Ireland needs its own legislation to safeguard marine protected areas, an expert has warned.
Marine biologist Rebecca Hunter told Behind the Story that the damage to the seas around Ireland is "quite alarming".
"This year alone there are records of Atlantic Salmon that has declined by 90% since the 1970s," she said.
"So, in the past 50, 60 years – not even a human lifetime – 90% of Irish Salmon have been lost.
"The European Eel, which would return to Irish rivers, is down 97%."
Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) are areas that are protected and managed over the long term, with a primary objective of conserving habitats and/or species.
The Government approved the general scheme of a Marine Protected Areas Bill in December 2022.
However, it was reported in June that the coalition could drop the law in favour of folding it into the offshore wind consenting scheme.
"An exercise is being undertaken to explore how the Maritime Area Planning Act 2021 could be revised as an alternative approach, so that the overarching objectives of MPA Bill might be met through amendment of that act," Minister for Housing James Browne has said.
Ms Hunter said legislation needs to give Ireland the power to designate marine protected areas for species and habitats of national importance.
"Ireland already has some marine protected areas that come from the EU Habitats Directive," she said.
"I think currently something like 8.3% of Irish seas are protected through those designations."
However, Ms Hunter said there are two issues with relying on EU legislation alone.
"The EU Habitats Directive never made a requirement for any management measures to be put in place when those sites were designated," she explained.
"They often become what’s known as paper parks: [so] they exist on paper, but in effect no activities are being stopped, reduced or managed in any way to protect the species.
"The EU Habitats Directive covers species and habitats that are important at an EU level; but that misses a large number that are important at an Irish level".
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Ms Hunter said there needs to be standalone legislation on marine protection.
"National marine protection would allow Ireland to bring forward a new list of species that require protection in Irish waters and it must include the provision that management measures are in place," she said.
"Ireland is signed up to the target of achieving at least 20% protection by 2030 – at the minute it’s about 8.3%.
"Ireland is one of the countries furthest behind in its level of protection".
Ms Hunter said the seas need their own piece of legislation for protection, rather than "be shoehorned into a piece of legislation that is designed to manage human activities".
Marine and coastal habitats
Ms Hunter said recent reports suggest that areas are at risk.
"The latest reports on the condition of marine and coastal habitats within some of Ireland’s marine protected areas are showing that a huge number of these are in an unfavourable status," she said.
"There’s a whale-watching company in Cork that closed recently because there are no longer the whales to keep that business going".
Ms Hunter said some marine species are closer to extinction than people may realise.
"There are animals in Irish seas which are closer to extinction than many of the big species we may think of when we hear that word [such as] snow leopards, giant pandas," she said.
"There are animals like the flapper skate, the angel shark – they are ranked as being closer to extinction than any of those other species."
Ms Hunter said the decline is due to a number of factors including climate breakdown, water quality issues and habitat loss.
‘Our sense of identity’
Ms Hunter explained her love for the sea came from her childhood.
"It’s like another world out there," she said.
"I grew up, spending a lot of time in Donegal, around Lough Swilly.
"There’s so much different marine life that Ireland has - the size of Ireland’s sea is about seven-times larger than the size of the island itself".
Ms Hunter said Irish waters contain "huge numbers of sea birds and coastal animals" as well as 26 different types of whales and dolphins.
"Even more recently discovered animals that were thought to be lost: there are angel sharks in Tralee Bay and there’s even coral reefs".
Ms Hunter said such creatures are "deeply bound into our stories and our sense of identity".
As part of her research, she spent four months on a vessel in 2009.
"It’s a wonderful experience, it can be a tough experience," she recalls.
"There were a lot of storms; we had to actually rescue a rower trying to make his way over the Atlantic Ocean at one point.
"You learned to stick your life jacket under one side of your mattress to sort of push your mattress up against the wall.
"That held you in in your bed, so that the storms didn’t chuck you out of your bed halfway through the night".
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