EPA - Ireland's Environment, An Integrated Assessment - 2020

Chapter 8: The Marine Environment Topic Box 8.2 INFOMAR and Ireland’s Coral Reefs The European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF) Offshore Reef project has shown the wealth of biodiversity in Ireland’s offshore habitats and will contribute to our understanding of these little-studied habitats, thus helping us to afford them better protection. An extensive offshore reef survey of Ireland’s north-west continental margin was commissioned in 2017 by the NPWS. It was funded by the EMFF and coordinated and led by INFOMAR (Integrated Mapping for the Sustainable Development of Ireland’s Marine Resources) and the Marine Institute. The objective of the 3-year project was to implement the EMFF’s Marine Biodiversity Scheme, ‘Fisheries Natura’, by mapping offshore reef habitats to protect them from deterioration as a result of fishing pressures. The Offshore Reef project aligns with subarticle 6.2 of the Habitats Directive, which requires Member States to take measures to avoid the deterioration of protected habitats. The first two SeaRover surveys 23 were completed in 2017 and 2018 using the Marine Institute’s remotely operated vehicle, Holland 1 (Figure 8.7). In addition to mapping reef habitats, the following discoveries were made: n previously unknown vulnerable marine ecosystems n cold-water coral species forming reefs at depths greater than 1600 m n coral species previously unrecorded in Irish waters, including one species that may be new to science n previously undocumented habitats off Ireland’s north-west continental shelf, for example underwater sea mountains and steep cliff faces. Some of the cold-water coral species grow at a rate of 1 mm per year and locating reefs that are thousands of years old was an important scientific find. INFOMAR is a 20-year programme to map the physical, chemical and biological features of Ireland’s seabed. The project is funded by the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications and jointly managed by Geological Survey Ireland and the Marine Institute. 24 Figure 8.7  Images of ‘Coral Garden’ and ‘Lophelia Reef’ (Source: ©SeaRover survey/Irish Government/ European Maritime and Fisheries Fund) 23 https://www.infomar.ie/rd-and-education/case-studies/deep-water- coral-reefs 24 https://www.infomar.ie/about-us 209