Three aquaculture licences for the bottom culture of mussels in Lough Swilly were granted in November 1999 under the Fisheries (Amendment) Act, 1997. The licences were granted following public advertisement of the applications in the Derry People and Donegal News on 31 October 1997 and 25 June 1999. No objections were received in response to the advertisements or from the statutory consultees including the Northern Regional Fisheries Board, which were consulted directly. The decision to license in each case was also publicly advertised in the Derry People and Donegal News on 24 September 1999 and no appeal against that decision was made to the independent statutory Aquaculture Licences Appeals Board established under that Act.
Subsequent to the granting of these licences, the Department became aware that part of the areas licensed might contain wild oysters. In order to establish if such areas existed and to determine whether they represented a commercially viable resource, a comprehensive survey was undertaken by a cross-Border aquaculture team/BIM. The survey revealed that a portion of one licensed area contained wild oysters. This was the first systematic survey of oyster stocks in the lough to be carried out and the results are currently being assessed.
