How to improve Ireland aquaculture sector’s ‘fragile’ social licence

A new study has found that social licence for Ireland’s finfish and shellfish farmers is considered crucial by all stakeholders but is currently in a ‘fragile’ state.

The ‘Social Licence Improvement Plan for the Aquaculture Sector in Ireland’, believed to be the first investigation of its kind, examines how social acceptance can be strengthened for the benefit of producers and the economy.

Social licence - the need for businesses to achieve ongoing public approval beyond formal regulatory compliance – is intangible and must be continually earned through responsible practices and engagement, the report notes.

Social fabric

Ireland’s aquaculture sector, comprising finfish (salmon and trout), shellfish (mussels and oysters) and seaweed cultivation, plays a vital role in the economic and social fabric of coastal communities, contributing nearly €200 million annually and supporting approximately 1,900 jobs.

But public understanding of aquaculture remains limited, while negative narratives regarding environmental impacts and regulatory delays are prominent in influential media channels.

Communications capacity is under‑resourced, limiting the ability to tell a balanced story about innovation, sustainability, and community benefit. In particular, stories related to fish escapes, sea lice, and licence protests often attract greater attention and lack a balance of perspectives.

Outdated and slow

The study also found that Ireland’s aquaculture licensing system is widely perceived as outdated and slow (with some cases spanning more than a decade), further eroding pubic trust.

In other findings, a perceived lack of transparency was widely seen as a top threat to social licence, although it was also acknowledged that transparency can and has been used against the aquaculture sector, with “cherry-picked data used to create an unfair representation of the overall data”.

The report was commissioned by Bord Iascaigh Mhara (BIM), Ireland’s Seafood Development Agency, and conducted by Precision Public Relations, the New Brunswick based consultancy owned by former Mowi communications director Ian Roberts.

Global experts

Roberts interviewed Irish stakeholders and global aquaculture experts, including representatives from industry, national and local government, state agencies, NGOs, civil society, and traditional fishing.

Despite the challenges to social licence, the report identified a strong appetite for change, with stakeholders open to improved transparency, more effective engagement, and modernised regulation. Many also support increased investment in long‑term communications, community outreach, and educational initiatives that build familiarity and trust.

Ideas to help improve social licence include targeting and educating regulators; getting “every citizen to the farm, or the farm to them”; replacing public servants “who have been serving too long and only block progress”; and finding a “Jeremy Clarkson for the sea” (a nod to the role of the big media personality in raising the profile of terrestrial farming).

Recommendations

The report outlines a series of recommendations to strengthen social acceptance of aquaculture in Ireland, such as:

• Clarifying national growth ambition and marine spatial planning;

• Accelerating legislative reform to modernise licensing;

• Consolidating aquaculture information into a publicly accessible repository;

• Implementing long-term, evidence‑based and emotive communications campaigns that engage both national and local audiences.

Read the full report here.