Bord Iascaigh Mhara (BIM) and the Irish Forum on Natural Capital have co-hosted a breakfast seminar ''Exploring Natural Capital Solutions for the Marine Environment'' in the Royal College of Physicians in Dublin.
Natural capital is the available stock of renewable and non-renewable resources that support human life. Natural capital accounting applies a measurable value to these resources in financial and ecological terms.
The aim of the seminar, held on 13 November and supported by the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund, was to raise awareness of natural capital accounting and to explore how it might be used by the seafood and other marine sectors.
Speaking at the event, Jim O’Toole, chief executive of BIM, said that the Irish seafood sector depended on natural resources. "BIM is constantly exploring new ways to help the industry improve its performance in a way that is sustainable," he said. "This focus on the protection of our marine environment will safeguard coastal communities reliant on the sector into the future.”
Earlier this year, BIM commissioned the Institute for the Development of Environmental Economic Accounting (IDEEA Group) to undertake a feasibility study of the Irish seafood sector to explore whether natural capital accounting could be applied.
Carl Obst and Mark Eigenraam of the IDEEA were among the speakers at the seminar and had this comment. “Natural capital accounting recognises and accounts for our relationship with and dependence on the environment. By adopting the United Nations System of Environmental- Economic Accounting, BIM is providing national leadership in the seafood sector in Ireland.”
