Fears for tourism after unspoilt Kerry beaches earmarked for oyster farming

Public anger is intensifying after unspoilt tourist beaches on the Ring of Kerry were earmarked for oyster farming.

More than 1,000 signatures have been gathered in a campaign of opposition which is only beginning to take off, against proposed shoreline farming between Dooks and Rossbeigh on the Iveragh Peninsula.

Eight applications involving some 400 acres are proposed, in a pocket stretching from Dooks Golf Links to the breach in the sands’ spit at the rear of the blue flag beach of Rossbeigh.

Furious locals are concerned about the threat to tourism, the key industry in Kerry.

Castlemaine Harbour, including Rossbeigh, is a protected Natura 2000 site but had been assessed in 2011 by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and deemed likely to be appropriate for aquaculture applications.

Up to 90 applications have flooded in to the department in recent months, amid concerns of French investment.

Works on a new 40-acre oyster farm are under way on the shoreline at Glenbeigh, with trestles being laid out. The original licence was for cultivating clams but was amended after a public notice. At the time, there was no objections.

Agriculture Minister Simon Coveney is on record as saying no environmental impact statement is necessary.

Maurice Murphy, the spokesman for a local “Save This Beach” campaign, said : “This is a new departure; most people don’t know what oyster farms look like. Grown in bags on high trestles on the shore and on beaches, they are a lot more industrial and intrusive than one might expect.”

Applications for aqua- culture licences go through a number of processes under legislation including the Fisheries Acts, Foreshores Act and other EU law. But no notices are erected on site and “applications can be missed”, opponents claim.

Cllr Michael Cahill, brought up near Rossbeigh beach, said there is a lot of concern locally but said he also knows some of the applicants. “It’s a difficult matter for me,” he said.

However, he hopes to arrange a meeting between applicants and locals, amid fears for the tourist industry and access to amenities.

He says the introduction of oyster farming is something entirely new for the region.

“I believe it is important applicants sit down with some of the concerned locals as soon as possible and try and find a solution that is acceptable to all parties. That should happen prior to any public meeting being called. I do believe this is an area that nobody wants to destroy,” Mr Cahill said.

“The Dooks, Reenalagane, Keelnabrack, Incharea, and Rossbeigh area never had a tradition of oyster farming, although there was cockle picking. It is a very popular tourist area, a very popular scenic area, and an area that attracts many walkers and visitors,” he said.

In Co Donegal, protests took place recently over the introduction of oyster farms.