Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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87. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment if he will provide an update in respect of the investigation by Inland Fisheries Ireland regarding a loss of farmed salmon stock into Killary Harbour; and if he has been updated in respect of the damage that may have been caused to wild stock. [36355/24]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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The Deputy will note that aquaculture policy, regulation and licensing is a matter for the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (D/AFM). As the licence regulator of this fish farm, I understand that D/AFM is carrying out an investigation into the escape at this facility.

That said, I have been updated on this matter by Inland Fisheries Ireland (IFI) - the statutory body tasked with the protection, management and conservation of the inland fisheries resource. IFI has advised that they have been monitoring the region for escaped farmed salmon from Killary Harbour, including at the fish trapping facility located at the National Salmonid Index Catchment on the Erriff river. IFI have alerted anglers and fishery owners throughout the region of the potential presence of escaped farmed fish in rivers and to report any suspected farmed salmon encountered, while emphasising the importance of protecting wild salmon from accidental removal. Furthermore, IFI have put in place arrangements to collect any retained fish caught by anglers suspected as being of farmed origin for further analysis and verification purposes. Identification of farmed salmon arising from the escape has been challenging due to the lack of clear markers identifying farmed fish from wild salmon.

To date, retained salmon verified as being of farmed origin have been caught as far north as the Owenmore River in County Mayo and as far south as the Corrib River in County Galway, highlighting the extent of the spread to date. Presence of farmed salmon has also been verified in Killary Harbour and the Erriff, Dawros, and Bundorragha (Delphi) rivers and is suspected but unconfirmed at other sites.

The occurrence of escaped farmed salmon in rivers owing to this event has the potential to be detrimental to wild salmon stocks through interbreeding, which can impact the health and diversity of wild salmon populations. Such a negative impact may not materialise immediately (as spawning does not occur until the winter period) and therefore, it cannot be established at this time what the consequences are for wild salmon stocks and how widespread this potential damage may be.