News & Events

Presentation of WIN-BIG survey results at the European Maritime Day 2025

The SEMRU team of Hasmik Grigoryan, Edel Doherty and Stephen Hynes participated in the European Maritime Day (EMD) that was held in Cork, Ireland from 21^st to 23^rd of May, 2025. The EU funded WIN-BIG project, where University of Galway is the lead for work package 2 “Mapping and intelligence gathering”, took an active role in the EMD 2025 and organized a workshop titled “Blue economy women champions take the stage at EMD2025”. The workshop comprised of two sessions. In the 1^st session, the project lead and coordinator Prof Helena Vieira (University of Aveiro) and Dr Hasmik Grigoryan (University of Galway) presented the preliminary results from the WIN-BIG survey, covering topics related to the survey sample, gender discrimination and the access to the opportunities for career growth. This was followed by presentations from the blue economy female champions and role models on their career and success stories. 

Third annual meeting of the EU-funded WIN-BIG on women in the EU blue economy

The third annual meeting of the EU WIN-BIG project took place in Cork, Ireland on the 20^th of May, 2025. The main goal of the project is to gather data on gender status in the EU blue economy across all the EU sea basins, to identify skill gaps preventing women from entering or progressing the career ladder, and to develop learning labs, programs and networking events. The meeting was attended by the project consortium members, members of the Advisory Board, and the EU CINEA Project Officer. The WIN-BIG coordinator Helena Vieira from University of Aveiro gave a general overview about the project and its results. This was followed by presentations of each project work package implemented by the individual partner organizations. The SEMRU team –Stephen Hynes, Edel Doherty and Hasmik Grigoryan – participated in the meeting and presented the progress and the ongoing work for their responsible work package 2 “Mapping and intelligence gathering”.

SEMRU participate in new EU LIFE Award

The EU LIFEMAPPER project has officially started on the 1^st of May 2025 and will be working across Europe to map, protect, and restore our vital marine ecosystems. Restoring the sea requires the right tools. The LIFEMAPPER project will produce guidance on selecting effective restoration measures, estimating costs, and identifying knowledge gaps. Because vast areas of EU seas remain unmapped or poorly understood the project will develop clear, science-based guidelines to fill these critical knowledge gaps. LIFEMAPPER will assess marine habitat condition, quality, and connectivity. The project aims to support EU Member States in achieving the targets of the Nature Restoration Law. The €1.3 million project brings together seven European research partners, including the University of Galway and is led by the Italian National Research Council (Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, CNR). The Socio-Economic Marine Research Unit, within the J.E. Cairnes School of Business and Economics is responsible for the delivery of work package 5 ‘Assessing restoration costs’. The team, led by Prof Stephen Hynes, will develop methodologies for cost estimation and the prioritisation of restoration efforts based on cost effectiveness criteria, and provide guidance on how best to embed cost-effectiveness analysis for marine ecosystem restoration into relevant policy frameworks.

LIFEMAPPER is funded by the EU Commission through the EU LIFE Programme.

LIFEMAPPER  - “Guidelines for MAPping, ProtEcting, and Restoring Marine Ecosystems”

SEMRU attend REDRESS First Annual Meeting

The EU REDRESS project’s first annual meeting was held in Heraklion, Crete from 3rd to 4th March 2025. The main aim of the project is to contribute to the EU commitments towards restoring degraded deep-sea ecosystems. The meeting saw the participation of a large audience including members of the Consortium, members of the Advisory Board, and members of the EU Directorate-General for Research & Innovation and the EU Directorate-General for Environment, including the EU Project Officer. The REDRESS coordinator, Prof Roberto Danovaro (UNIVPM), opened the meeting giving a general overview of the results achieved in this first year of the project for all the work packages (WPs). After this overview of the first 12 months of the project for each WPs, the meeting continued with presentations of the WPs co-leaders and task leaders. Prof Stephen Hynes and Dr Daniel Norton of SEMRU, who co-lead WP4 – “Enabling deep-sea ecosystem restoration: socio-economic costs, benefits, and financing” presented updates on the progress of the WPs activities and the plan for the coming year.

Economics Students as Sea!

The M. Global Environmental Economics students recently took part in the seagoing training that has been part of the Masters programme for over a decade. The field trip took place on Thursday the 27st of February. Students and instructors are pictured below disembarking the national research vessel, the RV Tom Crean. The training focuses specifically on economic activities taking place in Cork Harbour and a hands-on examination of the methods by which marine scientists collect data that can be used by economists for bio-economic modelling, analysing the impacts of economic activities on the marine environment and valuation of marine ecosystem service benefits.

SEMRU to partner on new EU LIFE project.

The LIFE-MAPPER project seeks to consolidate current knowledge and best practices in marine habitat mapping and restoration. Recent research highlights that vast areas of EU marine habitats remain unmapped, with existing maps often lacking detailed biological data on species and communities. To address this, comprehensive guidelines are needed to systematize habitat information across EU marine regions and align efforts with directives like the Marine Strategy Framework Directive, the Habitats Directive, and the EU Biodiversity Strategy 2030. The LIFE-MAPPER project aims to develop guidelines for mapping marine habitats, selecting suitable restoration technologies, and conducting a cost/benefit analysis of mapping benthic habitat types. The project will recommend a framework for prioritizing conservation and restoration actions to maximize ecological benefits and optimize resource allocation. By working with EU Member States, the European Commission, and relevant agencies, LIFE-MAPPER will help advance the implementation of environmental directives, ensuring effective marine conservation and restoration across Europe. SEMRU will partner with six other research organisations from across Europe on the project and will be responsible for work package four that aims to understand the full suite of costs involved in marine restoration activities aimed at achieving the targets under the EU Nature Restoration Law. The National Research Council of Italy are the lead partner on the project. The project is due to start in July 2025.

Latest ocean economy report highlights post-pandemic recovery across the sector

SEMRU, in partnership with the Marine Institute, has published the latest report on the performance of Ireland’s ocean economy, providing a comprehensive analysis of the sector's economic contributions and trends.

The report reveals that Ireland’s ocean economy achieved a turnover of €6.5 billion in 2023, contributing €2.7 billion in Gross Value Added (GVA) and supporting approximately 39,000 jobs. Over the five-year period from 2019 (pre-COVID) to 2023, turnover increased by 20%, GVA rose by 31%, and employment grew by 8%, demonstrating the resilience and steady expansion of the country’s marine industries.

While the overall turnover and GVA showed moderate declines between 2022 and 2023, eight out of 13 marine sectors experienced growth, reflecting a robust post-pandemic recovery. Sectors such as Shipping, Sea Fisheries, Aquaculture, Seafood Processing, and the Gas industry faced specific challenges contributing to declines, but the broader trends point to a period of adaptation and innovation.

Welcoming the report, Dr Rick Officer, CEO of the Marine Institute, stated: “I am delighted that the Marine Institute, in partnership with the University of Galway, has published Ireland’s 2024 Ocean Economy Report. This report not only highlights the impressive economic contributions of Ireland’s marine industries but also underscores their strategic importance in shaping a sustainable future for our country. Capturing detailed insights and trends including measuring the economic value of our marine industries is an important element of our work in supporting Government with the best available evidence to inform policy. This collaboration, supported by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) and Bord Iascaigh Mhara (BIM), provides a robust analytical framework to inform marine and maritime planning and deliver equitable and sustainable ocean and coastal economies.”

Commenting on the findings, Professor Stephen Hynes, Director of SEMRU at the University of Galway, said: “It is clear from the data and trends that there is a continuing post-pandemic recovery across most sectors. This remains a period of transition for Ireland’s ocean economy as marine industries innovate and respond to new policies and opportunities aimed at addressing the climate and biodiversity crises.”

The full report, Ireland’s Ocean Economy, 2024, is now available to download at http://hdl.handle.net/10793/1999.

WIN-BIG project presents results about gender inequalities in the blue economy

WIN-BIG project member Dr. Hasmik Grigoryan presented results from her work at the Economics discipline seminar (J.E. Cairnes School of Business & Economics) on January 23. 

The research results, carried out in the framework of the EU-funded WIN-BIG project, focused on the findings from a systematic literature review about gender discrimination in the EU blue economy sectors. Various gender inequalities, such as invisible status of females, occupational segregation, lack of capital and training opportunities, lack of efficient policies and safety issues were discussed during the seminar. It was highlighted that women in the blue economy sectors related to marine robotics and research lack training and funding opportunities. While, in the marine based sectors such as maritime transport and offshore occupations females may face safety issues. The research findings emphasized that data collection, policy and institutional changes are required to decrease the existing gender inequalities and improve the attractiveness of the sectors.

MASTS project visits the Central Bank for Nollaig na mBan event.

The Central Bank of Ireland held their annual Nollaig na mBan event this January 9^th in Dublin. As a part of the event the MASTS Project’s Dr. Julian Worley attended was able to showcase the progress made on the project so far. She was a part of a cohort of early career women researchers in Economics who were invited to present posters detailing their current work. It was a great event and provided opportunities for networking amongst colleagues in different economic subfields.