Ireland and Scotland are to take part in the first joint marine survey exercise this week, when two research vessels, the RV Scotia and the RV Celtic Voyager, carry out a series of parallel fishing tows in the western Irish Sea.
The work is part of an EU-funded project involving Ireland, Scotland and France to ensure that fishing stock estimates are conducted by a standard method.
Next year the French research vessel, Thalassa, will join the Celtic Voyager for comparative fishing trials in the Celtic Sea. The surveys will also provide fish samples for other scientific projects.
A joint Irish-UK marine emergency exercise involving a British Nuclear Fuels Ltd (BNFL) vessel took place yesterday in the Irish Sea.
The vessel, the Pacific Pintail, was not carrying a nuclear cargo, according to the Department of the Marine and Natural Resources, which co-operated with the UK Coastguard and the Radiological Protection Institute of Ireland in the exercise to test communications and response times.
