The New Skipper Fishing Website Gets a Complete Rebuild and is Now Live with Fishing News When and Where You Need It
Built by Fishermen, for Fishermen!
When Arthur Reynolds launched The Skipper in 1964 as the first monthly journal dedicated to the Irish commercial fishing industry, he set out to champion fishermen and their causes. He did that for four decades, building a publication that became the trusted voice of the catching sector across Ireland and the UK. When he retired, the title eventually passed in 2005 to Hugh Bonner — a third-generation Donegal fisherman who was already part of The Skipper team and who has been at its helm ever since. Sharon Boyle, who comes from a fishing community and has been a cornerstone of The Skipper for years, continues to drive the commercial side and keeps the Skipper Expos running — the industry’s biggest meeting point, its content updated constantly for visitors and exhibitors alike.
That continuity matters. The Skipper has always been run by people with salt water in their veins. The new website is no different.
The Skipper has completely rebuilt its website from the ground up — and the thinking behind it is simple: Built by Fishermen, for Fishermen.
New website is optimised for Mobile viewing at sea
Editor Niall Duffy designed and built the new site in-house over three months, with Publisher Hugh Bonner and Skipper graphic designer Paul Ewen lending support throughout. Both ex-fishermen, they knew it had to work on the bridge of the biggest pelagic trawler and on the phone of the man hauling pots in a 17-foot punt. It had to be as readable on a PC or Mac desktop as on an Android phone or an iPad. Every article ever published on the site had to be searchable — so if you need to find a story, a regulation, a vessel name or a species, you can find it in seconds.
That is what was built. theskipper.ie now delivers the same news, features and analysis that have been in the print magazine for 62 years — along with a set of practical tools built specifically for life on the water.
Everything That Is in the Mag
Every article, vessel feature, fisheries policy report and industry story that appears in the print edition is now on the site. If the magazine has not reached you yet, or you left it ashore, you can read it on your phone, tablet or laptop — same content, same coverage.
On top of that, the site carries breaking news and extended features that cannot wait for the monthly print deadline. When something happens in the industry, it goes online first.
Weather and Tides — Free, No Login Needed
New Weather Features and Tools to keep you informed
The new site carries a full set of live marine weather tools, free to every visitor:
- Wind and weather radar — live conditions updated in real time
- Tide calculator — high and low water times, lunar times and moon phase
- Five-day weather forecast — updated continuously
On mobile, a toolbar at the bottom of the screen puts wind, tides and forecast one tap away. No digging around the site when you need it quick.
Dark Mode for the Wheelhouse
A night mode toggle at the top of the page switches the site to a deep navy colour scheme that will not kill your night vision. The site remembers the setting so it stays dark next time you open it.
Nothing Changes for Our Readers — Everything Gets Better
If you have been visiting theskipper.ie for your fishing news, nothing changes. The site is free to visit and all news, features and articles remain free to read — same as always.
If you were a PageSuite digital edition subscriber, your subscription has moved with you to the new site. The full Skipper magazine is now available through a page-turning digital reader on theskipper.ie — the current issue and the previous 12 issues. Same price, better reading experience. You will receive your login details by email shortly. New digital subscriptions start at €30 a year.
The print edition is not going anywhere. The new website is not a replacement — it is a reflection of how digital has become part of all our daily routines, alongside the magazine that lands on the doormat every month.
Postal print subscriptions are available on the site now, with gift subscription options also available — ideal for anyone who wants to give a fisherman something they will actually use.
Subscription Options
Digital Edition — €30/year (less than 60 cent a week). The current issue and the previous 12 issues, on any device. Sign up at theskipper.ie/subscribe/
Skipper Subscriber — €49/year — coming soon (less than €1 a week). Full access to everything — the 60-plus year searchable archive, more detailed customisable weather tools, and every Phase 2 feature as it goes live. Full details announced shortly.
In the meantime — go and have a look at the new site at theskipper.ie. We would love to know what you think. Because it was built in-house, we can change it instantly to reflect what fishermen actually want. If something is missing — a boat mart, an EU regulations watcher, a notice board, whatever it might be — tell us and we will build it. Drop us a line at editorial@maramedia.ie. This site is yours as much as ours.
Coming in the Next Few Weeks — 60 Years of The Skipper, Fully Searchable
Within weeks, the new site will add something no other fishing industry publication in Ireland or the UK can offer — a fully searchable archive of every Skipper print edition published since 1964. Over 60 years of unbroken coverage. Every vessel, every quota dispute, every fisheries crisis, every new build, every port, every policy battle — all of it searchable in seconds.
For 62 years The Skipper has delivered trusted, honest, investigative journalism respected across the industry as the authoritative source for fishing news. That archive is a record of the industry itself. Available to subscribers — watch this space.
Also in development, subject to feasibility: daily fish auction prices from ports across Ireland, the UK and Europe, searchable by species.
Further down the road, subject to feasibility: a real-time fishing vessel monitoring page — who is fishing in what waters at any given time, filterable by country, fishing method or vessel class. A live picture of the European fishing fleet, built for the people who are part of it.
