Martin Ferris (Kerry North-West Limerick, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank both Dr. Gregory Forde and Dr. Paddy Gargan for their presentation. It seems easier to control shellfish farming, be it mussels, scallops or oysters. It does not have the same impact as finfish farming on salmon and trout. Mention was made of the effects of farmed Pacific oyster in Lough Swilly contaminating the natural oyster. I come from an area where we have one of the finest natural oyster beds in Europe and we are lucky that there are no farmed oysters that near to them, as Kenmare Bay is the nearest place where there are farmed oysters. We have been free of contamination.

I refer to the number of oyster beds around the coast going back 100 years to 120 years which have been wiped out. Only a few remain - the few that are sustainable. That was long before we had farmed shellfish or whatever. There were other factors at work - perhaps over-fishing could be part of it as well as infected waters.

Finfish farming is highly controversial, in particular the proposed salmon farm in Galway Bay. The size of the proposed Galway Bay project is a cause of concern in terms of fears of cross-contamination with sea lice, fish escapes and the damage this will do to the wild salmon. I concur that the size and location of the proposed fish farm will have a detrimental effect, particularly near the mouth of a river as has been said, and the effect on trout and wild salmon of the infected farmed fish escaping from their cages.

Dr Gargan mentioned that it may be practical in deeper water and I would like him to elaborate on that. When he refers to deeper water, is he proposing that the farms be located further out to sea, because the further out one goes, the more exposed one is to weather conditions and so forth? Mention was made of the significant escape in west Cork, which came about, if my recollection is correct, in the eye of one of the worst storms in my memory. These escapes have a detrimental effect.

I have looked at reports from 2009 to 2012 dealing with the damage to Donegal, in particular. I assume the Marine Institute carried out investigations at that time. I know the Marine Institute was involved in looking into the reason, cause and extent of the damage in 2011. Have the major companies been sanctioned or have the reports from the Marine Institute been supported by the Department or the political side? With proper regulation and proper scrutiny, we can get this right. However, if the body charged with investigating the effects of bad practices, notwithstanding the inappropriate locations, which is outside all of our control, and the information is not dealt with, it does not auger well for the future. It makes things an awful lot worse.

Has political influence been used to curtail in any way the working of the Marine Institute in trying to do the right thing? The Galway Bay project is being driven politically and that certainly neutralises people who have concerns about the long-term well-being of the wild salmon. That would certainly be the case up to now, unless there was a U-turn or some way to claw back from the Galway Bay project.

It was mentioned in the presentation that the development of a closed containment land-based system for the farming of salmon would be welcome if the companies were prepared to go down that road. I have been of the opinion that fish farms could be created on land. I think one would be able to control contamination from lice infestations and escapes. I understand that there would be a higher cost factor. Obviously, the consideration of companies investing in fish farming is all about profit and not about the environment. Profit is the motivation. Energy costs are another consideration. Could we have a joined up approach and consider using green energy, availing of tidal wave or wind energy in such projects?

I think we all want to get it right but we also want to create enterprises in our bays that will contribute to rural areas. Rural Ireland has been decimated and we need to ensure that people can make a viable living in their area and sustain the local economy. There are aspects of aquaculture that can be located in areas that would be beneficial to local communities. It is about getting the right locations. As it was made quite clear in the presentations, the mouth of a river is not the place to locate fish farms as it has an adverse effect on salmon and trout stocks.