Opposition mounts to super-sized fish farm in Galway Bay

Galway anglers came together at a meeting last Monday night in Claregalway to form Galway Against Fish Farms (GAF), which will fight the massive new salmon farm being proposed by Bord Iascaigh Mhara for Galway Bay, the Galway Independent reports

GAF claims the proposed farm has the potential to cause massive pollution to the bay and to wipe out salmon and sea trout stocks in local rivers.

The group also condemned the way in which this project is being promoted by BIM, accusing them of trying to “push through an application for a farm which would, in one fell swoop, double the entire country’s production of farmed salmon”.

“This would then be franchised to a private operator, most likely Marine Harvest, a Norwegian company, and all the profits will be diverted abroad, while Galway Bay and its residents take all the environmental risk,” said a spokesperson.

However, a spokesperson for BIM said that the proposed farm had been “well researched” using ecological, modelling and hydrographic data supplied by the Marine Institute of Ireland, adding that Ireland’s salmon farming sector would still be “extremely small” in comparison to other countries. 

They also vigorously denied claims that it had not engaged with the public on the project, saying the organisation had gone to “considerable lengths” to consult widely with local stakeholders.

“It is not fair to say that this proposed development would damage angling. Scotland has a salmon farming industry ten times bigger than Ireland. Norway has a salmon farming industry nearly 1000 times bigger than Ireland. They both have large salmon and trout sport angling sectors as well. The two activities can coexist successfully,” said the spokesperson to the Galway Independent.