Fishing sector welcomes group

THE fish farming industry has welcomed the setting up of a group to find new uses for wastes and by-products from the sector.

It brings together Bord Iascaigh Mhara (BIM) and the Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources with farmers and fish processors.

Minister of State John Browne set up the by-products working group which will be reporting to the Aquaculture Development Forum later this month on progress to-date.

The Irish Salmon Growers Association and the Irish Shellfish Association through the IFA’s Fish Farming Section have been working on the need to promote new technology to deal with wastes from the salmon and shellfish sector.

IFA Fish Farming Section executive secretary Richie Flynn said more needs to be done in order to get extra value out of the potentially high value wastes that farms normally produce.

“We need national, regional and local policies to address this situation, particularly for farms in remote coastal areas,” he said.

Mr Flynn said the new group will hopefully look at ways of cashing in on by-products from the industry, which are often very useful in other sectors.

“We have seen that the shellfish industry in France is a hugely important source of fertiliser for the horticulture sector,” he said.

“Similarly, the waste from salmon processing is a very valuable source of nutrients for arable land.”