Trevor Ó Clochartaigh (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I am aware of the issues relating to the SmartBay project off Spiddal and I know the institute carried out a number of consultations, which was very welcome. I understand there have been some 500 objections in the course of the planning process. Are the witnesses aware of the nature of these objections? Have they been asked to supply further information in response? Where does the process go from here?

Brexit and quotas were discussed and I know the Marine Institute does a lot of forward modelling but, if and when Britain pulls out of the Common Fisheries Policy, will we have an opportunity to renegotiate the policy? What scientific arguments could we make in that context? Do the witnesses have any sense of what the British will do as regards fishing endangered stocks? If they are outside the Common Fisheries Policy, this will be a big question. Might there be a Norwegian-style scenario in which the UK will tie in with EU policy on common fisheries? Other countries have gone a bit rogue on fishing stocks when it suited them so will the Marine Institute create a model for a doomsday scenario?

There has been much discussion among fishermen about the factory shops that fish off our shores. They maintain that not an awful lot of monitoring is going on as to what happens on board. They are going through our waters and hoovering up a lot of our fish. They take the good fish and spew out whatever is left, which is having a much bigger impact on fisheries stock than traditional fishing. Is there any scientific evidence to support or refute such an argument? Is it possible to find out whether waste is being discharged from ships in this way?

Have the witnesses been asked for an input into the successor to the Foreshore Act, which deals with the seaweed industry and the licensing of seaweed harvesting? What is the potential of multitrophic aquaculture? Is it a science for the future or will it come on stream in the short term? Do we have the potential to become world leaders in the area? The fish farm of Inis Oírr has gone by the wayside but have projects of this type gone off the table completely? There was talk of a fish farm on a similar scale off the coast of Mayo but is that still being considered? Is the institute still preparing consultations on that project and others? Where is fish farm policy going? Are we still looking at major projects or are we looking at smaller, more sustainable, inshore projects?