Trevor Ó Clochartaigh (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

As I had to leave earlier for a vote, if any of my questions has been answered, the Chairman might let me know.

There appeared to be a lot of common ground in what people had to say, which I was not expecting. I thought there would be a little more contention on the issues raised. It is good to see that there is a lot of common ground on them.

An issue which has not been mentioned but which I know has been mentioned a lot by the Marine Institute is that of multi-trophic farming. I would welcome the delegates' thoughts on the potential of that type of farming or if it is a pie-in-the-sky type of farming that will not be viable for some time to come.

On the issue of closed onshore salmon farming, each time this issue is raised the question that arises is where has it been successful. Perhaps the delegates might provide examples of where it has been successful and state how it could be copied here. The argument usually made by the offshore open cage farm operators is that it is not viable. Is the opposition to the use of offshore open cages primarily in the case of salmon or is it in the case of every species? In other words, are the delegates opposed to all species?

The issue of imported oysters was alluded to. An issue was previously brought to my attention about a bay which contained native oysters, a number of which it was said were diseased, but in respect of which, after a fallow period, only one diseased oyster was found. However, there was no recourse to have disease free status reinstated. I would welcome the delegaqtes' thoughts on that matter. Every time I raise this issue on behalf of oyster farmers the excuse is that even if those with the authority to do so wanted to reinstate disease free status, they could not do so because of a hiatus in the legislation. The picture painted is of a licensing regime that is in a total shambles. This issue has been raised for as long as I have been a member of the Oireachtas. It is a key issue.

In previous briefings with the IFI, the competent authority in the case of wild salmon, I was told that it saw scenarios where there was open cage salmon farming and wild stocks in the same ecosystem. It is its view that they do not necessarily have to be mutually exclusive, but they do need to be regulated and managed properly. Would delegates concur with that view or would they take issue with it?

On the suggestions made around the licensing regime, regulation, hatcheries, etc. I agree that the independence of the regime is of paramount importance to the system. I voice my support for the recommendations made in that regard.