There have been calls for the Department of Agriculture to boost its monitoring of fish farms after new research showed sea trout carry significantly higher levels of sea lice infestation when closer to marine salmon farms.

Selective breeding can produce salmon resistant to sea lice, according to a study.

The State agency Bord Iascaigh Mhara (BIM) is an enthusiastic proponent of plans to build Europe’s largest salmon feed lot off the Aran Islands.

The report used by Bord Iascaigh Mhara to allay fears about the threat posed to wild salmon stocks by salmon farming has been dismissed as “flawed” by international marine scientists.