Bord Iascaigh Mhara salmon report dismissed as ‘flawed’

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.

In a paper presented to a fisheries conference in Norway this week, scientists from Canada, Norway and Scotland pointed to what they described as three major flaws in the Marine Institute report used by BIM as a cornerstone of their argument to dismiss the link between salmon farms and sea lice infestations.

Sea lice attack migrating salmon as they pass fish farms and a recent Royal Commission report in Britain suggested that up to 40% of salmon die as a result. BIM, relying on the Marine Institute research, refute this.