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Hello and welcome to a new season | 0:00:29 | 0:00:31 | |
and a new series of Home Ground. | 0:00:31 | 0:00:34 | |
Over the next four weeks, | 0:00:34 | 0:00:35 | |
we'll be celebrating the richness of rural life - | 0:00:35 | 0:00:38 | |
its people, places and stories. | 0:00:38 | 0:00:41 | |
And here's what is coming up on tonight's programme. | 0:00:41 | 0:00:44 | |
Home Ground goes underground. | 0:00:47 | 0:00:49 | |
There's a honeycomb of abandoned mines under our feet | 0:00:49 | 0:00:52 | |
and these days they've got some new inhabitants. | 0:00:52 | 0:00:55 | |
It's one of the busiest harbours in Ireland. | 0:00:56 | 0:00:58 | |
So what will Brexit mean for the fishing industry in Kilkeel? | 0:00:58 | 0:01:02 | |
And I've been finding out how the humble trout is helping save | 0:01:04 | 0:01:07 | |
an endangered species in the Ballinderry River. | 0:01:07 | 0:01:11 | |
We're not trying to take all the fish out of this section of river... | 0:01:11 | 0:01:13 | |
-OK. -..because we obviously want some fish to spawn here. | 0:01:13 | 0:01:16 | |
That doesn't make me feel as bad now! | 0:01:16 | 0:01:18 | |
But first tonight, we're here in County Fermanagh | 0:01:23 | 0:01:26 | |
at the Crom Estate, | 0:01:26 | 0:01:28 | |
where preparations are under way to open the doors to the public | 0:01:28 | 0:01:31 | |
after the winter break. | 0:01:31 | 0:01:32 | |
On the shores of upper Lough Erne, | 0:01:38 | 0:01:40 | |
Crom is one of Ireland's most important conservation areas | 0:01:40 | 0:01:44 | |
and surely enjoys one of the best locations. | 0:01:44 | 0:01:48 | |
The estate is home to all sorts of wildlife and plants, | 0:01:48 | 0:01:51 | |
but something that sets this place apart is the abundance | 0:01:51 | 0:01:55 | |
of important woodland and trees. | 0:01:55 | 0:01:57 | |
It's sort of 50-50 make-up. | 0:01:58 | 0:01:59 | |
So 50% woodland on the estate, | 0:01:59 | 0:02:01 | |
50% trees, | 0:02:01 | 0:02:03 | |
-so a thousand acres of each. -OK. | 0:02:03 | 0:02:06 | |
So it's fair to say the trees are part of the main attraction here? | 0:02:06 | 0:02:08 | |
Oh, definitely. Yes. | 0:02:08 | 0:02:10 | |
We have the largest area of oak woodland in Northern Ireland. | 0:02:10 | 0:02:12 | |
Wow! | 0:02:12 | 0:02:14 | |
But of course it's not all about the oak trees. | 0:02:14 | 0:02:16 | |
-No, definitely not. -Look at these. SHE GASPS | 0:02:16 | 0:02:19 | |
The yews. | 0:02:19 | 0:02:20 | |
-How old are these? -To be honest, that's debated quite a bit. | 0:02:20 | 0:02:24 | |
It all basically boils down to the fact that if you look at the trees, | 0:02:24 | 0:02:28 | |
both of them either side, there's loads and loads of stems | 0:02:28 | 0:02:31 | |
sort of all twined and joined together. | 0:02:31 | 0:02:34 | |
So to get the accurate age is difficult. | 0:02:34 | 0:02:36 | |
But the best estimate is that the female tree, | 0:02:36 | 0:02:39 | |
which is this tree here, | 0:02:39 | 0:02:40 | |
is somewhere about 500 years old. | 0:02:40 | 0:02:42 | |
And the male tree, it's thought that it's about 100 years younger, | 0:02:42 | 0:02:45 | |
so round about 400. | 0:02:45 | 0:02:47 | |
A very naive question - how can you tell this is female and that's male? | 0:02:47 | 0:02:51 | |
This time of the year, with the female it's a little bit difficult | 0:02:51 | 0:02:53 | |
to tell. But the female has red berries in the autumn-winter time. | 0:02:53 | 0:02:57 | |
Actually, at the minute you can see on the male tree, the flowers. | 0:02:57 | 0:03:01 | |
You can see them on the outside, | 0:03:01 | 0:03:03 | |
the wee yellow... Little flowers growing. | 0:03:03 | 0:03:05 | |
Imagine, you know, 500 years... | 0:03:05 | 0:03:07 | |
..the stories this tree could tell. | 0:03:08 | 0:03:10 | |
And they're pretty famous, too. | 0:03:14 | 0:03:15 | |
Yes, they are indeed. | 0:03:15 | 0:03:17 | |
They would be on several registers of ancient trees, veteran trees, | 0:03:17 | 0:03:20 | |
whatnot. Going back in the 1600s there are records of them. | 0:03:20 | 0:03:24 | |
They wrote about O'Neill bidding farewell to his love | 0:03:24 | 0:03:27 | |
under the already ancient yew of Crom and stuff like that. | 0:03:27 | 0:03:30 | |
So they go right back in the history books. | 0:03:30 | 0:03:34 | |
They're really special. It's lovely to be here. | 0:03:34 | 0:03:37 | |
Yeah. | 0:03:37 | 0:03:38 | |
'And there is something magical about this place. | 0:03:39 | 0:03:42 | |
'Not just the look of the twisted and gnarled wood, | 0:03:42 | 0:03:45 | |
'but here underneath the canopy, it feels like a different world. | 0:03:45 | 0:03:49 | |
'It's like stepping into a fairy tale.' | 0:03:49 | 0:03:51 | |
Is there a lot of work in maintaining these yews? | 0:03:53 | 0:03:55 | |
To be honest, we leave them at it. | 0:03:55 | 0:03:57 | |
They don't grow massively quick. | 0:03:59 | 0:04:01 | |
And the only thing we would step in with, | 0:04:01 | 0:04:03 | |
say there was a branch hanging right down or something like that, | 0:04:03 | 0:04:06 | |
or something that was obviously dangerous, we might remove that. | 0:04:06 | 0:04:09 | |
But to be honest, we try and step back and don't really interfere | 0:04:09 | 0:04:12 | |
with them. | 0:04:12 | 0:04:14 | |
But other trees here do need attention. | 0:04:14 | 0:04:16 | |
The winter months are the important time of the year for conservation | 0:04:16 | 0:04:20 | |
on the estate, with rangers hard at work making sure the estate | 0:04:20 | 0:04:24 | |
is at its best as it opens again to the public. | 0:04:24 | 0:04:27 | |
Today is about making sure the trees are cleared of dead wood | 0:04:28 | 0:04:31 | |
and any signs of disease. | 0:04:31 | 0:04:32 | |
This is a tree on the entrance avenue that's identified | 0:04:34 | 0:04:38 | |
as showing the first signs of a bit of dieback. | 0:04:38 | 0:04:41 | |
So just as a preventative measure, they are looking at taking this limb | 0:04:41 | 0:04:45 | |
away here that's extending over the avenue just in case if ever it came | 0:04:45 | 0:04:49 | |
down on the avenue or on a windy day. | 0:04:49 | 0:04:53 | |
I guess you've got visitors coming in and out here all the time | 0:04:53 | 0:04:56 | |
so it poses a bit of a safety risk, but dieback, did you say? | 0:04:56 | 0:05:00 | |
Just at the very ends, you may be able to see, | 0:05:00 | 0:05:03 | |
especially just out this side, | 0:05:03 | 0:05:04 | |
some of the tips of the branches are not looking very healthy. | 0:05:04 | 0:05:07 | |
And why is that? Have they just weathered? | 0:05:07 | 0:05:09 | |
-Is that just age? -It could be age as well, but there is some fungus | 0:05:09 | 0:05:13 | |
here on the far side as well, so there's probably some... | 0:05:13 | 0:05:16 | |
-Oh, yeah. -Something at work here in this tree, | 0:05:16 | 0:05:18 | |
but that's not uncommon on an old tree like this. | 0:05:18 | 0:05:21 | |
How old would this tree be? | 0:05:21 | 0:05:24 | |
Crikey, it could be 200 years old possibly... | 0:05:24 | 0:05:27 | |
-Really? -..or fairly close to it anyway. | 0:05:27 | 0:05:29 | |
'Colin has been working on trees here for over 15 years | 0:05:30 | 0:05:33 | |
'and he certainly knows a thing or two about how to climb them.' | 0:05:33 | 0:05:37 | |
Do you find that the trees on the estate require special treatment | 0:05:41 | 0:05:45 | |
-generally? -There is a lot of veterans or a lot of old | 0:05:45 | 0:05:48 | |
sort of mature trees here so you don't like working on them unless | 0:05:48 | 0:05:51 | |
you have to and that's probably the National Trust's policy here. | 0:05:51 | 0:05:55 | |
Only really do things if they have to, | 0:05:56 | 0:05:58 | |
if it's a danger either to buildings or people. | 0:05:58 | 0:06:01 | |
I'm just going to go out that limb now, Jo. | 0:06:04 | 0:06:06 | |
-OK. -Probably about halfway or so | 0:06:06 | 0:06:08 | |
and then take those bits off at the end. | 0:06:08 | 0:06:10 | |
Is there a danger in taking that quite significant branch off there, | 0:06:10 | 0:06:14 | |
Colin, you could cause damage to the rest of the tree? | 0:06:14 | 0:06:17 | |
There would be a slight risk that you're creating a large wound | 0:06:19 | 0:06:24 | |
in the tree that sort pathogens can get into the tree, | 0:06:24 | 0:06:27 | |
but you've got to weigh these things up | 0:06:27 | 0:06:29 | |
with the risk to the public as well. | 0:06:29 | 0:06:31 | |
The tree is declining in health so it just makes sense to take this off | 0:06:33 | 0:06:36 | |
just as a preventative measure. | 0:06:36 | 0:06:38 | |
I'll make sure the final cut leaves the minimum surface area | 0:06:41 | 0:06:44 | |
for any pathogens to get into. | 0:06:44 | 0:06:46 | |
So we'll hopefully do the best we can for it anyway. | 0:06:46 | 0:06:49 | |
Trees generally, they store their defence mechanisms just sort of | 0:06:53 | 0:06:57 | |
at that branch collar which is just about here so we're going to try | 0:06:57 | 0:07:01 | |
and take it off. That's roughly 90 degrees to that branch collar, | 0:07:01 | 0:07:06 | |
so not too flush in with the stem and that will give the tree the best | 0:07:06 | 0:07:10 | |
chance to protect itself against infection | 0:07:10 | 0:07:12 | |
coming in through that wound there. | 0:07:12 | 0:07:14 | |
I'm happy enough with that, Jo. | 0:07:16 | 0:07:19 | |
Any more, I'd be going into the tree itself, | 0:07:19 | 0:07:21 | |
so I'm happy enough with that. | 0:07:21 | 0:07:23 | |
-Good. -A cup of tea time? | 0:07:25 | 0:07:27 | |
Now, did you know there is an underground maze of old mines | 0:07:29 | 0:07:33 | |
beneath the Northern Irish countryside? | 0:07:33 | 0:07:35 | |
I've been to Mallusk in County Antrim to discover this hidden world | 0:07:35 | 0:07:40 | |
and the things which live there. | 0:07:40 | 0:07:42 | |
This might just look like regular farmland, | 0:07:48 | 0:07:51 | |
but hidden beneath my feet is a labyrinth of tunnels, | 0:07:51 | 0:07:55 | |
physical reminders of our mining past. | 0:07:55 | 0:07:57 | |
'Today I'm at Lyle Hill near Mallusk with Geological Survey NI | 0:08:00 | 0:08:05 | |
'who maintain these mines.' | 0:08:05 | 0:08:07 | |
-Morning, Kieran. -Morning, Gavin. -How are you? | 0:08:07 | 0:08:09 | |
-Doing good. -What's the plan of attack today? | 0:08:09 | 0:08:12 | |
Well, what we're going to do is look at one of the old iron ore mines | 0:08:12 | 0:08:15 | |
and bauxite mines in Northern Ireland. | 0:08:15 | 0:08:18 | |
There is a network of these across County Antrim. | 0:08:18 | 0:08:20 | |
Hundreds of them around the country. | 0:08:20 | 0:08:22 | |
There is roughly 2,500 old mines working throughout Northern Ireland | 0:08:22 | 0:08:26 | |
in different places, County Antrim, | 0:08:26 | 0:08:28 | |
but specifically on the iron ore and the bauxite, | 0:08:28 | 0:08:31 | |
where the industry only took off in the middle of the 19th century, | 0:08:31 | 0:08:35 | |
steadily declined in the early 20th century, | 0:08:35 | 0:08:38 | |
however it reappeared again during the Second World War. | 0:08:38 | 0:08:43 | |
There is a real maze of tunnels to see today? | 0:08:43 | 0:08:45 | |
Yes, this is an original mine plan when the mine closed up. | 0:08:45 | 0:08:50 | |
This is from 1945. | 0:08:50 | 0:08:52 | |
This as where we stand just outside this entrance here. | 0:08:52 | 0:08:55 | |
As we look at the plan, | 0:08:55 | 0:08:57 | |
it's 650 metres long, | 0:08:57 | 0:08:59 | |
350 metres wide and there is almost 9km of tunnels underground here. | 0:08:59 | 0:09:05 | |
-Shall we take a look? -Yeah, let's go. | 0:09:05 | 0:09:07 | |
'We're heading into a subterranean world, rarely visited today.' | 0:09:08 | 0:09:12 | |
Kieran, what were they mining in here, then? | 0:09:14 | 0:09:16 | |
Well, this mine was first driven into the hillside | 0:09:16 | 0:09:19 | |
in 1880 for iron ore. | 0:09:19 | 0:09:22 | |
It closed down in the early 1900s | 0:09:22 | 0:09:25 | |
and then it was reopened again in 1942 for its bauxite properties. | 0:09:25 | 0:09:30 | |
You can see here on the rock, you have the iron ore... | 0:09:30 | 0:09:34 | |
..seam. This is extending down and what we have at the bottom here | 0:09:36 | 0:09:39 | |
is a bauxite seam. | 0:09:39 | 0:09:40 | |
Bauxite is a mineral ore which is processed to make aluminium. | 0:09:40 | 0:09:45 | |
And it was big in the war? | 0:09:45 | 0:09:46 | |
It was much needed during the Second World War. There was... | 0:09:46 | 0:09:50 | |
Demand increased, | 0:09:50 | 0:09:52 | |
therefore, the Ministry of Aircraft Production | 0:09:52 | 0:09:55 | |
set about investigations to get reserves because importing reserves | 0:09:55 | 0:09:59 | |
wasn't possible due to the U-boat threat. | 0:09:59 | 0:10:02 | |
'During World War II, | 0:10:05 | 0:10:07 | |
'180 men were employed at this mine | 0:10:07 | 0:10:09 | |
'producing 15,000 tons of bauxite per week.' | 0:10:09 | 0:10:13 | |
I can imagine what conditions would have been like to work | 0:10:15 | 0:10:18 | |
back in the day. | 0:10:18 | 0:10:20 | |
Yes, well, it would have been done by hand, | 0:10:20 | 0:10:23 | |
by pickaxe and shovel. | 0:10:23 | 0:10:24 | |
And the mine itself would have been lit by candles. | 0:10:25 | 0:10:29 | |
So what you see throughout the mine is a number of these carved out | 0:10:29 | 0:10:32 | |
into the rock. These would have been done by the miners where they can | 0:10:32 | 0:10:36 | |
put their candles so that they could work. | 0:10:36 | 0:10:38 | |
No torches in the '40s. | 0:10:38 | 0:10:40 | |
No torches, no electricity underground back then. | 0:10:40 | 0:10:43 | |
Let's get on down in. Don't get me lost. | 0:10:43 | 0:10:45 | |
The mines are mostly used now | 0:10:46 | 0:10:48 | |
by... | 0:10:48 | 0:10:50 | |
Different inhabitants? | 0:10:50 | 0:10:51 | |
Yeah, different inhabitants - badgers, foxes, bats, | 0:10:51 | 0:10:55 | |
so wildlife has really taken over the space. | 0:10:55 | 0:10:58 | |
'While the public are advised to keep away, | 0:10:59 | 0:11:02 | |
'we're in here today under strict supervision along with | 0:11:02 | 0:11:05 | |
'bat conservationists working in a mine for the very first time.' | 0:11:05 | 0:11:08 | |
Looking in through the nooks and crannies, I found Dave. | 0:11:10 | 0:11:13 | |
-How are you? -Hi, there. How's it going? | 0:11:13 | 0:11:15 | |
How are you getting on with the search for bats today? | 0:11:15 | 0:11:17 | |
We've been quite lucky today, we've actually found the bats. | 0:11:17 | 0:11:20 | |
That's a nice wee surprise cos we didn't know whether we were going to | 0:11:20 | 0:11:23 | |
find any at all down here today. | 0:11:23 | 0:11:25 | |
This is new for you - this whole experience getting into a mine? | 0:11:25 | 0:11:27 | |
Absolutely. | 0:11:27 | 0:11:29 | |
We've never really looked for hibernating bats before | 0:11:29 | 0:11:31 | |
in Northern Ireland or Ireland as a whole, so, yeah, | 0:11:31 | 0:11:35 | |
anything that we find is exciting and new for us, | 0:11:35 | 0:11:37 | |
so, we've been very lucky, though, | 0:11:37 | 0:11:39 | |
we found a bat around the corner. | 0:11:39 | 0:11:41 | |
So, yeah, do you want to go and have a look? | 0:11:41 | 0:11:44 | |
Yeah. Let's go for it. You lead the way. | 0:11:44 | 0:11:46 | |
Well, most people I know are scared of bats. | 0:11:51 | 0:11:53 | |
What got you into them? | 0:11:53 | 0:11:55 | |
Well, your friends wouldn't be alone in being frightened of bats. | 0:11:55 | 0:11:58 | |
Most people have quite a few misconceptions about them, | 0:11:58 | 0:12:01 | |
from getting stuck in your hair | 0:12:01 | 0:12:02 | |
and carrying disease and things like that, | 0:12:02 | 0:12:04 | |
but, no, I think they are amazing little creatures. | 0:12:04 | 0:12:08 | |
Are there many different types of species in Northern Ireland? | 0:12:08 | 0:12:10 | |
Where would you generally find them? | 0:12:10 | 0:12:12 | |
We've got eight different species of bat in Northern Ireland. | 0:12:12 | 0:12:16 | |
There's nine in the island of Ireland as a whole. | 0:12:16 | 0:12:19 | |
-Where would you find them? -Well, at this time of year, | 0:12:20 | 0:12:23 | |
down mines because they're going to be hibernating. | 0:12:23 | 0:12:25 | |
Places like this because generally bats are only active in Ireland | 0:12:25 | 0:12:29 | |
during the summer - spring and summer months. | 0:12:29 | 0:12:32 | |
When you come into wintertime, they go into hibernation. | 0:12:32 | 0:12:35 | |
They're looking for nice, cold, cool places like this. | 0:12:35 | 0:12:38 | |
This is the hibernating bat. | 0:12:38 | 0:12:41 | |
We've found one and he's hanging in the top of the chamber here. | 0:12:41 | 0:12:45 | |
I feel like I need to keep my voice down. Not to disturb... | 0:12:45 | 0:12:47 | |
Yeah, I think we really don't want to disturb hibernating bats | 0:12:47 | 0:12:52 | |
because at this time of year, | 0:12:52 | 0:12:53 | |
there's not many food resources for them | 0:12:53 | 0:12:55 | |
so if they do wake up, they've got to use all their food resources | 0:12:55 | 0:12:58 | |
that they've saved up for the winter, just like hibernating bears. | 0:12:58 | 0:13:03 | |
It's a myotis bat. | 0:13:03 | 0:13:04 | |
We've got three species of those in Northern Ireland. | 0:13:04 | 0:13:07 | |
So this is one of the species of bat which in Britain that they monitor | 0:13:07 | 0:13:12 | |
populations by going down in mines like this and looking for them. | 0:13:12 | 0:13:16 | |
So this is kind of exciting because we've never done it. | 0:13:16 | 0:13:19 | |
We've never found hibernating bats like this. | 0:13:19 | 0:13:21 | |
So, hopefully this will be the first of many adventures underground | 0:13:21 | 0:13:25 | |
-that we will be taking. -He's in bat heaven up there, isn't he? | 0:13:25 | 0:13:28 | |
Yeah, he's having sweet dreams. | 0:13:28 | 0:13:30 | |
Very sweet dreams hopefully. | 0:13:30 | 0:13:32 | |
'Nowadays, the miners may have gone, but thanks to their hard work, | 0:13:32 | 0:13:36 | |
'our native bats have a home.' | 0:13:36 | 0:13:38 | |
Kilkeel Harbour is one of the busiest in Ireland with around 1,000 | 0:13:40 | 0:13:44 | |
people employed in the fishing industry there. | 0:13:44 | 0:13:47 | |
Ruth Sanderson has been to the village to see how Brexit | 0:13:47 | 0:13:50 | |
could affect their future. | 0:13:50 | 0:13:52 | |
The fishing industry has been in decline throughout the UK | 0:13:56 | 0:13:59 | |
for several decades. Yet while other ports might be empty, | 0:13:59 | 0:14:02 | |
Kilkeel bucks the trend. | 0:14:02 | 0:14:05 | |
Around 1,000 people are employed locally in fishing and its related | 0:14:05 | 0:14:08 | |
businesses and Kilkeel wants to keep expanding. | 0:14:08 | 0:14:12 | |
These scallops have been caught a few miles off the Kilkeel Harbour | 0:14:14 | 0:14:18 | |
so they are a fresh product straight in from the sea. | 0:14:18 | 0:14:23 | |
'Around 20 tonnes of scallops get processed and are exported from here | 0:14:23 | 0:14:27 | |
'each year, mainly to France.' | 0:14:27 | 0:14:28 | |
The fishing industry famously was very pro-Brexit, | 0:14:30 | 0:14:34 | |
very much wanted out of Europe, | 0:14:34 | 0:14:36 | |
said it would be a lot stronger for the industry. | 0:14:36 | 0:14:38 | |
But as a businessman who exports to Europe, | 0:14:38 | 0:14:40 | |
what are your thoughts on it? | 0:14:40 | 0:14:42 | |
Well, my thoughts on Brexit, | 0:14:42 | 0:14:44 | |
it's going to be good for the fishing and the processing industry. | 0:14:44 | 0:14:47 | |
Fishing-wise, we'll get a fairer share of the quota in the UK waters | 0:14:47 | 0:14:52 | |
which will bring more raw materials into the processing market | 0:14:52 | 0:14:56 | |
and as well, the customers that I have been dealing with | 0:14:56 | 0:14:59 | |
and talking to still want the product from the UK, | 0:14:59 | 0:15:01 | |
still want the product from Northern Ireland. | 0:15:01 | 0:15:04 | |
So I can't see a problem of selling our product into Europe. | 0:15:04 | 0:15:06 | |
Even if, say, tariffs were introduced later down the line? | 0:15:06 | 0:15:09 | |
Later down the line, that's something, a hurdle we'll have to | 0:15:09 | 0:15:12 | |
cross, but I think the quality of the goods | 0:15:12 | 0:15:15 | |
coming from Northern Ireland... That the European market | 0:15:15 | 0:15:18 | |
will still want our products. We've looked further afield. | 0:15:18 | 0:15:20 | |
We've looked at markets in China and in Hong Kong and the Asian market | 0:15:20 | 0:15:25 | |
as well. So it has given us a prompt to go further afield as well. | 0:15:25 | 0:15:29 | |
A lot of people in food production are really panicked about Brexit | 0:15:29 | 0:15:33 | |
because they rely on seasonal workers and a lot of staff, | 0:15:33 | 0:15:37 | |
especially from Eastern Europe. | 0:15:37 | 0:15:38 | |
Are you going to face that problem here? | 0:15:38 | 0:15:41 | |
I don't think we will. I think there is a future for local people, | 0:15:41 | 0:15:44 | |
that they see the industry building, | 0:15:44 | 0:15:46 | |
they see that there is a future and they're willing to invest now | 0:15:46 | 0:15:51 | |
and want to work again at the harbour. | 0:15:51 | 0:15:53 | |
They can see that there is a brighter future there. | 0:15:53 | 0:15:56 | |
'But it's not just a good deal from Europe which is needed. | 0:15:58 | 0:16:01 | |
'The harbour needs to physically expand if it's to make the most | 0:16:01 | 0:16:05 | |
'of any benefits Brexit might bring.' | 0:16:05 | 0:16:07 | |
Well, the Endurance is part of the local fleet in Kilkeel | 0:16:09 | 0:16:12 | |
and the Endurance is undergoing a significant modernisation | 0:16:12 | 0:16:16 | |
and refurbishment and behind me is a new ship that's been built | 0:16:16 | 0:16:20 | |
for the Irish Republic and it is one of the great success stories | 0:16:20 | 0:16:24 | |
about Kilkeel, that we're building boats, | 0:16:24 | 0:16:26 | |
not just for the local fleet, | 0:16:26 | 0:16:28 | |
but we're exporting them all over Europe. | 0:16:28 | 0:16:30 | |
Do you have the capacity to build all the boats | 0:16:30 | 0:16:32 | |
that you need to build? | 0:16:32 | 0:16:33 | |
If you're getting orders in from the south and from Europe and from...? | 0:16:33 | 0:16:36 | |
Well, this yard has actually outgrown itself and the problem | 0:16:36 | 0:16:40 | |
that we have is there is not enough capacity in Kilkeel for all the work | 0:16:40 | 0:16:44 | |
that we could handle. In fact, the marine engineers tell me | 0:16:44 | 0:16:47 | |
that about 50% of the inquiries that they get, | 0:16:47 | 0:16:51 | |
that's work that they have to turn away. | 0:16:51 | 0:16:53 | |
-Sorry, 50% of the work... -50%. -The prospective work when people come | 0:16:53 | 0:16:58 | |
to ask engineers from Kilkeel to work, you have to say, | 0:16:58 | 0:17:01 | |
"No, I'm sorry, we don't have the room"? | 0:17:01 | 0:17:03 | |
You look at geographical position of Kilkeel in terms of the east coast | 0:17:03 | 0:17:06 | |
of Ireland, we're right in the middle, so therefore, | 0:17:06 | 0:17:08 | |
you can attract trade from the north and you can attract trade from the | 0:17:08 | 0:17:10 | |
south and attract trade from the east too because we've got a boat | 0:17:10 | 0:17:15 | |
here today from Fleetwood. | 0:17:15 | 0:17:17 | |
And the reason they come here is because we've got the facilities, | 0:17:17 | 0:17:20 | |
we've got the engineers who have the expertise and everything else. | 0:17:20 | 0:17:23 | |
So Kilkeel is a real hub, it's a real maritime hub, | 0:17:23 | 0:17:26 | |
it's a real fishing hub, | 0:17:26 | 0:17:27 | |
but the problem we have now is we don't have the capacity in Kilkeel, | 0:17:27 | 0:17:30 | |
we don't have the infrastructure in order to handle all the enquiries | 0:17:30 | 0:17:33 | |
and all the work that we could be doing and when you're in a situation | 0:17:33 | 0:17:37 | |
where here in Kilkeel we've got three of the largest fishing vessels | 0:17:37 | 0:17:40 | |
in the European fleet that are too big to get into this harbour | 0:17:40 | 0:17:44 | |
and have to base themselves in other parts of the United Kingdom, | 0:17:44 | 0:17:48 | |
there's so much lost opportunity to Kilkeel, | 0:17:48 | 0:17:51 | |
to County Down and the Northern Ireland economy. | 0:17:51 | 0:17:53 | |
That's amazing that you've got boats from Kilkeel which are too big | 0:17:53 | 0:17:57 | |
to actually get into your harbour here? | 0:17:57 | 0:18:00 | |
Absolutely. We have a new ship being built at the moment. | 0:18:00 | 0:18:02 | |
It is called the Voyager. It's owned by a local family. | 0:18:02 | 0:18:04 | |
It's crewed by a local family. | 0:18:04 | 0:18:06 | |
It is 100% private investment, | 0:18:06 | 0:18:08 | |
but that ship is traditionally based on Shetland because there is no | 0:18:08 | 0:18:12 | |
infrastructure in Northern Ireland to bring that ship in to. | 0:18:12 | 0:18:15 | |
-Hiya. -Hello, there. | 0:18:15 | 0:18:17 | |
'But the ships that do land their catch here, | 0:18:17 | 0:18:19 | |
'a lot is riding on the Brexit negotiations.' | 0:18:19 | 0:18:22 | |
So what are you fishing for on this boat? | 0:18:22 | 0:18:25 | |
Mostly prawns. | 0:18:25 | 0:18:26 | |
Nearly all year round, we're targeting prawns. | 0:18:26 | 0:18:29 | |
And you're about to go out again. | 0:18:29 | 0:18:31 | |
-Where are you off to now? -We're going to head south again, | 0:18:31 | 0:18:33 | |
back down to the Celtic sea. It takes us about 20 hours. | 0:18:33 | 0:18:37 | |
Steaming to get there. | 0:18:37 | 0:18:39 | |
I take it you were pro-Brexit yourself? | 0:18:39 | 0:18:41 | |
Yes, definitely. | 0:18:41 | 0:18:43 | |
What are you hoping for going forward? | 0:18:43 | 0:18:46 | |
Instead of being governed by Brussels - | 0:18:46 | 0:18:48 | |
Brussels tell us what we can catch, you know, when we can catch it, | 0:18:48 | 0:18:52 | |
you know, where we can fish, and I want us to take control, | 0:18:52 | 0:18:57 | |
stop a lot of the European boats coming in and over-fishing | 0:18:57 | 0:19:01 | |
our areas, certain areas. | 0:19:01 | 0:19:04 | |
Big super trawlers and, you know... | 0:19:04 | 0:19:06 | |
But mainly, I hope that... | 0:19:08 | 0:19:10 | |
..we can start looking after our industry ourselves. | 0:19:12 | 0:19:15 | |
When they sign Article 50, hopefully they don't sell us down the river. | 0:19:15 | 0:19:18 | |
-That's the fear, isn't it? -That is our fear. | 0:19:18 | 0:19:22 | |
They use us as a bargaining chip to keep some other things in Europe, | 0:19:22 | 0:19:26 | |
you know, for whatever reasons, but that is one of our biggest fears. | 0:19:26 | 0:19:30 | |
What fishermen here in Kilkeel and County Down want is absolutely | 0:19:31 | 0:19:34 | |
a fair share of the opportunities that are within UK waters. | 0:19:34 | 0:19:38 | |
But when a fisherman in County Down is asked on annual basis | 0:19:38 | 0:19:42 | |
to give up quota, | 0:19:42 | 0:19:43 | |
to give up the quota that the scientists have recommended, | 0:19:43 | 0:19:46 | |
that should be given away to their colleagues in the Irish Republic, | 0:19:46 | 0:19:49 | |
that's an EU rule. The deal needs to be fairer. | 0:19:49 | 0:19:53 | |
And when 75% of the waters in the Irish Sea are under the UK's | 0:19:53 | 0:19:58 | |
jurisdiction, you tell me, | 0:19:58 | 0:20:00 | |
is it fair that County Down fishermen should have around 40% | 0:20:00 | 0:20:03 | |
of the catches in the Irish Sea? I don't think so. | 0:20:03 | 0:20:05 | |
So what's the future for this harbour? | 0:20:05 | 0:20:08 | |
Well, the future for the fishing industry in County Down | 0:20:08 | 0:20:11 | |
and specifically Kilkeel is bright. | 0:20:11 | 0:20:14 | |
As I walk out round the quay in Kilkeel and I talk to fishermen, | 0:20:14 | 0:20:18 | |
those guys are saying to me, | 0:20:18 | 0:20:19 | |
"There's a future and we're investing in the future." | 0:20:19 | 0:20:22 | |
We're investing in the future for ourselves and we're investing in the | 0:20:22 | 0:20:25 | |
future for our children. So all the signs are positive. | 0:20:25 | 0:20:29 | |
'Not only could fishing in Kilkeel continue to grow, | 0:20:30 | 0:20:34 | |
'but it could bolster the entire local economy. | 0:20:34 | 0:20:36 | |
'So will the gamble to leave Europe pay off? | 0:20:36 | 0:20:39 | |
'Only time will tell.' | 0:20:39 | 0:20:41 | |
Trout are now common in our rivers and lakes, | 0:20:45 | 0:20:48 | |
but because of declining numbers in the past, | 0:20:48 | 0:20:51 | |
some still need a little help. | 0:20:51 | 0:20:53 | |
I've been to the Ballinderry River to find out | 0:20:53 | 0:20:55 | |
how a healthy trout population benefits the river's ecology. | 0:20:55 | 0:20:59 | |
'The Ballinderry River and surrounding area support | 0:21:08 | 0:21:11 | |
'an abundance of wildlife, | 0:21:11 | 0:21:13 | |
'but this river catchment has suffered from pollution. | 0:21:13 | 0:21:16 | |
'Worryingly, low levels of fish stocks in the 1980s | 0:21:16 | 0:21:20 | |
'prompted the establishment of the Ballinderry Rivers Trust | 0:21:20 | 0:21:23 | |
'who've made it their mission | 0:21:23 | 0:21:25 | |
'to keep this river system clean and healthy.' | 0:21:25 | 0:21:28 | |
Well, Mark, you're fully kitted out, complete with shades. | 0:21:28 | 0:21:32 | |
Tell us about some of the work you're doing today. | 0:21:32 | 0:21:35 | |
OK, so what we're doing today is electro-fishing and the reason we're | 0:21:35 | 0:21:38 | |
doing this is to catch larger fish to bring back our hatchery | 0:21:38 | 0:21:42 | |
so we can take the eggs from them | 0:21:42 | 0:21:44 | |
and grow those eggs on in the hatchery so we can breed fish | 0:21:44 | 0:21:48 | |
to put back into the river again. | 0:21:48 | 0:21:49 | |
And the shades so you can see rather than look cool? | 0:21:49 | 0:21:52 | |
They're not just to make me look cool, no! | 0:21:52 | 0:21:54 | |
The shades help me to see through the water. | 0:21:54 | 0:21:57 | |
So at this time of year when we're looking for these fish, | 0:21:57 | 0:22:01 | |
the sun is very low in the sky... | 0:22:01 | 0:22:02 | |
..and it reflects on the water. | 0:22:03 | 0:22:05 | |
It's quite hard to see the fish and these help me to see right | 0:22:05 | 0:22:07 | |
to the bed of the river. | 0:22:07 | 0:22:09 | |
I didn't pay a lot of attention at school, | 0:22:09 | 0:22:11 | |
but I'm pretty sure electricity and water doesn't really go too well | 0:22:11 | 0:22:14 | |
-together? -Well, you learnt the important lesson, then. | 0:22:14 | 0:22:17 | |
You shouldn't mix electricity with water! | 0:22:17 | 0:22:20 | |
Nobody should really try this at home. | 0:22:20 | 0:22:22 | |
But it is the standard method that is used across Europe and the world | 0:22:22 | 0:22:27 | |
and essentially what we're doing here is just putting a very small | 0:22:27 | 0:22:30 | |
electrical current - just enough to attract the fish towards this lance | 0:22:30 | 0:22:35 | |
that I have in the water. | 0:22:35 | 0:22:37 | |
What kind of fish are we expecting to see today? | 0:22:37 | 0:22:39 | |
We're looking here for Dollaghan trout | 0:22:39 | 0:22:42 | |
and Dollaghan trout are unique to the Lough Neagh basin. | 0:22:42 | 0:22:47 | |
So they are born in the rivers here, in the Ballinderry | 0:22:47 | 0:22:52 | |
and all the other rivers around Lough Neagh | 0:22:52 | 0:22:54 | |
and at two years of age | 0:22:54 | 0:22:56 | |
they go to the lough. | 0:22:56 | 0:22:58 | |
-Here's fish now. -There we go. | 0:22:58 | 0:22:59 | |
-So we're starting to... -Oh, that's a biggie. -Yeah. | 0:22:59 | 0:23:02 | |
Well done. | 0:23:04 | 0:23:06 | |
Good recovery. What's that? | 0:23:06 | 0:23:08 | |
'It's not long before more fish are drawn towards us.' | 0:23:08 | 0:23:12 | |
There is your fish there. | 0:23:12 | 0:23:14 | |
-There we go. -Lift him up. Brilliant. | 0:23:14 | 0:23:16 | |
-Well done. -Jackpot. | 0:23:16 | 0:23:18 | |
Here, here, here. | 0:23:18 | 0:23:19 | |
Oh, that's a biggie. | 0:23:19 | 0:23:21 | |
-That's it. Lift him up. -Ooh, he is big. | 0:23:21 | 0:23:24 | |
There we go. | 0:23:26 | 0:23:28 | |
Mouth open. Get him out of the water. | 0:23:28 | 0:23:30 | |
There we go. A few leaves in there for good measure. | 0:23:33 | 0:23:36 | |
You're doing well. We're doing well. | 0:23:36 | 0:23:38 | |
There's actually a good number of young fish in here that we're seeing | 0:23:40 | 0:23:44 | |
-as we go, which is a good sign. -Yeah, that's encouraging for you. | 0:23:44 | 0:23:47 | |
Yeah, because it means that fish that were hatched out of their eggs | 0:23:47 | 0:23:52 | |
in March of this year or in fact even March of the previous year | 0:23:52 | 0:23:56 | |
are still here living in this section of the river. | 0:23:56 | 0:23:59 | |
Now, that one has got away. | 0:23:59 | 0:24:00 | |
That's OK. | 0:24:00 | 0:24:01 | |
-It's nice to let one or two away. -Yeah. | 0:24:03 | 0:24:05 | |
We're not trying to take all the fish out of this section of river | 0:24:05 | 0:24:08 | |
because we obviously want some fish to spawn here. | 0:24:08 | 0:24:11 | |
That doesn't make me feel as bad now! | 0:24:11 | 0:24:13 | |
-That's what we're looking for. -It is, yeah. | 0:24:13 | 0:24:16 | |
'Well, it has been a pretty successful day out on the river. | 0:24:16 | 0:24:19 | |
'Time to get these guys back into the hatchery.' | 0:24:19 | 0:24:22 | |
I think that's a fantastic-looking fish. | 0:24:23 | 0:24:25 | |
And hopefully she'll give us plenty of eggs | 0:24:25 | 0:24:27 | |
to put down in the hatchery here. | 0:24:27 | 0:24:28 | |
'Frank Mitchell has 20 years' experience in this hatchery | 0:24:28 | 0:24:32 | |
'and is going to show me how it's done.' | 0:24:32 | 0:24:34 | |
And if she's just right, the skin should be loose here | 0:24:34 | 0:24:37 | |
and the eggs are all lying in the cavity of the fish here. | 0:24:37 | 0:24:40 | |
If we just add a nice piece of pressure and the fish settles down, | 0:24:40 | 0:24:46 | |
hopefully we should be fit to take the eggs from the fish. | 0:24:46 | 0:24:50 | |
Now you can see the eggs come from the fish. | 0:24:50 | 0:24:54 | |
I'm no expert, but that looks good. | 0:24:54 | 0:24:55 | |
Yeah. | 0:24:55 | 0:24:57 | |
I suppose it has been a few years of practice to get this skill. | 0:24:57 | 0:25:02 | |
And you try to do it without harming the fish. | 0:25:02 | 0:25:05 | |
Essentially the cell wall of the egg has to open | 0:25:06 | 0:25:09 | |
to allow the milt in and then we gently agitate the eggs... | 0:25:09 | 0:25:14 | |
..so they all become fertilised. | 0:25:15 | 0:25:17 | |
Are they getting lighter or it just me? | 0:25:17 | 0:25:19 | |
Yeah, you can see them getting lighter because they're getting | 0:25:19 | 0:25:22 | |
fertilised so they're actually starting to change colour. | 0:25:22 | 0:25:25 | |
Going kind of from red to orange? | 0:25:25 | 0:25:27 | |
It literally does happen in front of your eyes. | 0:25:27 | 0:25:29 | |
'Breeding in the hatchery increases the chances of success | 0:25:29 | 0:25:32 | |
'by an incredible 90% and a healthy fish population | 0:25:32 | 0:25:36 | |
'has a knock-on effect on the whole ecosystem.' | 0:25:36 | 0:25:39 | |
So, these are freshwater pearl mussels | 0:25:39 | 0:25:42 | |
and this is a globally endangered species. | 0:25:42 | 0:25:45 | |
The freshwater pearl mussel is now only found in five rivers | 0:25:45 | 0:25:49 | |
in Northern Ireland and the Ballinderry is one of them. | 0:25:49 | 0:25:52 | |
Historically, we would have had hundreds of thousands, | 0:25:52 | 0:25:56 | |
if not millions of them in our rivers | 0:25:56 | 0:25:58 | |
and we're now down to the last few thousand | 0:25:58 | 0:26:00 | |
in each of those five rivers. | 0:26:00 | 0:26:02 | |
But they are an unusual creature because they need fish to survive. | 0:26:02 | 0:26:07 | |
So the males and the females are sitting here in this tank | 0:26:07 | 0:26:12 | |
and the male releases sperm into the water which is taken in | 0:26:12 | 0:26:16 | |
by the female and they're fertilised and then the female releases | 0:26:16 | 0:26:22 | |
microscopic mussels into the water. | 0:26:22 | 0:26:24 | |
It's at that point those microscopic mussels have to attach to the | 0:26:24 | 0:26:28 | |
gills of a fish and in our river it is trout they attach to. | 0:26:28 | 0:26:31 | |
So the big picture becomes clear. | 0:26:31 | 0:26:34 | |
Yeah, absolutely. | 0:26:34 | 0:26:35 | |
So if you don't have very good numbers of fish in the river, | 0:26:35 | 0:26:38 | |
these guys haven't got a hope at all. | 0:26:38 | 0:26:40 | |
So by redressing the balance of fish in the river, | 0:26:40 | 0:26:43 | |
we're also helping to preserve these mussels | 0:26:43 | 0:26:45 | |
and save them from extinction. | 0:26:45 | 0:26:47 | |
And then we've put those fish carrying their precious cargo | 0:26:47 | 0:26:51 | |
out into the Ballinderry River to drop them on the bed of the river | 0:26:51 | 0:26:54 | |
as it would have happened naturally. | 0:26:54 | 0:26:55 | |
So what's the future looking like for the pearl mussel? | 0:26:55 | 0:26:58 | |
Well, the future for the pearl mussel in the Ballinderry | 0:26:58 | 0:27:01 | |
at least is looking a bit brighter now | 0:27:01 | 0:27:03 | |
because of the work we've been doing here. | 0:27:03 | 0:27:05 | |
We've been able to release freshwater pearl mussel | 0:27:05 | 0:27:08 | |
back to the river and we're just about to start | 0:27:08 | 0:27:10 | |
a major reintroduction programme. | 0:27:10 | 0:27:12 | |
'It's the end of the day and this is what it's all about - | 0:27:14 | 0:27:18 | |
'releasing these endangered mussels back into the river.' | 0:27:18 | 0:27:21 | |
-What's the technique to pop them in? -So it's not complicated, | 0:27:23 | 0:27:25 | |
you'll be glad to hear! | 0:27:25 | 0:27:27 | |
We have to make sure that we get it the right way round. | 0:27:27 | 0:27:29 | |
So this is the bottom of the mussel here where the hinge | 0:27:29 | 0:27:32 | |
is at the lowest place and then we put it facing upstream | 0:27:32 | 0:27:36 | |
into the flow of water. | 0:27:36 | 0:27:37 | |
So those mussels, believe it or not, do wiggle around in the gravel | 0:27:37 | 0:27:41 | |
and they allow oxygenated water to get to the fish eggs | 0:27:41 | 0:27:43 | |
and so very often where there's lots of mussels, | 0:27:43 | 0:27:46 | |
more trout would survive as well. | 0:27:46 | 0:27:48 | |
It is a really close relationship the two have. | 0:27:48 | 0:27:50 | |
Are these the days when you really feel your work is really worthwhile? | 0:27:50 | 0:27:54 | |
Absolutely. Yeah, yeah. | 0:27:54 | 0:27:56 | |
It's great when you can come out, get away from the computer, | 0:27:56 | 0:27:59 | |
come out to the river and this is making a real difference | 0:27:59 | 0:28:01 | |
to the conservation of a globally endangered species. | 0:28:01 | 0:28:04 | |
Not just for those mussels, | 0:28:04 | 0:28:06 | |
but for all the people that live in this river system as well. | 0:28:06 | 0:28:09 | |
That's all for this episode of Home Ground. | 0:28:11 | 0:28:13 | |
Join us at the same time next week. | 0:28:13 | 0:28:15 | |
-We'll see you, then. -Bye-bye. | 0:28:15 | 0:28:17 |