Progress on 600 Irish applications
More than 200 licences have been issued in the past three years for locations including Inner Bantry Bay, Roaringwater Bay, Killary Harbour and Castlemaine Harbour but there are in the region of 600 applications awaiting determination.
A decision on one of the most controversial applications, for a 15,000 tonne salmon farm near Inis Orr in Galway Bay, will be made “as soon as possible”, the Minister said.
Bord Iascaigh Mhara (BIM), the Irish Sea Fisheries Board, submitted the application in August 2012 and a number of international aquaculture companies have expressed an interest in operating the site on behalf of the state agency. However, the Galway Bay Against Salmon Cages grouping has opposed the applications on environmental grounds, claiming they pose significant risk to the area.
BIM is also seeking an aquaculture licence for a 5,000 tonne farm between Inishbofin island in Co Galway and Inishturk in Co Mayo, which it applied for last year.
BIM’s strategy is to generate €1 billion in seafood sales and to increase exports by a further €650 million.
Last year, the Irish Farmers’ Association issued a report claiming 600 fish farm licence applications had been in the system for more than five years and this had cost €60 million in investment.
The association said aquaculture could create up to 2,000 additional jobs in coastal areas, leading to up to €500 million in further exports.
Mr Coveney, in a series of replies to written parliamentary questions, said there was great potential for all types of aquaculture around Ireland’s coast.
