MUSSEL farmers have warned the Government that a decade-long delay in processing 500 aquaculture licence applications is preventing the creation of much needed jobs.

THE Government must grasp the opportunity to create 2,000 jobs in fish and shellfish farming, the Irish Farmers Association has declared.

A PROPOSAL by An Bord Snip to dissolve BIM has been criticised by shellfish and fin fish farmers around the coast.

THE shellfish industry employs 1,500 people and is worth more than €60 million a year to coastal communities, a conference was told in Westport, Co Mayo, yesterday.

A DECISION by the Government to transfer key functions for the fishing industry to the newly named Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food has been welcomed by the seafood sector.