Shellfish coastal waters 'inaction' deadline nears for Govt

The Government has only days to come up with an explanation for the deteriorating condition of waters around the country’s coastline.

The April 17 deadline has been set by the European Commission. By that date, the authorities in Dublin have to submit a report detailing the reason for official inaction on the designation of bays and estuaries as suitable for shellfish production.

Almost 60 locations around the 2,700-mile coast of Ireland are used for the cultivation of shellfish and have to be protected under the terms of a European Union directive.

But so far only 14 bays have been designated and a number of others have had to be downgraded because of what the Irish Shellfish Association calls increasing pollution from urban centres and below-par sewerage maintenance.

According to the association, the Government’s failure to take more urgent action on the issue is making the cost of producing shellfish progressively more expensive.

A spokesman said there was no formal recognition of the way the industry had grown, with as many as 1,500 now employed, both directly and otherwise, and its value estimated at an annual €30m.

The suspicion is that Ireland, in common with some other EU states, has been ignoring the Brussels directive because of high expenditure that would be required to put things right.

The Irish shellfish trade has been studying the implications of moves made by their counterparts in Britain, where the British government was forced to act, facing a bill as high as €74m as a consequence.

ISA chairwoman Mary Ferns said today she was pleased at the EC decision to set a deadline for an Irish response on the water condition issue.

She said: “We feel that in finally having the EU directive fully in force in Ireland, we will not just be protecting our industry and our customers, but also helping the environment generally.

“Once a bay has been designated, it will have to be examined for every source of sewerage pollution and remedial action will have to be taken.

“The shellfish industry wants to work in partnership with the state on this.”

A spokesman for the Government’s Marine and Natural Resources Department said a steering group was handling the question, but was unable to say how many new areas would be designated.