Recreational angling in Dublin Bay

Hi there,

My name is Lauren Elliott, and I am a Natural Science postgrad student at Trinity College. I am currently working on a project looking at the ecology of Dublin Bay, and what we can learn about its ecology by looking at trends in recreational angling. I am from Canada, and have only been living in Ireland for a few months, so I am not extremely familiar with Ireland's fishing industry. From what I have gathered, overfishing in Ireland along with pollution have really stressed fish stocks in the past. Have any of you noticed a decrease in fish species size or a change in their life history? I have spoken to a couple of people, and they say that fish stocks are currently recovering from these past stresses. Not sure if you guys agree or not. Just trying to get a feel for everything as I believe you all would know this area best out of anyone. Any feedback is greatly appreciated!

Cheers,

Lauren

You should have a chat with Ashley Hayden. Dublin Bay may be a bit out of his neighbourhood, but you may find him knowledgeable in general about your questions.

He's usually somewhere nearby around here.

I also recommend having a root around the forums here - There are some good rants (for want of a fitting expression) on the state of fishing in irish waters - not alone dedicated to DB im afraid but would give you a broader scope.

If you could get your hands on the recorders reports and result sheets from leinster IFSA or even some of the Dublin based clubs - they may have records going back decades - indicating a decline