Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 15 April 2015
313. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the annual production outturn for marine finish aquaculture and, separately, for marine shellfish aquaculture for each of the years 2004 to 2014, inclusive. [14919/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe information requested by the deputy is set out in the table.
IRISH AQUACULTURE PRODUCTION 2004-2014 VOLUME (tonnes)
|
Year |
Shellfish |
Finfish |
Totals |
|
2004 |
43,091 |
15,263 |
58,354 |
|
2005 |
47,454 |
15,384 |
62,838 |
|
2006 |
44,696 |
12,726 |
57,422 |
|
2007 |
41,266 |
11,238 |
52,504 |
|
2008 |
33,887 |
11,119 |
45,006 |
|
2009 |
33,865 |
13,842 |
47,707 |
|
2010 |
29,744 |
17,216 |
46,960 |
|
2011 |
30,843 |
13,942 |
44,785 |
|
2012 |
22,718 |
13,723 |
36,441 |
|
2013 |
24,044 |
10,586 |
34,630 |
The decline in production as illustrated by the table has occurred because of a shortage of seed mussel availability in the Irish Sea Fishery due to weather related conditions and also, due to a drop in the volume of output from salmon farming because of an unexpected health challenge to the stocks in 2012.
Bord Iascaigh Mhara (BIM) estimates that 2014 will mark a low point in the volume output from the sector and that the outturn from the sector will begin to increase once again in 2015 and beyond. This is because there has been a substantial recovery in the seed mussel fishery in the Irish Sea in 2014 which will begin to feed through into increased harvest volumes in 2015 and 2016. Also, the salmon industry has developed techniques and technologies to deal with the health challenges it was encountering with stock and the indications are that output from this sector will also increase in 2015.
In addition, the economic value of the sector has stayed at a relatively high level due to increased prices and increased market demand for the product.
