Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 1 April 2004
53 Mr. Gormley asked the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources the monitoring carried out of fish both caught and sold on the Irish market to measure the level of mercury that consumers may become exposed to. [10307/04]
View answerIn order to protect consumers, the European Union has set, in EU Regulation 466/2001, maximum limits for total mercury content in fishery products. In accordance with the monitoring requirements of EU food safety legislation, analysis is carried out of a range of fin-fish both landed into, and farmed in, Ireland. A similar monitoring programme is in place for shellfish. These programmes are carried out by the Marine Institute, under service contract to the Food Safety Authority of Ireland. Similar programmes are in place in other member states.
Over the past number of years, the concentration of mercury in the edible portion of the fish analysed, in Ireland, is well within the European Union human consumption tolerance level. The catch element of the monitoring programme concentrates on the most commonly landed species and does not normally include the top predatory species fish such as shark, swordfish, marlin and tuna. The FSAI has provided important precautionary advice in relation to the consumption of these fish species. The FSAI is advising certain groups to continue consuming fish, from a wide range of species, as part of a balanced diet but not to eat swordfish, marlin and shark, and to limit consumption of tuna.
