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Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 7 Apr 1992

Vol. 418 No. 4

Written Answers. - Fish Farm Data.

Peter Barry

Question:

90 Mr. Barry asked the Minister for the Marine the number of fish farms on the Irish coastline; the number of people employed in them; the value of their output; the amount of production which is expected; and the measures his Department will take to ensure minimal pollution.

The Government is committed to the development of fish farming as a means of generating economic growth and employment, particularly in coastal areas where there are few alternative employment opportunities. The industry overall, and the fin fish sector in particular, has performed extremely well to date to the extent that there are at present approximately 100 fish farms providing some 1,000 full-time and part-time jobs, with indirect employment gains in related service industries. Output from the fin fish sector was over 9,000 tonnes last year, valued at around £30 million, which is expected to rise to £37 million in the current year.

The Government is committed to ensuring that fish farming develops within strict environmental standards. To that end the process involved in licensing such operations is necessarily rigorous from technical, environmental and other perspectives.

In addition to the rigorous vetting process prior to licensing (which includes a statutory requirement that all significant fin fish applications must submit an environmental impact statement in compliance with the relevant EC Directive), fish farming operations are statutorily obliged to comply with a comprehensive range of licence conditions, which include mandatory regular monitoring of water quality for assessment by my Department's scientific staff. A report on this monitoring data by an independent expert, which was published last year, indicated that by and large Irish fish farms are properly maintained and have little or no adverse impact on the environment. This is confirmed from information available to me from my Department which is involved in monitoring and inspection of all fish farming operations.
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