07/17 Visit by Irish Ambassador
We were delighted to showcase the Irish Sea Portal Pilot project to the Irish Ambassador on his recent visit to Bangor University
Job Vacancies
BIM is currently recruiting 2 posts within the Irish Sea Portal Pilot project.
ISPP Project Officer closing date 28.07.17
ISPP Technical Assistant closing date 28.07.17
In addition there are further two vacancies in other related Ireland Wales projects:
BlueFish Project Officer closing date 28.07.17
Bucanier Project Officer closing date 28.07.17
If you would like any further information please click on the links above for the full job description or contact BIM directly.
June 2017
New ropes for settlement experiment have been delpoyed in Bantry Bay - James Courcey and Finnian O'Driscoll
May 2017
31/05/17 Longlines loaded on to the Seiont, with the help of the Prince Madog, ready to be deployed into the Menai Strait. Mussel settlement media has been attached.
09/05/17 Menai Strait survey Work. Plankton sampling in the Menai Strait is fully underway now and what great weather to be out on the water!
April 2017
16/04/17 First step in getting the longline system out was to get the marker buoys serviced and back in the Menai Strait
March 2017
17/03/17 Bangor science team out trialing new plankton nets - weather not so good!
20/03/17 – ISPP Operation launch day. More details to follow. Check out our Twitter feed here
17/03/17 - Sourcing sustainable Irish Sea mussels
February 2017
21/02/17 – For the full details of the Ireland Wales Programme outlining the ISPP project click here
21/02/17 - Prosiect newydd yr Undeb Ewropeaidd i helpu i gynyddu maint y diwydiant pysgodfeydd yng Nghymru ac Iwerddon
21 /02/17 – New EU project to help grow the fisheries industry in Wales and Ireland
21/02/17- The ISPP operation is up and running.