Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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Question 1125: To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if a licence is required for the gathering of farmed escaped oysters by means other than a fishing vessel. [18627/12]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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My Department is responsible for the licensing, where appropriate, of aquaculture activity including the cultivation of oysters. Such licences specify the area of activity covered by the licence. The gathering of wild oysters is licensed, where appropriate, by the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources.

My Department is advised by the Sea-Fisheries Protection Authority, which has an enforcement role regarding the health conditions for the production and placing on the market of shellfish products, that shellfish gathered or picked to sell commercially may not be placed on the market for human consumption other than through a dispatch centre and in conformity with the following requirements:

(i) The oysters must have originated from a classified area;

(ii) The area must have an open biotoxin status;

(iii) The gatherer must complete a Shellfish Registration document for each batch of shellfish gathered.