New battle brewing over salmon farm application
Cill Chiaráin Bay – a special area of conservation (SAC) in the Conamara Gaeltacht – is again the subject of an intense ideological battle over controversial salmon farming.
Bradán Beo Teoranta (BBT) has applied to Government to renew and review their aquaculture licences to operate salmon farms in the environmentally sensitive Kilkieran Bay.
Currently licensed to produce 7,020 tonnes of farmed salmon, the site is strategically important to the aquaculture industry, which was worth €211 million to the Irish economy in 2023, according to Bord Iascaigh Mhara. More than half of that economic gain was from farmed salmon.
Groups opposed to salmon farming, including Salmon Watch Ireland and Galway Bay Against Salmon Cages, have objected to the licences citing environmental concerns, negative impacts on wild fish stocks, and ethical concerns about practices used in salmon farming.
The aquaculture licence renewals were submitted to the Department of Agriculture, Food and Marine last year.
The public was invited to share its views on BBT’s proposals in July and August of this year.
A spokesperson for the Department confirmed to the Connacht Tribune that 47 public submissions were received.
While the application is being assessed, the licensee can continue to operate under the terms and conditions of the original licence held.
Galway Bay Against Salmon Cages secretary Billy Smyth said “so-called organic farmed salmon are dying in their millions on Irish salmon farms annually” but the exact numbers were not held by the State.
In the GBASC submission, Mr Smyth said pesticides, antibiotics, vaccines and other chemicals were being used on “so-called organic salmon farms” but the information about their use – and their impacts on shrimp, lobster and crab – was not available to the licence application decision makers.
Caption: Billy Smyth....GBASC submission.
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