Clare Daly (Dublin North, United Left)
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104. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if his policy on deep-water aquaculture development is a failure given the withdrawal of the Bord Iascaigh Mhara aquaculture licence application and if he will now investigate the use of on-land salmon production systems rather than marine production systems, as recommended by environmental interests. [2461/16]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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I was delighted to publish in December Ireland’s National Strategic Plan for Sustainable Aquaculture Development. That Plan proposes 24 actions to drive the sustainable development of the aquaculture sector and grow production in the sector by 45,000 tonnes by 2023. This output increase will be derived from a combination of increased and or restored productivity from the existing aquaculture licence portfolio and from a limited number of new licences. The makeup of this increased output will include shellfish, finfish, novel species and seaweed in a variety of different production systems, both intensive and extensive. This overall output increase will be largely dictated by market forces and site suitability for the cultivation of particular species.

Ireland’s salmon farmers have significant experience in operating successfully in exposed sites. In fact, the bulk of current Irish salmon production is being produced from such locations. That knowledge should be leveraged through more salmon farming in offshore areas that have suitable characteristics. These locations are characterised by high water flows, giving rise to lower environmental impacts in terms of fish wastes and they are also remote from the mouths of rivers with migratory salmonid populations, thus reducing the possibility of any negative interactions between the farmed and wild stocks.

The future growth of salmon farming in Ireland is limited by spatial and environmental constraints in inshore bays. The use of larger, more exposed, offshore sites is increasingly a feature of the development of the sector globally and the environmental benefits of such sites, compared to inshore sites, are clear. I am advised that environmental impacts are predicted to decrease in offshore sites, where stronger currents and greater depths increase the dispersal of waste products and interactions with wild fish are lessened. In addition, competition for space with other users is likely to be less of an issue in sites further removed from the coast. Despite these potential benefits, no assumptions can be made as to the suitability of locations and individual sites for salmon farms, which can only be considered following rigorous assessment of potential environmental interactions.

Based on the advice of the Marine Institute, in the National Strategic Plan for Sustainable Aquaculture Development I included ‘scale limits and phasing’ that will be applied by my Department in relation to the development of individual offshore salmon farms. I also included in the Plan six high-level principles, also recommended by the Marine Institute, which are intended to provide a broad direction to guide the ongoing development of sustainable aquaculture in Ireland and instil confidence in all stakeholders in the commitment to appropriate development of the industry.

In relation to recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS), the National Strategic Plan for Sustainable Aquaculture Development targets a 30% increase in production derived from such systems. Considerable international developmental effort is being put into determining the commercial viability of land based RAS systems for the large scale production of salmon. My Department in conjunction with BIM and the Marine Institute will continue to track the development of RAS technology and to support its adoption in circumstances where it is appropriate, suitable and holds out the prospect of being commercially viable, such as in the production of high-value, low-volume juvenile fish, which can then be ‘finished’ in sea pen systems.

On 14 January 2016, I launched a new Aquaculture ‘Knowledge Gateway Scheme’as part of my Department’s ‘EMFF Seafood Development Operational Programme’. I have provided BIM with a budget of €8.2 million for that Scheme. In close collaboration with aquaculture enterprises and researchers, the Scheme aims to develop knowledge, innovation and technology in the aquaculture sector to ensure its sustainable development. An important part of the focus of the Scheme will be the applied research and development required into RAS, identified on page 66 of the National Strategic Plan for Sustainable Aquaculture Development.