Fishing net zero
Exclusion zone plan for eelgrass plant to capture carbon You’re talking about game keeper and poacher working for the benefit of marine life
KERRY fishermen are leading the way in promising to save vast sea meadows that capture more carbon than rainforests.
Eelgrass is a vital habitat for creatures such as seahorses and pipefish along with being a nursery for juvenile fish – but more critically it is a vast carbon sink.
Known as blue carbon, the oceangrowing plants absorb carbon and methane through photosynthesis and sequester them in their root systems.
One study estimates an acre of seagrass can sequester 335kg of carbon per year – the amount emitted by a car travelling 6,212 kilometres and 35 times faster than a rainforest.
Now Tralee Oyster Fisheries Society – a co-operative of over 200 fishers – has drawn up a plan to ringfence 4,000 hectares of eelgrass on the North Kerry coast.
Marine biologist Kevin Flannery, who helped mark out the eelgrass meadows, says the fishermen are leading the way in protecting the plant which swallows carbon emissions.
He said: “Eelgrass is an actual plant, and this plant is the playground for all inshore juvenile fish.
“It’s vital for carbon sequestration and for nursery areas because Tralee Bay is one of the main areas for rays, sharks, and skates in Europe. It a Serengeti of the Atlantic for rays and sharks.”
Located on the shorelines, seagrasses are seen by scientists as one of the most powerful climate solutions.
Ireland has committed to protect 30% of marine areas by 2030 and Kevin says the pre-emptive plan drawn up by the Kerry oyster fishermen will help achieve this goal.
He explained: “This is a major, major initiative. This is the cooperative doing this themselves, marking out spots and agreeing to stay out of them. EU legislation says we have to allow 30% of our waters for marine protected areas. Inevitably, someone will draw a line on the map saying nobody can fish in these areas, but this is an initiative coming from the ground up. “You’re talking about gamekeeper and poacher working for the benefit of marine life, that’s the secret here.” Seagrass can be wiped out by fertilisers and pollution, while dredging for oysters can also directly remove plants or affect the light levels for growth by churning up sediment. The cooperative has also drawn up a plan to enrich the area by creating reefs. Dr Flannery said: “They will put down the shells of dead oysters and other oysters settle on that so they create a reef.
“They have agreed to put out 60,000 spat which are baby oysters to create the reefs.
“You’ll have spider crabs, young angel sharks, and the rays on the reefs.”
He said the protection of the sea meadows would see the return of the endangered flapper skate and the angel shark.
Dr Flannery added: “It would be one of the biggest marine tourism areas in the country. The potential for preserving and creating a marine wildlife park is phenomenal.”
He said the cooperative wants to develop the north Kerry coastline as a marine protected area.
The report, which took nearly a year to complete, has been handed to Kerry TD and Education Minister Norma Foley who agreed to take it to government.
Dr Flannery hopes Ireland will follow Denmark and the UK in sending divers to the seabed to plant eelgrass.
He said: “We’re buying carbon credits from other countries when we could save the taxpayer millions if we followed Denmark and England in planting eelgrass in the shallows.”