Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Cuirim fáilte roimh na finnéithe anseo tráthnóna. Is dóigh liom gur ábhar fíor-tábhachtach é seo le plé. This is a very important issue that needs a lot of deep thought and analysis. As Senator Ó Clochartaigh stated, the first thing we should do is look at what we have. It is natural, self-propagating and very valuable. We should quantify and do an inventory of all the natural seaweed. In terms of the sustainable harvesting of it, we should get some measure of the possible volumes, values and species. As I understand it, some seaweeds have much smaller volumes but realise a lot more money on the market. When one sees a company applying for 40,000 tonne licences - I do not know if this is in respect of wet or dry matter - over parts of the coast, one gets some idea of the sheer volume of natural seaweed around our coast. This should be the starting point. The risks are much fewer because we are dealing with something that is naturally available.

I accept BIM does not have a role in the licensing regime. However, will Mr. Maguire clarify why BIM does not have a role in the development and promotion of natural seaweed? It has a role in the development and promotion of natural fish and aquaculture. Does he think BIM should have a role in respect of that side of the seaweed industry? It seems strange that it would be involved in farmed seaweed but not in natural seaweed, whereas, in terms of fish, it is involved in both.

I would be interested in the witnesses' views on that. Licensing is beyond their remit but a new licensing regime will come in so it is legitimate to ask for their views on possible inclusions in the new regime. Would they agree that whoever would be granted a licence should be obliged to only hire harvesters who have a tradition of harvesting seaweed in a sustainable way over a long period, in other words, who are experts by tradition and local knowledge? That type of expertise is often undervalued in our society. Often people who have lived with nature and done a thing for a lifetime and have inherited knowledge from previous generations do things to a very high sustainable level. All others coming new to harvesting would have to be educated in the harvesting of particular species in the Irish aquacultural conditions and methodologies. Should this be part of a condition of licences in the future so that we can be satisfied that anybody harvesting seaweed under a licence from the Department has the appropriate training to do so in a sustainable way?

Can they give some more information on the integrated multi-trophic aquaculture, IMTA? There seem to be two big ideas, one, to go to somewhere like the Killary and replace the ropes for mussels with seaweed ropes. In that case are they talking about seaweed growing there naturally or seaweed brought in from outside? Mussels seed themselves from the sea and are made grow on the rope instead of on other natural structures. Second, what is the experience of combining seaweed farming with fin fish farming? I always understood that at the fish farms there is very little growing on the sea bottom. Fish in the area might get bloated but there are not many seaweeds growing under the farms. Can the witnesses outline how that idea works?

The witnesses mentioned a figure of 2,000 to 3,000 tonnes per annum, employment of 165 and a turnover of €10 million as being a level of seaweed aquaculture, which seems very small when compared with the massive tonnages people have mentioned in other types of seaweed. If that is the case why not concentrate on what is there naturally?

Are the witnesses planning to introduce species or forms of seaweed that are not native to Ireland and could that give us unforeseen problems, equivalent to what has happened on the land with invasive species and disease problems? Is this a downside risk in seaweed farming?