Local anglers warn of national boycott over proposed salmon farm

By JACQUELINE HOGGE ANGRY anglers in the North Galway region are considering a national boycott of salmon licences if a proposed 15,000-ton capacity fish farm gets the go-ahead off the shores of the Aran Islands. Bord Iascaigh Mhara (BIM) has applied to the Department of Agriculture for a licence to develop a 15,000 ton salmon farm on a 456 hectare site off Inis Oirr, with a public consulation process due to conclude in two weeks' time. The state agency claims the farm will provide full-time employment for 350 people, with a further 150 jobs in the service sector once the development is up and running.[private] Threat to beaches However, Belclare angler Tommy Casserly is warning of a threat to Galway's blue flag beaches as well as a devastating effect on wild Atlantic salmon and sea trout smolts, if the farm is given the go-ahead. 'To put this into perspective, if this fish farm is built it will take 75,000 tons of fish food, which is treated with chemicals to fight parasites, sea lice and other diseases that will lead to contaminated fish excrement lodging annually on the seabed,' he said. 'This contaminated fish excrement is equivalent to in excess of 100,000 tons of slurry and if this is allowed enter the sea it is going to have a seriously negative impact on the highly sensitive marine life of Galway Bay. 'People are so concerned about this that a Save Galway Bay group is being considered as the blue flag status of so many of our beaches may be lost if the fish farm gets the go-ahead.' BIM denied the suggestion that blue flag beaches are at risk, as the fish farm will not be producing ecoli. 'It's a scientific impossibility for this salmon farm to have any negative effect on blue flag beaches as the determining factor in awarding blue flags is down to e-coli levels in the water,' said a spokeswoman. No e-coli 'There is no e-coli emanating from fish farms so therefore it cannot have any effect on beaches in the area.' Inland Fisheries Ireland has also lodged a submission through the public consultation process, raising concerns as to the environmental impact of the proposed development. The agency has raised concerns about the location and scale of the proposed salmon farm and how its development and operation could impact on wild salmon and sea trout stocks and their habitat. However, Donal Maguire, Aquaculture Development Manager with BIM, insisted the suggestion that the farm would have a catastrophic consequence on wild salmon and sea trout stocks was unfounded. 'We are more than confident our environmental impact survey stands up to scrutiny and the claim that this fish farm will wipe out wild salmon stocks is simply unfounded,' he said. 'The proof of that lies in other countries such as Scotland and Norway where there are thriving angling and fish farm sectors.' The IFI's submission queries the figure of 500 jobs being associated with the project, as it claims published data on the salmon farming sector in 2007 showed that the maximum number of employees for a 15,000 ton fish farm would be just over 200. The board has also raised serious concerns that whatever the number of job created by the current proposal, they will be more than offset by the associated loss of jobs in the recreational angling and tourism sectors. Angling value 'Top line figures from a recently commissioned survey of domestic recreational anglers suggest they contribute approximately €143 million to the economy, predominantly in rural areas, with the preferred locations for angling overnights in the West and South West and an additional €89 million is contributed by tourist anglers,' the submission reads. The BIM spokeswoman said that while they were not aware of the figures used to substantiate the IFI claims, it was standing over its figures as being '100 per cent accurate'. Tommy Casserly said a lot of meetings are being held throughout the country to mobilise opposition to the proposals, which he said could see anglers take to the streets over the issue. 'An army of concerned salmon anglers are joining forces behind the scenes at the moment and I envisage a similar situation developing to that which occurred back in 2005, where 5,000 anglers marched through the streets of Killarney where the Fianna Fáil ÃÂrd Fheis was being held. Protest 'That protest resulted in the government rowing back on a decision to introduce drift-netting for salmon at sea and we are more than prepared to take our concerns to the streets again. 'Local angling clubs have spent a lot of time, money and effort on a number of development projects on tributaries of the Clare River system over the past number of years. 'In particular, tens of thousands of euro have been spent creating new habitats for spawning salmon and trout by local angling clubs. We are now enjoying modest salmon catches over the last two to three years and this proposed fish farm will undo all the hard work done.' Inland Fisheries Ireland said that while it welcomes the development of Ireland's aquaculture sector, such development had to comply with Ireland's obligations under relevant EU environmental legislation, particularly the Habitats Directive.[/private]