asked the Minister for the Marine if he will give an undertaking that no approval will be given for the location of fish rearing cages for lake and estuary locations in Counties Mayo and Galway, in view of the serious pollution problems which such cages can cause.
Ceisteanna — Questions. Oral Answers. - Fish Rearing Cages.
10.
On a point of order, I had a question on similar lines which you disallowed and I wonder if it can be taken together with this question in the name of Deputy Higgins. My question asks the Minister for the Marine his views on fish farming and cage culture on Lough Corrib and Lough Mask in County Galway and it is very similar to the question you have allowed from Deputy Higgins.
If the Deputy's question was disallowed, that is that. I cannot recollect the instance but I shall certainly look into it.
Different rules for different Deputies.
Not in so far as the Ceann Comhairle is concerned. I would resent the implication very much. I shall have your allegation investigated.
Thank you. I appreciate that.
In reply to questions in the House on 17 May 1988 I indicated my policy in regard to the location of fish rearing cages in lakes.
That was the reason my question was disallowed.
I will take this opportunity to reiterate that policy. Aquaculture projects are not permitted in lakes where there are major wild fisheries (i.e. trout and salmon) which I regard as a valuable natural resource to be fully developed in their own right. No permits have been issued for full-scale fish farming projects.
Applications to my Department to establish projects in lakes are considered by the Department's engineers from the point of view of quantity of water available, rainfall and catchment area while the Fisheries Research Centre determines the extent of water quality monitoring which is necessary.
I have recently undertaken a critical examination of the concept of smolt rearing in lakes generally. The requirements for smolts of the aquaculture industry should — to the greatest extent possible — be met in the future from land based facilities using pumped or gravity fed water. As I recently indicated to the House, there are eight applications with my Department at present for smolt rearing projects in lakes. Each application on hands will be examined personally by me in line with the policy I have outlined above.
As for aquaculture cages in estuary locations, the Deputy may be aware that I may only issue licences for marine projects in those areas which have been designated for this purpose under the Fisheries Act, 1980. Eight such areas have been designated in Counties Galway and Mayo to date, and rigid environmental protection criteria will be applied to the issue of licences within those areas. These will be based on an assessment of the carrying capacity of each particular area and licences will limit production accordingly and will prescribe monitoring and other conditions to apply.
The policy I have outlined draws a careful balance between the need to exploit all employment opportunities in aquaculture in this country while at the same time protecting, fostering and developing our valuable wild fishery resources. The extremely tight control and monitoring procedures in place ensure that any risks due to pollution arising from aquaculture are kept to an absolute minimum and should not be any cause for concern.
I was most reassured by the early part of the Minister's reply which I interpreted as saying he is totally opposed to the presence of cages in fresh water locations. However, towards the end of his reply he seemed to indicate that a number of applications were received for fresh water cages and that he would consider each application on its merit. Is the Minister aware that, despite the proven horrendous consequences for wild fish by the existence of cages in fresh water locations caused by the proven high mortality rate, the need to use pesticides, the accummulation of feeding stuffs and so on on lake beds, Galway County Council on 17 February 1988 granted a temporary licence for only five years to a company to go ahead with fish cages? There exist in Lough Inagh in County Galway 15 such cages. I would like the Minister to reaffirm that he is not prepared to desecrate the finest trout decks in the world by allowing any cages in the lakes of Galway or Mayo.
I want to reassure the Deputy in that regard. The bulk of the licences that were issued, whether temporary or otherwise, were issued not by me but by my predecessors. My predecessor in this office issued a licence for the project the Deputy is speaking about but I think that has not gone ahead, if we are speaking about the same project. Ten cage-based salmon smolt projects have been already approved in western lakes. They were approved mainly by my predecessor. As I have said, smolt rearing operations are not fully commercial fish farming operations. There is a distinction to be drawn between them. Smolt rearing stations produce young stock for the aquaculture industry in the coastal areas. This is a very valuable business which has to be taken into account. The policy which I will follow will be to phase these out gradually and replace them with the type of land-based structure I have already indicated.
I appreciate the trend of the Minister's answer. Can I ask him if in the recent past he departed from an official script to give an assurance that there would be no fish farming or cage culture in the lakes in question?
A script was officially released by me through the Government Information Service about two weeks ago but it got very scant publicity. Even though this was supposed to be one of the major issues in the western areas which was inhibiting the introduction of the licensing arrangements for trout and coarse fishing, it did not seem to warrant any major publicity when the statement was issued. The statement indicated, as I have indicated now, that it is not the policy of the Department to undertake fish farming in important and valuable wild salmon and trout fisheries in the lakes. On the other hand, there is the question of smolt rearing which I think everybody here would agree is something that has been allowed in a very limited and controlled way. There are ten smolt rearing stations producing salmon smolts for the aquaculture industry to enable that industry to prosper and develop further.
Am I to take it that the Minister proposes to introduce stricter controls in future in regard to salmon farms in fresh water but that he has no objection to smolt rearing cages being located——
The Deputy is not listening. That is not what I said.
I am listening. The Minister seemed to indicate in his reply that he would be prepared to grant permission for smolt rearing in fresh water. Am I to take it that that is what he is saying? Can I also ask the Minister whether his Department have been involved in granting planning permission for the location of fish cages on a tributary of the Owenriff which flows into Lough Corrib and which is a salmon and trout breeding river?
That matter is worthy of a separate question.
I have already indicated that a number of applications were granted by my predecessors in office for smolt rearing stations. The background to that was that it was felt there was a demand for smolts for the aquaculture industry which could not be supplied from elsewhere. It is important to ensure that this would not do any damage to the smolt rearing stations which are licensed. Ten of these cage-based salmon smolt rearing projects were approved by the Department in the western lakes and the Deputy is fully aware of that. What I said is that we have received eight applications and that these will be put through the rigorous examination I have indicated, keeping in mind that my policy, as I have outlined, is to phase these out in the future so that we will have land-based facilities using pumped or gravity-fed supplies.