Vol. 405 No. 8
16 Mr. Garland asked the Minister for Energy if, having regard to the connection as outlined in the Stag report, between fish farming and the decline in the sea trout population, he has asked an ESB subsidiary (details supplied) to remove their fish cages from estuarine waters leading to sea trout rivers in view of the extreme seriousness of this situation; and if he will make a statement on this matter.
I have not asked the ESB subsidiary concerned to remove their fish cages from estuarine waters leading to sea trout rivers as the Stag report is primarily a matter for the Tánaiste and Minister for the Marine who is, I understand, arranging for an in-depth evaluation of the report.
Will the Minister agree that the ESB, a public State company, are engaged in what now appears to be very nefarious activities in the fish farming area to the great discomfort and annoyance of the local people in Kerry? Will he take steps to instruct the ESB to deal with this matter and not let the fishery at Waterville get to the same pathetic state as the Connemara and south Mayo fisheries? The Minister should not cop out on this. The ESB are under the Minister's control, not under the control of the Department of the Marine.
Deputy Garland and I have had many discussions about the tragedy that is besetting sea trout. It has baffled scientists as well as Deputy Garland and me, but to imply that the ESB activities are directly related to what is happening to sea trout would be wide of the mark, because the area where the sea trout are suffering is off Counties Mayo and Galway mostly, and the ESB do not have any fish farms in those areas. Their fish farms are located in the north-west and south-west and there has not yet been any evidence of any ill effects on the sea trout in those areas. There has been devastation among the sea trout off the coast in my constituency in Galway and in the Mayo rivers. The Stag report does not claim to come to a scientific conclusion in regard to the matter. It sought to arrive at some conclusion, but it is not claiming that the conclusion is based on scientific facts.
I am aware that the ESB do not have fish cages in the Galway/south Mayo area. The point I am making is based on the Stag report. Fish farms have been the common denominator: they have a problem with sea lice, the ESB fish farms have problems with sea lice. This is the point. There is a clear connection——
A question please.
——and the Stag report clearly states that sea lice are the most likely reason for——
I am still waiting for a supplementary question.
——the disappearance of the sea trout. Will the Minister agree that he should make every effort to expedite this interdepartmental report?
The conclusions of the Stag report leave open the possibility that a disease or some underlying stress factor could also be involved, although the scientific work carried out to date has not managed to identify any clear evidence in these areas. They are not certain as to the cause but they claim there is a major correlation between affected sea trout and fisheries and adjacent salmon farms, with the sea lice population explosion resulting from the presence of the farms and this has been identified as in all probability a major factor in the decline in the sea trout population. That is as far as they went, and that is not a scientific conclusion.
That disposes of questions for today.
