EcoJel: Assessing jellyfish increase in the Irish Sea

prospective

Projects such as this are helping the EU to become a smart, sustainable and inclusive economy by 2020, as set out in the EU 2020 growth strategy. The EU is facing some tough challenges, including an ageing population, an insufficiently qualified workforce, the need for greater innovation, striking a balance between economic growth and environmental degradation, and ensuring secure, clean energy supplies. Regional policy projects across the EU are playing an active role in dealing with these and many other challenges, by undertaking projects designed to generate employment, raise educational achievement, develop renewable energy sources, boost productivity and give all citizens access to opportunities. The projects and the regions play a pivotal role in this, as they generate real results that contribute to achieving the strategy’s key goals.EcoJel, which represents a collaboration between Swansea University and University College Cork, will examine the impact that more jellyfish blooms will have upon the ecosystem (both positive and negative) and the consequent increase in the socio-economic importance of jellyfish.Threats and opportunities of jellyfish increaseJellyfish blooms are expected to increase globally as a result of climate change which, for the Irish Sea area, may have both negative and positive socio-economic impacts on sectors such as tourism, aquaculture and fisheries. For example, while an increase in jellyfish might lead to the closure of some beaches, it could also present an opportunity to develop businesses around diving with jellyfish and, while it could cause the mass mortality of farmed fish, it could simultaneously present an opportunity for harvesting jellyfish as food to export to Asian markets.The EcoJel project, covering the Irish Sea between the counties of Meath, Dublin, Wicklow, Wexford and Waterford in Ireland and Carmarthenshire, Pembrokeshire, Ceredigion, Gwynedd, Isle of Anglesey, Conwy and Denbighshire in Wales, aims to identify and manage these threats and opportunities.Addressing the challenge in five waysWork on the project, which is implemented through the Ireland Wales Programme 2007-2013, is divided into five ‘work packages’. These include: an action and awareness raising campaign for the public; a project to establish the movements and origin of pest jellyfish through the development of innovative tracking technologies; activities to identify the impact of jellyfish on fisheries and aquaculture, and to develop ecosystem models to explore outcomes of predicted climate change scenarios; an analysis of the economic potential of harvesting jellyfish in a sustainable manner and of an eco-tourism industry for recreational divers, and finally, the establishment a ‘centre of excellence’ for jellyfish research between University College Cork and Swansea University.EcoJel is an excellent example of a project creating cross-border links, raising awareness about climate challenges and implementing measures to react to the challenge of climate change.