Marine Environment & Food Safety Services (MEFS) provides essential scientific advice and a range of marine environmental monitoring services to help ensure Irish seafood products meet approved standards.
The Fish Health Team works with the marine food industry to protect the health status of Irish farmed salmon, trout and shellfish.
Food Safety Monitoring ensures that Irish marine fish, shellfish and seafood products remain safe from elevated levels of residues and contaminants. This monitoring complies with a range of EU Directives as well as with national requirements.
The Marine Institute runs a national Harmful Algal Bloom (HABS) monitoring service that warns producers and consumers of concentrations of toxic plankton in Irish coastal waters that could contaminate shellfish or cause fish deaths.
Environmental Monitoring is designed to assess levels, distribution and trends of man-made contaminants and naturally occurring biotoxins. Pollution may adversely affect the health of our seas and ultimately limit our ability, or that of future generations, to use the seas as a sustainable resource.
MEFS staff are active in a wide range of national and international environmental research & development projects and initiatives.
Marine Environment & Food Safety Services is headed up by Mr. John Evans.