Dr. Greg Forde:

I apologise for the absence of Dr. Ciaran Byrne, the chief executive officer, who is on annual leave. He would have loved to have been here today. I know the committee has much business to do so we will get through the opening statement and then be open to questions that arise.

We are grateful to have the opportunity to address the committee on the important topic of the draft strategic plan for sustainable aquaculture development. Inland Fisheries Ireland was established on 1 July 2010, following the amalgamation of the central and regional fisheries boards. The agency was established under the Inland Fisheries Act 2010, with many of its powers deriving from the principal Act governing the sector, the Fisheries (Consolidation) Act 1959. The main functions of Inland Fisheries Ireland as identified in the 2010 Act are "to promote, support, facilitate and advise the Minister on the conservation, protection, management, marketing, development and improvement of inland fisheries, including sea angling".

It is important to note that protection and conservation of the inland fisheries resource includes the important migratory species in the sea, in particular the Atlantic salmon and sea trout. These responsibilities were also part of the primary functions of the central and regional fisheries boards, established in 1980, and the boards of conservators and the Inland Fisheries Trust before that. Salmon fisheries in the marine, estuaries and fresh water are an important asset of the State that yield considerable revenue through angling in particular.

Inland Fisheries Ireland will, in the course of the next week, be making its own submission in respect of this consultation but it is important for us to identify the key areas where we believe the committee may find it useful in making observations on the documents currently proposed by the Minister or in clarifying the areas where Inland Fisheries Ireland has concern and the reasons for this concern.

The angling resource in the country has long been undervalued - a recent economic assessment identified that this industry is worth some €755 million annually to the national economy and supports approximately 10,000 jobs. The impact of this socio-economic dividend is largely of benefit to peripheral and rural communities, often where alternative income-earning opportunities can be limited, and the safeguarding of these areas in terms of their earning potential from angling tourism should be a priority. Rural communities benefit most from small labour-intensive ventures rather than large industrial-sized operations. The current consultation is specifically about the sustainable development of aquaculture and this opening statement attempts to identify the key issues of interest and concern to Inland Fisheries Ireland that may assist the committee.

Licensing is a key issue. The current licensing system has proven problematic but Inland Fisheries Ireland is conscious of the environmental issues that must be considered by the licensing authority in developing a sustainable industry. Inland Fisheries Ireland supports the sustainable development of the aquaculture industry; the word "sustainable" is key and specifically encompasses sustainability of the development from an ecological as well as financial point of view. The area of particular concern to Inland Fisheries Ireland is the need to ensure that any aquaculture development does not have a deleterious effect on other industries, such as the valuable salmon and sea trout tourist angling industries. Inland Fisheries Ireland would welcome reform to the aquaculture licensing process. Where existing licences are in place and where these have an effect on the wild fisheries, the licence process must be capable of phasing out these sites and selecting alternative sites that do not impact on wild fisheries.

A second important consideration in the reformation of the licensing system is to separate the processes of licensing and regulation. It would be preferable if these responsibilities were not within the same Department. The licensing section should remain under the parent Department and the regulation or enforcement remit should be under a different State agency. The regulatory agency should be appropriately mandated to transparently enforce the licence conditions. This would also help the licence operators and wild fish interests know the rules within which the industry operates. Similarly, in the view of Inland Fisheries Ireland, it is unwise for the State to be the licence applicant in a commercial aquaculture venture.

Inland Fisheries Ireland is aware that escapes from salmon farms into the wild are primarily the consequence of an unplanned catastrophe. The licensing system should include the creation of an emergency fund to facilitate the recovery or clean-up of the consequences of any such events. This could include the recovery or removal of escapees from local rivers by the competent authority, as well as any other environmental clean-up, such as removal of mortalities from the sea bed. The current system of licensing includes a series of protocols. The code of practice for pest control is not, in the view of Inland Fisheries Ireland, adequately robust to ensure the protection of wild sea trout and salmon smolts from lice from marine salmon farms. This will be dealt with later by my colleague. It is recommended that the enforcement regime should include a series of incremental penalties for persistent breaches of licence conditions.

Inland Fisheries Ireland favours the development of closed containment recirculatory land-based systems for the farming of Atlantic salmon, as this ensures all outputs can be managed and controlled. Inland Fisheries Ireland acknowledges that the technology may not yet be at a sufficiently commercial scale but recommends that adequate funding should be provided to assist in developing this aspect of the industry. Over time, Inland Fisheries Ireland would welcome a gradual move towards onshore recirculation sites and a phasing out of open pen facilities to ensure the protection of the wild salmonid stocks.

On the mollusc side, Inland Fisheries Ireland believes that small-scale mollusc aquaculture activities best suit rural communities that have farming and fishing as part of their existing core skills. The development of these activities still have very significant potential and these are both low-impact and labour-intensive. With oysters, Inland Fisheries Ireland notes that disease in the wild oysters has reduced the wild oyster stock in many bays around the country. The development of farming the Pacific oyster has unexpectedly led to this non-native species becoming feral in Lough Swilly. Acknowledging that the wild oyster stocks in most parts of the country remain in trouble, Inland Fisheries Ireland recommends that any farming of the Pacific oyster is done in an enclosed regime, with bags and trestles, using triploid stock.

This will prevent it becoming established elsewhere in the wild. In areas such as Lough Swilly where they have already become established in the wild, provision should be made to remove the Pacific oysters. This must be done in line with the requirements of the National Parks and Wildlife Service.

The issuing of aquaculture licences in areas where established wild mollusc fisheries exist has also raised concern. Any plan for the sustainable development of the industry should include provision for the surrender of aquaculture licences where they conflict with wild mollusc beds and their replacement by a licence on a different, new unlicensed site.

I will hand over to my colleague, Dr. Gargan.