People participating in the country's first Marine Awareness Day yesterday were told about the need to protect marine biodiversity and engage "the ordinary member of the public" in matters relating to the coastal environment.
The conference at Dingle Oceanworld heard calls for more Special Areas of Conservation for marine areas. Mr Micheal Ó Cinneide, director, marine environment and food safety services at the Marine Institute, said management plans for the existing 30 or so SACs were especially needed.
Dúchas was compiling the first management plan for a marine SAC, to protect the various species at Valentia Harbour in Co Kerry.
This would prove a test case, he said, and would seek to strike a balance between the "legitimate" activities of the long-established scallop fish-farming operation which extended over much of the harbour and the priority of conservation of species, he said.
The challenge in management plans for all SAC marine areas rested in "striking a balance between aquaculture and other marine activities with the conservation of the species and eco systems."
Sewage and dumping at sea were other grave issues facing the marine environment and threatening species. Of the 25 bays regularly monitored by the EPA and local authorities, 12 bays/estuaries were eutrophic or enriched. Some 14 of the 446 species of fish in Irish waters, including lampreys and shad species, were under threat.
At the same time it had to be said that Irish marine ecosystems were largely in a healthy state, but they had to be watched closely, Mr Ó Cinneide said.
One of the most exciting developments in recent years as far as management of the marine was concerned was the Marine Monitoring Plan for Ireland 2003-2006 by the Departments of the Marine and the Environment.
This was due to be published in draft form shortly, following which there would be public consultation.
It would be the first time the different agencies, the EPA, the Marine Institute, the Radiological Protection Institute of Ireland, Met Éireann, Dúchas and others would come together to have an integrated plan.
Under the plan, 30 different scientific programmes for measuring the health of the Irish marine environment were being drawn up. "This information will help Ireland to assess how we are meeting the targets set under the EU Water Framework Directive 2000," he said.
Mr Brendan Price, director of the Irish Seal Sanctuary, called on scientific bodies to engage with the ordinary public, not just with NGOs and experts. Important seal species would be allowed to die on a beach, he said, perhaps because they were not considered as important in the public eye as other species, such as dolphins and whales.
A marine conservation centre which had been endorsed by various marine bodies was urgently needed, Mr Price said.
Yesterday's Marine Awareness Events included the unveiling of a giant seashell sculpture by students of the Irish college Coláiste Chill Mhic an Domhnaigh.
The Marine Awareness programme, supported by the environment educational body ENFO, would visit 200 schools over the next year, Ms Katie Bradbury, organiser, said.
Yesterday's event was sponsored by ENFO and Údarás na Gaeltachta.