Jellyfish causing fish losses at salmon farms on west coast
Galway Bay fm newsroom - Bord Iascaigh Mhara says fish losses at salmon farms across the west are caused by naturally occuring situations and not by the farms themselves.
A certain type of jellyfish called the mauve stinger is causing problems by attacking open cage salmon rearing installations.
It normally lives in the deep ocean, but every 20 years or so with the right meterological conditions it can come inshore.
BIM adds that despite reports from other organisations, there is no significant problem this year with amoebic gill disease in farmed salmon.
This is a naturally occuring amoeba which is potentially fatal to marine fish but primarily affects salmon rearing operations.
Galway Bay Against Salmon Cages issued a statement saying the disease had broken out at salmon rearing installations in Donegal, Connemara and Clare Island.
Director of aquaculture development services at BIM, Donal McGuire says recent problems at salmon farms are not caused by the farms themselves.