Two species of marine life indigenous to these waters may become extinct early in the new century, according to a fisheries expert.
The species are monkfish and undulated ray, and both are under serious threat in their regular habitat off the Kerry coast, according to Mr Peter Green, sea-angling adviser with the Central Fisheries Board. He believes there is a compelling case for introducing protected areas, if the fish are not to be lost to this coast altogether.
Monkfish (squatina squatina, and not the type normally featured on restaurant menus), are normally found in three areas: Clew Bay and Blacksod, off Mayo, and Tralee Bay in Co Kerry. Undulated ray can be found in numbers only in Tralee Bay. It is in the Kerry location that both are under severe pressure, Mr Green says. "And if undulated ray disappears from Tralee, it disappears for ever," he predicts.
Mr Green oversees the largest sportfish tagging programme in Europe, run by the CFB. Under his programme, which involves 70 charter skippers and individual anglers, some 29,000 fish have been tagged and released since 1972, including over 15,000 blue shark and just under 3,000 tope.
He believes a combination of man-made and environmental factors have contributed to the decline of the two species. In 1998, only two monkfish were recorded nationally, compared with over 100 just over a decade ago.
Sea bass, which is regarded as the State's most important sea-angling species, is the only fish protected for anglers by legislation dating back 25 years. Monitoring was introduced by the Marine Institute after stocks declined due to a combination of climate change and overfishing.
Speaking at a recent seminar on inshore fisheries, Mr Edward Fahy, of the Marine Institute, said Ireland was part of a trend in relation to overfished stocks around coasts. The UN Food and Agriculture Organisation estimates that 70 per cent of fishing reserves globally are fully exploited, overexploited or exhausted, and there has been a marked decline in some 13 of 15 principal marine fishery regions in the world.
Mr Green believes protection of habitats, rather than of the fish themselves, is the key to survival. "A complete ban will not work, whereas designation of protected areas is a far more constructive approach," he says.
