RTE fresh from the sea

Was watching an old episode last night on rte player and they went to a fish production facility in galway last night that had a store also and on display was some usuals like nice pollack and ling, but then he showed a blond ray and smoothhound. Each to their own, but I was surprised to see them on sale? I guess the hound could have gone to an asian store etc, but a blond ray? I thought they were in short supply?

if its the store im thinking off - they always have a central display - seems like if theres anything out of the ordinary it gets thrown in there - and i agree i would question why they do it a lot of the time

Blonde , spotted, thornback and cuckoo ray probably make up about 80% or the rays landed commercially in Ireland.

Attched is a sheet of what may and may not be landed.

As for the smooth hound, they are commonly caught by south eastern boats but are not always landed.

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I have seen a couple of episodes too. In the most recent Clodagh McKenna went out on a prawn trawler working the east coast. To be fair to this particular vessel the bye catch of small fish relative to the nephrops (Dublin Bay Prawns) landed was very low, the net being fitted with a grid to help small fish escape. That said this fishery has done untold damage to fish stocks in the Irish Sea due to the small meshes used and the unavoidable catching of juvenile fish species across a wide range with a particular reference to cod and whiting.

A particular gem of conversation was recorded when Clodagh asked the skipper had he always fished for prawns. His answer was that the fishing for prawns has improved over the years, the implication being that whitefish were the original target earlier in his career but that prawns became a better commercial proposition later. The reason for this is obvious, as the cod were removed the prawns became more abundant given that cod would predate on them, less cod more prawns. The real term for this though is called "fishing down the food chain" and it is totally unsustainable, but you will never hear Bord Iascaigh Mhara saying that.

Another scene had Clodagh in Cavistons cooking a small blonde ray. These used to be caught off Greystones in late summer not twenty years ago to thirty pounds weight, sadly no more. This fish I would say was barely eight pounds, if that. "C'est la vie".

as the cod were removed the prawns became more abundant given that cod would predate on them, less cod more prawns. The real term for this though is called "fishing down the food chain" and it is totally unsustainable, but you will never hear Bord Iascaigh Mhara saying that.

How long would you estimate it will be until the prawns themselves start to decline? Seem to be a lot more boats at it these last few years. Cant be doing the sea floor much good.

Rampant, thats a useful PDF, thanks.

I have to say, the soft focus 'support your local fisherman' schtick that this programme goes on with has made me uncomfortable more than once. It's not that I particularly begrudge Irish fishermen a living, just that the portrayal of the sea as an inexhaustible trove of foodie delights ignores the wholesale rape of an ecosystem. Much like the people who'd puke into their polystyrene Big Mac box if they saw where the beef came from, those convinced by Fresh From the Sea fable might find their appetite curbed by the stinking reality of two tonnes of rotting bycatch for every tonne landed.

as the cod were removed the prawns became more abundant given that cod would predate on them, less cod more prawns. The real term for this though is called "fishing down the food chain" and it is totally unsustainable, but you will never hear Bord Iascaigh Mhara saying that.

How long would you estimate it will be until the prawns themselves start to decline? Seem to be a lot more boats at it these last few years. Cant be doing the sea floor much good.

Rampant, thats a useful PDF, thanks.

a huge decline has already been noticed in the irish sea with boats having to go looking for prawns where up until maybe 4-5 years ago they were everywhere ie.a single rig trawler spending one day at sea,making 2x4-5 hr tows(covering about 60 miles of seabed)would be lucky to get 20 stone tails @ €18 per stone,2 boxes whole jumbo prawns @€100 per box and half box mixed fish-usually thornie and haddock @ €1 per lb.........only 4-5years ago you could treble that for an average day(with almost double the price also).

picture a farmer ploughing a field and coming back and ploughing that field every day or every week for 30 years,do you think anything would grow in his field?

Haven't seen the show yet so can't really comment on it. If you haven't seen them the end of the line and sharkwater are two good films on a similar topic about fishing down the food chain. Scallop dredging is another very destructive way off fishing. reminds me of Monty Byrnes fishnet sweeping the ocean floor clean.

I could not agree more with Iodore, these celebrity chef based programmes that promote seafood from the "inexhaustable sea" really annoy me. The presenters never give the true picture of how low fish stocks, in particular white fish stocks, are. If the likes of Clodagh and Martin (mad about fish), who do great work in promoting our marine harvest, strongly emphesised conservation within their message the programmes would be far more informative and useful.

That said "Skippers" last night did show how it is. The byecatch of small fish on the prawn trawler sequence was huge. It looked worse than 50/50. As for the manager of the fish market in Castletownbere, I hope that Sean Connick was listening. White fish landings falling year on year, 80% of the fish landed exported to Europe and beyond, retail multiples dictating price (creating a false market and no money for the fishermen). The multiples alone presently can be blamed for a lot of the bad practices, their greed promotes increased effort from the commercial fleet just to keep the head above water. A bundle of what has brought our fish stocks and commercial fishing sector to its knees all in the space of half an hour.