Ireland is one of the world’s great sea angling destinations. The island sits on the edge of the European continental shelf, where the inshore waters are warmed by the North Atlantic Drift and the coastline is among the most varied and spectacular in the northern hemisphere. It all contributes to producing a marine environment that’s extremely rich, varied and globally significant. Produced in co-operation with Scoilnet, the official education portal of the Department of Education and Skills in Ireland that provides curriculum focused resources and support for primary and post primary teachers, and the Marine Institute, the State agency responsible for marine research, technology development and innovation in Ireland, The Great Irish Fishing Adventure is

structured around six sea-going journeys that will circumnavigate the entire island. Each episode will feature presenter and marine biologist Lucy Hunt at a quintessential fishing town or village where she will meet a local boat and captain to accompany her on that leg of the journey. Along the way there’s fishing aplenty, with a broad variety of species being caught as the waters change from location to location. Also accompanying Lucy on each voyage will be a cast of leading scientists to highlight the ways in which the coastal waters of Ireland provide researchers from a broad spectrum of disciplines with one of the most dramatic and stunningly beautiful natural laboratories on the planet. It’s a combination of big fish and big science in an intelligible, entertaining package, from a production team that’s well-versed in this genre of television, a distinguished team of scientific consultants, with a confirmed broadcaster. Special 8- 10 minute segments, featuring the science of climate change will be cut from each episode and tailored to the Department of Education’s Social, Environmental and Scientific Education (SESE) curriculum area as part of Scoilnet’s Creating Futures (A Climate Change Resource).

This is also an extremely timely series because at present the seas around Ireland are providing scientists with a valuable insight into the impact of climate change. The seas are changing as never before and possibly at an unprecedented rate – looking at the sea presages events to follow on land - the oceans are the great climate change regulators. As the seas change they become more hospitable to some species and less hospitable to others. They are the ultimate barometer of change in our world - changes that become vividly alive in The Great Irish Fishing Adventure. To become a proficient sea angler you have to know the sea itself; its flora and fauna, its changing patterns, its movements, its moods and its extreme force and power. And therein lies the inherent educational value of this series. Our marine environment regulates life on the island, the wind, the weather and the water-cycle. The science of the sea, the oceanography, the marine biology, and the maritime history are all intrinsic parts of this series, yet they are conveyed to the viewer anecdotally and as part of an exciting and broad-ranging television format. Good sea anglers are only found at the right time, in the right place and at the right stage of the tide. Each location featured in the series has its own rhythm and pattern and local knowledge will always feature along such varying shorelines.

The Great Irish Fishing Adventure is a television vehicle designed to tell this story in a populist and engaging format. With over 80 species to spot, anything from a blenny of a few grams to a six-gilled shark of over 400 kg, and set against some of the most dramatic scenery anywhere on Earth, this a series that extends far beyond a traditional fishing audience but there’s also plenty in there for angling aficionados. The pictures that accompany the journey will enhance the accessibility of the format. With extensive use of high-speed photography (allowing super-slow-motion sequences), ground-breaking underwater camera technology and off-shore drones, The Great Irish Fishing Adventure will present the subject in a completely new way on television. We begin and end in Ballycotton, the spiritual home of Irish sea angling. Like the Reform Club in Around The World in Eighty Days, The Great Irish Fishing Adventure has the Bay View Hotel in Ballycotton, which welcomed the pioneers of sea angling to Ireland in Victorian times. Members of the British Sea Anglers’ Society, later known as the Dreadnoughts, fished out of the fishing village in County Cork and were astonished at the great size and quantity of species such as skate and halibut. The opening scene will feature some of the grandees of Irish sea angling discussing the terms of the adventure ahead. They discuss the types of angling to be mastered, the key locations he has to visit and the most important species of fish Lucy has to catch. In grand Reform Club tradition, the discussion will take place over old sea charts and maps so that the journey can be plotted. The premise is to create the odyssey - the most colourful, comprehensive and  horoughly entertaining guide to sea fishing ever made.

The island of Ireland has a total coastline of 3171km that can be roughly divided into an Atlantic coastline of 2462km from Carnsore Point to Fair Head, and an Irish Sea coastline of 709 km. There’s a diversity and an  abundance of fish species around our coastline largely because we’re at the southernmost limits for the distribution of cold water species and the northernmost limits for warm water species. Then there’s the influence of the North Atlantic Drift that brings exotic visitors such as the trigger-fish and the flying-fish which are usually confined to warmer waters. The accessibility of the format will be enhanced by the pictures that accompany the challenge. With extensive use of high speed photography (allowing super-slowmotion sequences) and underwater cameras The Great Irish Fishing Adventure will present fishing in a completely new way on television.