Under the British Irish Agreement Act 1999, responsibility for the development and licensing of aquaculture in Lough Foyle was conferred on the Foyle, Carlingford and Irish Lights Commission.
My Department is working in conjunction with the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development in Northern Ireland and respective legal advisers. We want to design the necessary legislation to enable the loughs agency of the FCILC to, inter alia, exercise its aquaculture functions as soon as practicable. The legislation is complex and needs to provide for the licensing and control of aquaculture, including a full appeals process and fish health matters. It must also address jurisdictional issues, including access to courts North and South in respect of offences committed in a cross-Border context. The aim is to ensure that aquaculture in Lough Foyle and Carlingford Lough is developed and managed in a sustainable way.
My Department is continuing its efforts to finalise the drafting of its part of the Foyle Carlingford Fisheries Bill and to facilitate publication by the earliest possible date.