Concern at proposed Aran fish farm plan

The state agency in charge of the country’s rivers has called on the Department of Agriculture to consider a study which concluded fish farming has a "general negative effect" on sea trout stocks, when deciding to grant permission to a planned 1,000-acre fish farm off the Aran Islands.

The Norwegian research concluded that fish farming generates increased numbers of sea lice, a naturally-occurring parasite that feed off salmon and sea trout, and this increase can lead to potentially 12-44% fewer salmon spawning in areas where there is intensive salmon farming. It also said intensive fish farming can lead to falling sea trout stocks and reduced growth in surviving sea trout stocks.

Inland Fisheries Ireland Chairman Brendan O’Mahony said: “This new study confirms the evidence collected since the early 1990s in Ireland regarding the impact of sea lice on wild sea trout stocks, particularly in relation to the collapse of Connemara’s sea trout stocks.