Seafood industry slates Government over ‘botched job’ on EU directive

THE Government’s handling of the introduction of a new law to manage the health status of Irish farmed fish and shellfish stocks has been severely criticised by the industry as a “botched job”.

IFA Aquaculture, representing over 300 companies involved in farming seafood, has written to the ministers responsible describing the piecemeal introduction of a European directive on fish health as “a serious blow to relations between the sector and the Government”.

They claim it is an unnecessarily unworkable application by the Government of an otherwise sound piece of European legislation and should be immediately retracted and amended.

The law came into force last Friday.

IFA Aquaculture executive secretary, Richie Flynn said the industry supported the European Commission’s work to produce a new fish health management regime under the Fish Health Directive, which represents an important step forward to a measured and constructive management of aquatic fish health in Europe.

Mr Flynn said the IFA worked for over five years with Irish public and private fish health experts, the Federation of European Aquaculture Producers and the European Commission and Parliament.

Their aim is to ensure that the increased bureaucracy included in the directive is properly balanced by recognition of the right of aquaculture producers to fair compensation for state intervention on listed diseases, in common with all other listed diseases in the EU.

Mr Flynn said the Government has unilaterally decided to relegate aquaculture producers to a second division of livestock production by denying the right to compensation on the Statutory Instrument.

Mr Flynn said the Government, by its lack of will, or ability to deal with fundamental issues for the industry, is creating a situation where jobs are being lost weekly.