Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 27 April 2016
27. Deputy Gerry Adams asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if there is any scope in the new National Strategic Plan for Sustainable Aquaculture Development to develop the production from recirculation aquaculture systems beyond a 30% increase. [8582/16]
View answerIn December 2015 I published Ireland’s National Strategic Plan for Sustainable Aquaculture Development. That Plan includes 24 actions to drive the sustainable development of the aquaculture sector. Implementation of the Plan is supported through two dedicated schemes under the EMFF Seafood Development Operational Programme, which I launched on 14 January 2016, which have a combined investment budget of almost €30 million. These are a Knowledge Gateway Scheme and a Sustainable Aquaculture Scheme.
The Plan targets an increase of 45,000 tonnes in output from the aquaculture sector by 2023. I am aiming to achieve this growth from a combination of increased and or restored productivity from the existing aquaculture licence portfolio and from a limited number of new licences. The make-up of this increased output will include shellfish, finfish, novel species and seaweed in a variety of different production systems, both intensive and extensive.
Given the very wide variability of production systems and the large number of species being farmed, with more to be added into the future, the Plan notes that it is not feasible to offer a meaningful prediction of precisely which species and which production systems will yield the projected increases in specific years. However, I have included in the Plan a specific target of a 30% increase in production derived from recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS).
Considerable international developmental effort is being put into determining the commercial viability of land based RAS systems for the large scale production of salmon. There appears to be a market niche for such a product if the current technological challenges associated with an economically viable production system can be overcome. The two schemes I mentioned earlier are promoting and incentivising applied research into RAS and private investment in RAS production. I would welcome an increase beyond the 30% target, but the ultimate increase achieved from RAS will be determined by market forces, the pace of technological development in the industry and the extent of private investment in RAS.
