Wicklow’s sea anglers asked to take part in new national survey
WICKLOW’S sea anglers are being asked to take part in a new national survey.
Inland Fisheries Ireland is looking to gather information from sea anglers in Wicklow and nationwide through an online survey as part of the Irish Marine Recreational Sea Angling Survey (IMREC). The findings of the survey will help to inform the larger project which aims to improve the management of stocks and support conservation efforts.
This online survey plans to collect information on the behaviours, attitudes and catch preferences of all Irish sea anglers. This information will be analysed by researchers as part of the IMREC project.
Dr Cathal Gallagher, head of
Research and Development at Inland Fisheries Ireland, said:
‘We know that there are approximately 126,000 sea anglers in Ireland and we hope that they will help us to find out how often people go fishing, what they catch and what they release. Sea angling is an important activity here in Ireland and we want to ensure the future of marine fisheries’ resources.
‘The data collected will help us to make informed decisions on how to best-estimate sea angling catches in Ireland. This catch data will inform management decisions and will prevent the use of worst-case scenarios, which can happen when there is a degree of uncertainty surrounding information.’
The survey will take approximately 10 to 20 minutes to complete and participants will receive an Angling Ireland neck buff and line clipper for taking part.
Participants will also have a chance of winning one of three sets of tackle vouchers for a fishing shop of their choice, with a first prize of €200. Anglers can participate in the survey by visiting the following link: https://www.surveymonkey. com/r/IMRECSurvey