€60m salmon farm proposal in deep water

A PROPOSED €60 million deep-sea organic salmon farm, sited at two locations between Doolin and the Aran Islands, could generate as much waste as a large town, with material ending up on beaches and harbours.

 

This is one of the most serious claims raised by opponents to the project spearheaded by Bord Iascaigh Mhara (BIM), which would produce up to 15,000 tonnes of salmon a year. The Irish seafood development agency, with funding from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, has applied for a licence for the development in Galway Bay, which, it says, could create 500 jobs in the area and generate a wage flow of €14.5m per annum.

Already 21 financiers, spanning three continents, have registered firm interest in the project, while BIM has rejected some opponents’ claims as “ill-informed and inaccurate”.

Environmental groups, angling organisations and local anglers have pledged to join a group of demonstrators, who will hand in a protest letter outlining their opposition, following a demonstration outside the constituency office of Fisheries’ Minister Simon Coveney this Saturday.

In addition, 10 different organisations, including angling and environmental groups, are backing a national boycott of farmed smoked salmon for Christmas in protest against the expansion of salmon farming along the Irish coast.

“The public does not realise that countless scientific papers have shown without a doubt that salmon farming in the current locations in Ireland will decimate our own wild fish stocks and pollute our bays. Battery operations like this on land would have their waste strictly controlled, not released into the open. Salmon farming must be done in contained units that protect the environment and create a barrier to infections and parasites,” Wildfish.ie said in a statement on Wednesday.

The proposed site is 1.7km from the nearest landmass, much further out to sea than conventional fish farms, while its overall size, at 456 hectares spread over two sites, is also much larger than usual. The footprint of the farm enclosures is significantly smaller. The enclosures, including all moorings and anchors, would occupy a maximum area of 180 hectares and what would be visible on the surface would cover only 36 hectares or 8% of the total area.

According to BIM, they mapped out such a large area in order to minimise environmental impact and create optimal conditions for fish welfare. Conventional farms allow for about 95% water to 5% fish but BIM’s licence requires the operator to maintain a ratio of 99% water to 1% fish, to meet strict organic conditions.

Jason Whooley, BIM’s chief executive officer, highlighted the impressive market growth figures for farmed salmon around the globe.

“In a time of world recession, there are few products that can boast the market growth that farmed salmon is experiencing. The figures have shown a steady upward curve since 1997 and, according to the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the UN, this growth curve is likely to stay as world population increases.

“The latest figures [2011] show that the market growth for farmed salmon in the EU grew by 120,000 tonnes, an increase of 15%; the US market grew by 62,000 tonnes and the Russian market alone demanded an additional 36,000 tonnes.

“I can’t think of any other food product showing such consumer demand in these difficult economic times. This is a really exciting opportunity for Ireland, who already holds the position as ‘world leader’ in organic farmed salmon,” Mr Whooley explained.

“Investors from around the world are enquiring as to how soon we can progress this project,” he said.

“On the other side, we are receiving calls on a regular basis from people seeking employment on the proposed farm, many of them emigrants wanting to return home. This is an invaluable opportunity to create much-needed jobs and wealth around our coast.”

There will be a public tender process for the operation of the farm, leaving the licence itself in the hands of the State.

“The experience which can be drawn from the private sector, allied to BIM’s expertise in this area, gives rise to confidence that the Galway Bay project has the potential to become one of the most exciting developments in the sector for many years,” he emphasised.

Mr Whooley said that based on existing job creation in the salmon farming industry and specific modelling from job creation in Ireland, the proposed development, when running at full capacity, most likely by year four, would create 350 jobs directly, rearing the juvenile fish, working on the farm at sea and the packing and processing of the salmon as they come ashore and are transported to market.

“A further 150 jobs would be created indirectly in the service sector, including the supply of fish feed, netting, transportation and a range of other services to the proposed unit,” he added.
However, according to Mulkear angling representative, Eddie Corry, anglers are very concerned the fish farm would decimate wild salmon stocks, following scientific evidence showing sea lice kills about 39% of wild salmon.

Mr Corry said when salmon smolts return to the sea from Clare rivers, they would be attacked by sea lice, which was cited as one of the key factors in their dramatic reduction in numbers.

In addition to expressing concern about the amount of pesticides, chemicals and anti-bacterial food used in fish farms, he warned farmed salmon escapees, as a result of attacks by seals and damage by storms, would cause significant damage to wild salmon stocks.

“We have to ask, where will all the sanitisation from the fish farms go after it ends up in the sea? It will finish up on beaches and harbours. The BIM employment figures don’t stack up. The Irish fish farm industry needs 130 people to produce 10,000 tonnes of fish, so 200 direct jobs, at best, would be needed for 15,000 tonnes,” he said.

Angler Patsy Perrill claimed the fish farm could generate as much waste as a large town. “Who will regulate what is produced and decide whether it is organic salmon? There is no regulator for the organic label, which is unenforceable. Salmon angling is at risk of being destroyed. An operator from outside the country could end up running the farm, so the number of Irish jobs being created is questionable.”

Addressing the claims, BIM aquaculture development manager, Donal Maguire said, “BIM’s employment figures are rock solid. We are very confident there will not be any negative impact on wild salmon smolts and sea trout. According to the Irish Marine Institute, the impact of sea lice is a minor and irregular component of outwardly migrating salmon smolts.

“Norway produces 1.2 million tonnes of farmed salmon and it still has a thriving sport angling industry. Claims about the waste produced by fish farms are spurious. Fish are cold-blooded creatures whose digestive systems are totally different than humans and don’t produce harmful organisms, such as e-coli or cryptosporidium. As long as too many fish aren’t put in the one place, the marine environment is well able to cope with fish waste,” he said.

Well-known North Clare business man Eugene Garrihy of Doolin2Aran ferries expressed his concerns about the impact of a fish farm of this scale on tourism in the area.

“We have looked at the proposal and we have considered it. We have spoken to quite a few people about it. My brother, Joe, went to a meeting about it and certainly from all of the feedback and discussions we have had on it locally, there is blanket disapproval of it. This is not just from people in the tourism industry but also from people in fishing across the bay.

“We would not be in favour of it at all and anyone that is related in any way to tourism should be very fearful of such a major environmental development. And it is an environmental development because it will have a huge visual impact on the beautiful bay and the dangers of pollution to our beautiful beaches. While they [BIM] are looking at Galway Bay as a sheltered area, it can be very scenic but it is not always calm. The pollution aspect of this is our biggest fear, as is the possible contamination of other fish stocks,” he commented.