Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 11 February 2014
112. Deputy Martin Ferris asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the number of fish farming licences that have been applied for; and the number of fish farming licences that have been issued in 2013. [6319/14]
View answerMy Department's records indicate that 90 applications for aquaculture licences were received in 2013. This includes 70 new applications and 20 renewal applications. I made 137 determinations in relation to outstanding aquaculture applications in 2013, most of which relate to applications received prior to that date.
A significant number of licence applications await determination; this largely arises because the majority of areas for which aquaculture licences are sought are located in areas designated as Special Areas of Conservation (SACc) under the EU Habitats Directive and/or Special Protection Areas (SPAs) under the EU Birds Directive (known as "Natura 2000" areas). All applications in "Natura 2000" areas are required to be appropriately assessed for the purpose of environmental compliance with the EU Birds/Habitats Directives. The European Court of Justice declared in case C418/04 that, by failing to take all the measures necessary to comply with Article 6(3) of Directive 92/43 (Habitats Directive) in respect of authorisation of aquaculture programmes, Ireland had failed to fulfil its obligations under that Directive.
In the negotiations to address the judgment a process was agreed with the European Commission which would lead to full compliance by Ireland with the relevant EU Directives. This process includes the following steps:
- a detailed data collection in 91 Bays/Estuaries
- detailed analysis of raw data collected
- setting of Conservation Objectives by the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) in respect of each site
- carrying out Appropriate Assessments of each licence application/fishery plan against the detailed Conservation Objectives set, and
- determination of Licences/Fisheries on the basis of the Appropriate Assessment and other relevant factors.
The data collection programme is substantially complete. Conservation objectives have been set in excess of 60 bays and Appropriate Assessments have been carried out in Castlemaine Harbour, Dundalk Bay, Lough Swilly, Donegal Bay and Roaringwater Bay. I am pleased to inform the Deputy that as a result of this process I have made aquaculture licence Determinations in 2013 in respect of "Natura" areas in Castlemaine Harbour and Roaringwater Bay (approximately 120). Furthermore, I expect that I will be in a position to make in excess of 200 licence determinations in 2014.
