There is concern that the abundance of jellyfish is increasing globally as a result of climate change. Blooms have been identified in the Irish Sea and may have both negative and positive socio-economic impacts on the following sectors: Tourism (closure of beaches or diving with jellyfish), Aquaculture (jellyfish causing mass mortality of farmed fish or economic potential of harvesting jellyfish for food to export to Asian markets), and Fisheries (jellyfish eating fish eggs or enhanced survival of juvenile fish and the clogging of fishing nets).

The strategic objective of EcoJel is to identify and manage the jellyfish threats and opportunities in the Irish Sea.

Project Aims

• Identify the threats of jellyfish nuisance blooms to bathers and to raise the awareness of jellyfish so that impacts are minimised (Jellyfish Action and Awareness Campaign)

• Establish the movements and origin of pest jellyfish through the development of innovative tracking technologies (JellyTag)

• Identify the impacts of jellyfish on fisheries and aquaculture and develop models to explore outcomes of climate change (Jellyfish and Ecosystem Services)

• Identify the economic potential of harvesting jellyfish in a sustainable manner and a potential eco-tourism industry for recreational divers (Jellyfish Potential)

• To build on the successful INTERREG IIIA Irish Sea Leatherback Turtle Project and consolidate the collaboration between the University College Cork and Swansea University by establishing the Irish Sea as a 'centre of excellence' for jellyfish research (JellyCore)