Ireland bids for ocean food lab

Initial discussions have taken place between the Government and high-ranking European officials to locate a world-class ocean laboratory on the Irish coast which could help solve international food issues.

The centre is among a number of projects being developed with a view to tapping into the €315bn European Fund for Strategic Investment.

Speaking to the Irish Examiner yesterday, Marine Minister Simon Coveney said:

“We’re talking to the commission but it’s at an early stage at the moment about how Ireland could host a very ambitious ocean laboratory that would be a global food security initiative driven by the European Union and hosted by Ireland — and that essentially is building a lab looking at how we could change the way in which fish are farmed internationally but also look at other farmed products like seaweed and seafish.

“I’d like to look at dramatically changing the thinking around how we farm fish… so we’ve spoken to two commissioners about it — the Commissioner for Innovation [Carlos Moedas] and the Commissioner for the Marine [Karmenu Vella],” Mr Coveney said.

While discussions are at an early stage Mr Coveney indicated both commissioners were interested in the project — which the Marine Institute are also involved in — and he would look to establish a working group to develop the concept.

If brought to fruition, the project would likely be funded not only from the investment fund but potentially from the European Investment Bank; the private sector; and national funding from a number of different states too.

Mr Coveney was speaking at the Harness Our Ocean Wealth conference at the National Maritime College of Ireland (NMCI) in Co Cork, where he launched a major new report identifying potential for up to 29,000 additional jobs to be created in the marine economy by 2020.

The “blue economy” has witnessed impressive growth over the past number of years, outstripping general economic growth by 100% and delivering turnover of €1.4bn.

However, it only accounts for 0.8% of GDP, lagging behind the EU average of 1.8%.

The minister also highlighted the growth in seafood exports to €533m — €50m of which was delivered to the Asian market which has huge potential for further growth.