News & Events 2022

Ireland’s Ocean Economy Report

The Marine Institute in partnership with the University of Galway’s Socio-Economic Marine Research Unit (SEMRU) has released the latest update on the performance of Ireland’s Ocean Economy. The report provides an update on Ireland’s ocean economy across three main economic indicators: turnover, gross value added (GVA) and employment, and provides an analysis of trends over the last five years. The full report can be downloaded here - Ireland's Ocean Economy Report 2022

Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue TD launching the latest Ireland’s Ocean Economy Report, 15th December, 2022

Save the date! 12th Annual Marine Economics and Policy Research Symposium

Save the date! The Socio-Economic Marine Research Unit (SEMRU), in partnership with the Marine Institute, will host the 12th Annual Marine Economics and Policy Research Symposium at the Marine Institute, Oranmore.  The event provides presentations on a wide range of policy topics related to the marine sector in Ireland and further afield. 

Join us on the 6th of December 2022 by reserving a spot at this link!

SEMRU's postdocs participate in Post-Doctoral Fellowships Symposium

SEMRU’s Dr John Deely and Dr Daniel Cassidy with the other Marine Institute Post-doctoral fellows  who participated in the Post-Doctoral Fellowships Symposium held at the Marine Institute in Oranmore, Galway on the 25^th of October.

12th Annual Marine Economics and Policy Research Symposium

SEMRU representing Ireland at Arctic Circle Assembly

Ireland is a near-Arctic Island nation located in the North Atlantic and the changes taking place in the Arctic impact directly on us. Today’s Arctic agenda covers a range of issues important to Ireland’s national interests, including climate change; law of the sea; energy exploration; new Arctic shipping routes; fish and aquaculture; marine conservation; search and rescue; preservation of minority/indigenous languages and cultures; peripheral communities; and sustainable development. As a globally aware state Ireland wishes to play a constructive role in the Arctic because of the significance of the Arctic region globally and the increasingly adverse impact climate change is having on the Earth’s oceans and environment. With that in mind, the Department of Foreign Affairs hosted Ireland’s first ever panel discussion at the Arctic Circle Assembly which took place in Reykjavik from the 13^th to the 15^th of October 2022. The session highlighted existing and emerging Irish expertise in addressing these Arctic Challenges.

The coordination of research efforts on a regional, national, and international scale is becoming increasingly urgent in order to address the emerging environmental and societal pressures on the Arctic region, which have global significance and impacts. Ireland is determined to facilitate collaboration, sharing, and coordination of scientific, technological, and socio-economical expertise linked to the Arctic and thereby contribute to solving these challenges. Specifically, the Irish session at the Arctic Circle Assembly focused on (1) Ireland’s growing scientific expertise in Arctic marine and terrestrial environments, (2) Ireland’s strength in leading technological innovation in search and rescue operations and (3) Ireland’s leadership in socio-economic research relevant to Arctic inhabitants and Indigenous Peoples. During the session, short presentations highlighted how Irish expertise is relevant to Arctic regions and communities. This was followed by a panel discussion where the speakers took questions from the audience. University of Galway’s Dr Audrey Morley and Prof Stephen Hynes were two of the panel members at this historical event.

Representing Ireland at the event were (l to R) Claire Thompson - Department of Foreign Affairs, Stephen Hynes - University of Galway, John Connolly - Trinity College, Audrey Morley - University of Galway, Kevin Fitzgibbon - Munster Technological University, Tom Barry - University of Akureyri and Olive Hempenstall - Department of Foreign Affairs

Discussion on the socio-economic aspects of the artisanal fisheries and aquaculture, challenges and opportunities for sustainable policies

On July 18^th 2022, Prof Stephen Hynes of SEMRU, Whitaker Institute was part of a panel discussion at the Directorate-General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries of the European Commission Policy Day held in Vigo, Spain. The event was held in collaboration with the 20^th Biennial IIFET conference. The theme of the Policy Day was “Socio-economic aspects of the artisanal fisheries and aquaculture, challenges and opportunities for sustainable policies”. Prof Hynes was invited by the Commission to be part of a high-level panel discussing “Challenges and opportunities for sustainable policies in artisanal fisheries and aquaculture”. The other panel members were Ernesto Penas, former director at the Directorate-General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries of the European Commission, Amber Himes Cornell of the UN Fisheries and Aquaculture Division (UN FAO) and Will Symes of the OECD Fisheries Committee Secretariat. Angel Calvo, Deputy Head of Unit, Directorate-General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries of the European Commission, moderated the session.

Ireland's Ocean Economy Survey 2022

The Marine Institute and SEMRU at NUI Galway, are conducting a survey of marine and marine-related businesses as part of the regular reporting on Ireland's Ocean Economy. Although the CSO and other State organisations provide some data on marine related economic activity, there is a need to supplement this data with company surveys across a number of sectors (advanced marine technology products and services, offshore renewable energy, marine commerce and legal services, marine manufacturing, construction and engineering).

Previous ocean economy reports are available on the reports section of our website. The survey will be open over the months of June and July with the results published later this year. The survey is available at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/OceanEconomy2022Offshore.

In addition to general economic figures collected, this year's survey includes a section on the impact of COVID-19 and other external factors affecting marine businesses.

If you have any queries, please contact Marie-Christin.Lanser@Marine.ie or stephen.hynes@nuigalway.ie

Oyster reefs and nature-based solutions to coastal damage

An article based on research by Prof. Stephen Hynes has been recently published by Afloat. The article highlights the findings of a study on the costs and benefits of natural-based solutions versus grey infrastructures to protect coastal amenities from climate change-related events. The study was based on the Rinville coastal trail (Co. Galway) that is subject to coastal flooding. By analysing the recreational value of the coastal trail and the costs of green and grey infrastructures, the research found that oyster reefs, as a nature-based solution,  are cost-effective and provide additional benefits in terms of biodiversity and marine habitat restoration. The Afloat article can be seen here and the journal paper that the article is passed on can be downloaded here.

Four new Whitaker Institute Policy Briefs from SEMRU

Four Whitaker Institute Policy Briefs from the SEMRU team have been issued in the past month. The papers highlight the recent research outputs from the unit. Policy Brief no 92 discusses findings from a recent study that examined public preferences for the development of offshore wind farms incorporating electricity trade.  Policy Brief no 93 reviewed a recent paper that looks at the role of economic valuation and appraisal in marine policy making. Policy Brief no 94 summarizes the results from a regional assessment of the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic restrictions on the distribution of employment in the Irish ocean economy while Policy Brief no 94 reviews the findings from a recent study that examined the costs and benefits of protecting a coastal amenity from climate change-related hazards. More information on each policy brief can be found under the Policy Briefs section on the SEMRU Publication web pages.

SEMRU co-edit special journal issue focused on the evolution of the ocean economy research agenda

A special issue of The Journal of Ocean and Coastal Economics that featured eleven papers drawn from the International Symposium on the Oceans in National Income Accounts hosted by the Whitaker Institute last year has been launched.  Prof Stephen Hynes of the Socio-Economic Marine Research Unit (SEMRU), Whitaker Institute and Prof Charles Colgan of the Center for the Blue Economy, Middlebury Institute of International Studies, Monterey, California were co-editors of the special issue. The symposium was held on the 24th and 25th of March 2021. In line with the presentations at the symposium the papers in the special issue cover the current status of defining the ocean economy within national accounts, the expansion of ocean accounting to include environmental economic values, and methodological tools to assist the integration. The introductory paper to the special issue, authored by the co-editors “From Monterey to Galway: Evolution of the Oceans in National Income Accounts” reviews the evolution of thinking on ocean economy and environment accounting since the first symposium held back in 2015 and also provides an overview of the selected eleven papers.

The symposium was supported with funding from the European Regional Development Fund and the EU Interreg Atlantic Area Programme via the SEMRU led MOSES project (EAPA_224/2016). The special issue is available to download here: Journal of Ocean and Coastal Economics, Volume 8, Issue 2 while the presentations from the Fifth International Symposium on the Oceans in National Income Accounts are available watch here

Ireland's Ocean Economy Survey 2022

The Marine Institute and SEMRU at NUI Galway, are conducting a survey of marine and marine-related businesses as part of the regular reporting on Ireland's Ocean Economy. Although the CSO and other State organisations provide some data on marine related economic activity, there is a need to supplement this data with company surveys across a number of sectors (advanced marine technology products and services, offshore renewable energy, marine commerce and legal services, marine manufacturing, construction and engineering).

Previous ocean economy reports are available on the reports section of our website. The survey will be open over the months of June and July with the results published later this year. The survey is available at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/OceanEconomy2022Offshore.

In addition to general economic figures collected, this year's survey includes a section on the impact of COVID-19 and other external factors affecting marine businesses.

If you have any queries, please contact Marie-Christin.Lanser@Marine.ie or stephen.hynes@nuigalway.ie