Concern over scale of proposed salmon farm

THE organisation responsible for the conservation of wild salmon has expressed “very significant concern” about the scale of a proposed deep-sea salmon farm off the North Clare coast.

Inland Fisheries Ireland’s (IFI) submission on the proposed project notes that the fish farm “provides for a greater production tonnage of salmon at this one location than is currently being produced nationally”.

Bord Iascaigh Mhara (BIM) is applying for a license to facilitate the development of a deep-sea salmon farm in Galway Bay at two sites north-east of Inis Oirr. The proposed farm will have two identical units at a northern and southern site and will be able to produce 15,000 tonnes of organic-certified salmon each year.

According to BIM, should the application be successful, “this output will be carefully and incrementally built up over a six-year period, bringing with it over 500 new jobs”.

IFI claims that the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) “does not address the potential for [escaped fish] to enter, in significant numbers, into freshwater catchments”. It recommends that the EIS address this.
IFI states the number of juvenile fish required is likely to result in the importation of smolts from the UK. This, it says, “would greatly increase the chance of introduction of invasive species from water used in transportation”.

It claims the EIS does not sufficiently address the issue of invasive species or bio-security measures and calls for “careful monitoring of water and wet gear and equipment involved in transportation”.

IFI says the project should have a significantly lower smolt input initially and it should be built up gradually, only after rigorous review and consent processes. It adds that any “intensification should be treated as a totally separate application, with all of the associated statutory consultations and reviews. This would allow an assessment of any impact of the salmon farm on the environment, flora and fauna and allow mitigation measures to be developed in a more sustainable manner. In this specific situation, IFI believe that the maximum tonnage should be significantly reduced.”

It advised that “smolt input should be restricted to March only, rather than the option to stock in November for a number of reasons which have less potential to negatively impact on wild salmonids”.

IFI also stated that “a survey to identify the migration route of salmon smolts through Galway Bay is required to adequately fulfill the requirements of this Environmental Impact Statement”.

The IFI states it has “been approached by stakeholders, including angling representative bodies, who have not been included as part of this EIS consultation process. IFI would recommend that for the purposes of transparency, and to encourage wider support for this application, that the EIS documentation be made available to all stakeholders and feedback solicited.”

IFI concluded that the “present proposal does have the potential to pose a risk to wild salmonid stocks in the vicinity of Galway Bay”.

Meanwhile, a group of local residents and inshore fishermen living on Inis Oirr have described the proposed fish farm as “the biggest septic tank in Europe”.

Peadar Ó Conghaile, Ruairí Ó Cualáin and Mícheál Ó Catháin contacted The Clare Champion this week stating that they “firmly believe it will have a detrimental effect on inshore fishing, angling, the environment and tourism on the Aran Islands and in Galway Bay”.

The group said they believe a smaller project than this one has had a “significant negative impact on sea urchin, periwinkle and other species, as well as rendering mackerel and pollock stocks inedible,” adding that they “cannot allow this to happen again”.

The men argued that the economic benefit of visitors to the Aran Islands on counties Galway, Clare and Mayo “is incalculable”.

“Are we to let the sun set for the last time on Galway Bay? This, in our opinion, will be the consequence of locating the biggest septic tank in Europe here. Millions of euro have been spent on the Mutton Island project to clean up Galway Bay. Are we now to reverse this process?” they asked.

“The EIS shows that the massive Galway Bay fish farm will have a negative effect on these issues. BIM says that the effects will be minimal. We don’t believe this. The EIS estimates that the effluent will be carried out to sea through the North Sound. Therefore, other possible consequences are the pollution of beaches on all three Aran Islands, South Connemara and the west coast of Galway and County Clare,” they added.

The three men are now calling on the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Simon Coveney, “to prevent this environmental and economic disaster in Galway Bay by not granting the licence for this massive scale Galway Bay fish farm”.

BIM has stated that it selected the proposed location of the fish farm, “in the lee of the Aran Islands, after extensive testing and modelling. It is an optimal location as the water moves quickly enough to flush the site but is not so exposed as to threaten the safety of the people working on the farm.”

“High-energy sites on our exposed coastline produce water movement that means salmon on Irish farms are constantly swimming, which results in the high-quality, firm-fleshed product for which Ireland is known. The distance from land and location within an area already active with marine industry means that there will be no additional noise disruption. It was also important for us to choose a site that would not have a detrimental impact on shellfish or bathing waters and that was not in the way of actively used navigation routes.”

BIM’s CEO, Jason Whooley, said the seafood development agency is committed to full and transparent communications throughout the process and welcomed the beginning of the public consultation phase.

“The level of scientific research that has gone into identifying these potentially suitable locations in outer Galway Bay for deep-sea fish farming is unprecedented, bringing together research and modelling from some of the State’s most eminent marine scientists. We are confident that the very carefully chosen locations, matched with the rigorous monitoring that must accompany any salmon farm in Ireland, will enable the proposed development to run successfully and produce premium organic salmon, something that Ireland is world renowned for.”

BIM has projected that the 500 jobs “would be created both directly (350) and indirectly (150), creating a €14.5 million annual wages flow, mainly in the vicinity of the proposed farm. Irish organic farmed salmon is a premium product in Europe, commanding, on average, a 50% premium on farmed salmon produced elsewhere. This exceptional market position is a direct result of the strict standards that Ireland’s organic salmon farmers adhere to. The single biggest issue facing Irish salmon producers today is that they cannot fulfil the demand for their product.”

The public consultation period for the deep-sea fish farm officially began on Monday, October 15. Any member of the public may make observations or comments to the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine before midnight on December 12.