We are carrying out a collaborative project to investigate the distribution of the European sea bass in Irish waters. This project is being carried out in conjunction with the Beaufort Scientific Group and University College Cork.
The European sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax) is a large marine fish typically found in coastal seas down to 100 m depth. They typically enter coastal waters and estuaries during the summer and then migrate offshore to deeper water during winter. The European sea bass is an extremely important marine sport angling species.
In Ireland (and most of Europe), little is known about the fine scale movements (e.g. local movements), residency (how long do they spend in any particular place?) and behaviour of the European sea bass. This project aims to investigate the biology of this species by tagging fish with electronic acoustic tags to monitor inshore movements and satellite tags to track their oceanic movements.
A reward is offered for the recovery of satellite tags.
Sea bass will also be tagged with 2 floy (streamer) tags that will each have a unique number, for example; IRL 0551. Anglers may log any captures by contacting the Marine Institute at 0035391387200 or email seabass [at] marine [dot] ie
The collected information will contribute to the understanding of fish ecology and allow for the development of science-based policies aimed at the protection of this important fish species.