Concern over health of fish at aquarium

A FAMILY who visited Lahinch Seaworld recently have expressed concern at the health of some sea life in the aquarium.

 

Jillian Concannon, who visited the facility on Tuesday, August 28, with her four children and her father, Jim Lyons, has since written to Lahinch Seaworld outlining her concerns.

“As someone with a background and qualifications in aquaculture, I found the health of quite a number of your fish to be well below my expectations for a well-run aquarium,” Mrs Concannon said in her email to the Lahinch attraction.

“Quite a number had signs of fin wear and/or fungal rot, gill damage, lack of oxygen and sea lice on them. The sea bass were rubbing themselves on the sand due to the irritation from these sea lice. My father, who works in the aquaculture industry still, also commented that he felt the fish were under stress,” the email added.

Mrs Concannon has a certificate in aquaculture, a diploma in aquatic science and a degree in environmental science. She has also worked in the industry, while Mr Lyons is an aquaculturalist with a background in marine science. He has dealt with fish and shellfish for 20 years working in Sealyons, the family business in Carrigaholt.

“The skate, turbot and ray were all showing signs of stress, with tail fins nipped and gills damaged. I have never seen fish in that state in any aquarium I’ve ever been to,” Mr Lyons told The Clare Champion.

“I’ve been there every year for 15 years. This is the worst I’ve ever seen it. I would be quite well aware of how to look for the signs of healthy fish and shellfish. I saw no sign of healthy fish there,” he added.

While Lahinch Seaworld general manager Ian Taylor refused to comment when contacted by The Clare Champion, he had earlier emailed a detailed reply to Mrs Concannon.

“While some of our coalface pollock do have small cases of fin rot, they are being treated with Melafix and are recovering. We do have one turbot that had his gill operculum ripped many years ago. I can assure you we don’t have any issues with sea lice in this facility as all water is routinely tested, buffered and changed through sand filters and UV sterilisation units to prevent lice from being an issue,” Mr Taylor’s reply stated.

Mrs Concannon was also unhappy that painting was underway in the aquarium during the visit.

“The smell was overpowering and not pleasant and the wet paint on all the tanks/displays meant that my small kids couldn’t get near to any of the tanks to see the fish properly. I had to constantly hold on to my 20-month-old, who wanted to get in close to see the fish and, of course, the excited four-year-olds wanted to get near too. I have to say, I thought painting inside, during the day, during August, while children were still on school holidays seems like a ridiculous idea.

“I was also disappointed to find that a few displays were empty and the lights on the last five tanks before we exited the building (turtles, cuttlefish) were turned off so we could not see into them. The lobster cultivation project was gone, although the signs about it were still there,” she said.

However, Mr Taylor said Lahinch Seaworld could not avoid painting the aquarium that week.

“We have a zoo licence inspection this week and had to leave painting to the last minute. This was the only week that would least affect customers in the aquarium. In terms of the lobster display, we had some serious damage in the winter of 2011 and had to close the aquarium for months to repair tanks, pumps and systems and we are looking to bring this back to the public but we do not have the funds in place to do it at present.

“Our aquarium supervisor is working hard to move the aquarium forward. He is working on a corporate/school tank sponsorship programme, which we hope will generate yearly sponsorship and development of the aquarium,” the general manager explained.

“We have received a €50,000 grant in 2011 and €349,000 in 2012 that will go into energy efficiency and attack the massive energy bills that have crippled change and development of the facilities over the past five years, stopping Seaworld from offering a better product.

“We hope the work being undertaken here this year will make a difference to the offering and customer experience will be much improved,” Mr Taylor said.