Connacht Tribune
Boom times for trawlers as Ros a’ Mhíl Harbour shines
Trawlers landed fish with a total value of €23 million at Ros a’ Mhíl Harbour last year – an annual increase of almost 70%.
Soaring demand and higher prices for Dublin Bay prawns helped Ros a’ Mhíl to outperform all other Irish fishing ports in terms of the growth in value of its catch in 2022, BIM has confirmed.
The vast majority of the catch – €22 million – was landed by the Irish fleet, with €1 million from non-Irish boats.
Total value of catch at Ros a’ Mhíl represented a ‘significant increase’ compared with the previous year.
“Ros a’ Mhíl was the port with the strongest value growth in 2022, increasing by 69%,” according to a new report by BIM.
Bord Iascaigh Mhara (BIM), Ireland’s seafood development agency, said the value of fish landing at the Conamara harbour represented about 4% of the total landings at Irish ports, which had a value of €507m in 2022.
Some 2,000 tonnes of fish from Irish boats were landed at Ros a’ Mhíl, with 100 tonnes from fishing fleet from other countries.
The economic analysis is contained in BIM’s latest report, the Business of Seafood, which is a snapshot of the seafood sector in 2022.
The top three species by value landed by Irish fleet across all ports were Dublin Bay prawns (€82m), mackerel (€80m) and crab (€25m).
The top three species landed by tonnage were mackerel (52,300), blue whiting (28,600) and horse mackerel (15,500).
“Killybegs and Castletownbere remained as the top two Irish ports in volume and value terms.
“However, the ports of Ros an Mhil, Clogherhead and Greencastle all saw significant increases in the value of landings, mainly as a result of the rise in the value of Dublin Bay prawn landings,” according to the report.
The report said that there were 981 people in direct seafood employment in the West, which it defined as Galway and Clare.
A further 1,690 workers in Galway and Clare are in ‘downstream’ in seafood employment.
It said that the coastal population of Galway and Clare is just over 64,700 and just over 27,034 are employed.
The share of those employed in the West’s coastal communities who are working in seafood, either directly or downstream, was 6%, according to BIM analysis.
It said there were eleven seafood processing companies in Galway and Clare, which employed 171 workers in 2022.
BIM’s report said demand for Irish seafood increased in 2022, “driven by strong recovery in food service after the slowdown caused by the global pandemic”.
“Overall, consumption grew by 13%, reaching €475 million. This was driven by significant demand from the hospitality sector, which grew by 70% from 2021 to €169 million.
“However, the strong growth in the food service sector was offset by a 4% decline in the value of sales in the retail sector. Here, volumes declined by 8% after the peak in sales achieved throughout the pandemic when the hospitality sector was closed,” the report said.
It noted that price inflation impacted the sector with salmon increasing 9% in price and cod increasing 7%.
“These price increases led to demand falling by 11% and 3% respectively for salmon and cod. Volumes declined for nearly all of the main species, independent of price inflation. Only haddock and whiting bucked this trend with prices decreasing 2% for both, while sales volumes increased by 16% and 13% respectively,” it said.
The overall volume of exports fell in 2022 by 13% as the reduction in pelagic quotas and global inflation impacted demand for Irish seafood.
The decline in the volume of exports was driven mainly by reductions in mackerel (-31%) and blue whiting (-20%). Conversely, exports of salmon and shellfish species such as shrimps, lobsters, mussels and whelks all increased “significantly”.
BIM said that the growth in prices of mackerel (+27%) and Dublin Bay prawns (+26%) “offset the overall decrease in the volume of seafood exported”.
This meant that the overall value of exports increased by 4% to €696 million.
Significant state investment is required to address ‘shocking’ inequalities that leave cancer patients in the West at greater risk of succumbing to the disease.
A meeting of Regional Health Forum West heard that survival rates for breast, lung and colorectal cancers than the national average, and with the most deprived quintile of the population, the West’s residents faced poorer outcomes from a cancer diagnosis.
For breast cancer patients, the five-year survival rate was 80% in the West versus 85% nationally; for lung cancer patients it was 16.7% in the west against a 19.5% national survival rate; and in the West’s colorectal cancer patients, there was a 62.6% survival rate where the national average was 63.1%.
These startling statistics were provided in answer to a question from Ballinasloe-based Cllr Evelyn Parsons (Ind) who said it was yet another reminder that cancer treatment infrastructure in the West was in dire need of improvement.
“The situation is pretty stark. In the Western Regional Health Forum area, we have the highest incidence of deprivation and the highest health inequalities because of that – we have the highest incidences of cancer nationally because of that,” said Cllr Parsons, who is also a general practitioner.
In details provided by CEO of Saolta Health Care Group, which operates Galway’s hospitals, it was stated that a number of factors were impacting on patient outcomes.
Get the full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune, on sale in shops now, or you can download the digital edition from www.connachttribune.ie. You can also download our Connacht Tribune App from Apple’s App Store or get the Android Version from Google Play.
Galway 3-18
Cork 1-10
NEW setting; new opposition; new challenge. It made no difference to the Galway minor hurlers as they chalked up a remarkable sixth consecutive double digits championship victory at Semple Stadium on Saturday.
The final scoreline in Thurles may have been a little harsh on Cork, but there was no doubting Galway’s overall superiority in setting up only a second-ever All-Ireland showdown against Clare at the same venue on Sunday week.
Having claimed an historic Leinster title the previous weekend, Galway took a while to get going against the Rebels and also endured their first period in a match in which they were heavily outscored, but still the boys in maroon roll on.
Beating a decent Cork outfit by 14 points sums up how formidable Galway are. No team has managed to lay a glove on them so far, and though Clare might ask them questions other challengers haven’t, they are going to have to find significant improvement on their semi-final win over 14-man Kilkenny to pull off a final upset.
Galway just aren’t winning their matches; they are overpowering the teams which have stood in their way. Their level of consistency is admirable for young players starting off on the inter-county journey, while the team’s temperament appears to be bombproof, no matter what is thrown at them.
Having romped through Leinster, Galway should have been a bit rattled by being only level (0-4 each) after 20 minutes and being a little fortunate not to have been behind; or when Cork stormed out of the blocks at the start of the second half by hitting 1-4 to just a solitary point in reply, but there was never any trace of panic in their ranks.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
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GARDAÍ and the IFA have issued a joint appeal to all road users to take extra care as the silage season gets under way across the country.
Silage harvesting started in many parts of Galway last week – and over the coming month, the sight of tractors and trailers on rural roads will be getting far more frequent.
Inspector Conor Madden, who is in charge of Galway Roads Policing, told the Farming Tribune that a bit of extra care and common-sense from all road users would go a long way towards preventing serious collisions on roads this summer.
“One thing I would ask farmers and contractors to consider is to try and get more experienced drivers working for them.
“Tractors have got faster and bigger – and they are also towing heavy loads of silage – so care and experience are a great help in terms of accident prevention,” Inspector Madden told the Farming Tribune.
He said that tractor drivers should always be aware of traffic building up behind them and to pull in and let these vehicles pass, where it was safe to do so.
“By the same token, other road users should always exercise extra care; drive that bit slower; and ‘pull in’ that bit more, when meeting tractors and heavy machinery.
“We all want to see everyone enjoying a safe summer on our roads – that extra bit of care, and consideration for other roads users can make a huge difference,” said Conor Madden.
He also advised motorists and tractor drivers to be acutely aware of pedestrians and cyclists on the roads during the summer season when more people would be out walking and cycling on the roads.
The IFA has also joined in on the road safety appeal with Galway IFA Farm Family and Social Affairs Chair Teresa Roche asking all road users to exercise that extra bit of care and caution.
“We are renewing our annual appeal for motorists to be on the look out for tractors, trailers and other agricultural machinery exiting from fields and farmyards,” she said.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App
Download the Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App to access to Galway’s best-selling newspaper.
Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
Or purchase the Digital Edition for PC, Mac or Laptop from Pagesuite HERE.
Get the Connacht Tribune Live app
The Connacht Tribune Live app is the home of everything that is happening in Galway City and county. It’s completely FREE and features all the latest news, sport and information on what’s on in your area. Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
Families queue up for school’s offer of free house
West has lower cancer survival rates than rest
Galway minors continue to lay waste to all opponents
Gardaí and IFA issue a joint appeal on summer road safety
Marathon Man plans to call a halt – but not before he hits 160 races
