While there is no sport or commercial Blue Fin Tuna fishing in Ireland, Inland Fisheries Ireland and the Marine Institute have launched a pilot Tuna CHART programme to track and protect the species.
Authorised skippers operating across the north west including counties Sligo and Donegal are supporting scientific work to increase knowledge of the behaviour and abundance of Blue Fin Tuna in Irish Waters.
As a result of tagging and releasing over 200 Tuna along the Atlantic coast to tract the migratory patterns of these fish, Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Micheal Creed has welcomed the extension of the programme.
Milton Matthews, Director at Inland Fisheries Ireland based in Ballyshannon says the protection of this species is key:
