Retirement and forum shutdown (17 Jan 2022)
Hi,
John Howell who has managed the forum for years is getting on and wishes to retire from the role of managing it.
Over the years, he has managed the forum through good days and bad days and he has always been fair.
He has managed to bring his passion for fish keeping to the forum and keep it going for so long.
I wish to thank John for his hard work in keeping the forum going.
With John wishing to "retire" from the role of managing the forum and the forum receiving very little traffic, I think we must agree that forum has come to a natural conclusion and it's time to put it to rest.
I am proposing that the forum be made read-only from March 2022 onwards and that no new users or content be created. The website is still registered for several more years, so the content will still be accessible but no new topics or replies will be allowed.
If there is interest from the ITFS or other fish keeping clubs, we may redirect traffic to them or to a Facebook group but will not actively manage it.
I'd like to thank everyone over the years who helped with forum, posted a reply, started a new topic, ask a question and helped a newbie in fish keeping. And thank you to the sponsors who helped us along the away. Hopefully it made the hobby stronger.
I'd especially like to thank John Howell and Valerie Rousseau for all of their contributions, without them the forum would have never been has successful.
Thank you
Darragh Sherwin
Green Algae in Brittany, France
There seems to be a huge amount of Ulva Armoricana & Rotundata landing on the beaches and this presents a major risk to people and population.
Nitrogen used on land (fertilisers & manure spreading) transforms itself into nitrates and is rejected in the sea through the streams and rivers. Combined with the shallow sea and clear waters of Brittany, it encourages the growth of this green algae in the warmer months of the year. And so much that masses of it get stranded.
Once on the beaches , it decomposes and starts producing Hydrogen Sulfide (H2S). The latter, when escaping, can cause irritation (eyes, breathing), neurological symptoms and death. The latest incident was the death of 36 wild boars on the beach last month ; horses and dogs have been reported dead too. A couple of years ago, a horse rider had to be dragged unconscious away from a patch after his mount collapsed and died … A man involved in its removal was killed too by the emanations. Scary !!!!
At a great financial cost, the French authorities are removing some of it (61,000 m3 last year !!!) and closing to the public patches of shores that have been ‘invaded’. Some efforts are being made to limit the nitrogen fertilisation/spreading on land but …
I just hope we will never have this problem in Ireland !
Valerie
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