Bantry Bay fish farm oral hearing: Fears over jobs, pesticides, and threat of disease in fish population

A hearing into objections against the granting of a licence for a salmon farm in Bantry Bay has heard that, were the development to go ahead, it could prove a “tipping point” for local families who have fished the area for generations.

The two-day hearing into the granting of the licence to Marine Harvest heard from a number of the 14 appellants and from the company itself, which was appealing on different grounds.

Signs declaring opposition to the project were placed outside the Westlodge Hotel. Inside, Dr Owen McIntyre, chairman of the oral hearing which is operating under the Aquaculture Licences Appeal Board (ALAB), heard specific concerns.