Irish waters cover some 90 million hectares of our territory and contain great biological diversity. There are about 450 species of seaweed in Irish waters, a considerable portion of the 600 or so species reliably reported for Britain and Ireland. There is also a rich fauna, probably in excess of 3,000 species, which has been accurately listed only in selected areas. The greater Galway Bay area alone is home to as many as 1,500 species.
Some of the main marine organisms which offer scope to the biotechnology sector to produce novel products or which could be processed into high-value added products include:
- Marine fungi - fungi that occur on marine plants and/or animals, other organisms and the seabed;
- Marine bacteria - many of which cannot currently be cultured and are possibly new species;
- Marine unicellular organisms - including micro-algae.
- Marine flora including macro-algae (seaweeds) - brown, red and green, and sea grasses;
- Marine fauna, these include marine vertebrates and invertebrates - mammals, fish, shell fish, sponges, tunicates, cnidarians, etc..