West Cork and fisheries groups welcome quashing of Bantry Bay salmon farm licence

High Court judge rules in favour of judicial review taken against the 2021 licence for a salmon farm granted to MOWI Ireland

Judge David Holland said he would make final substantive orders on the salmon farm licence case at the end of July. Stock picture: Robert F Bukaty/AP

Local groups in Bantry have hailed the quashing of a licence for a salmon farm in the bay as “vindication” for the widespread opposition to the venture in the locality.

In a ruling published on Friday, High Court judge David Holland ruled in favour of a judicial review taken against the 2021 decision to grant a licence for the proposed farm just south of Shot Head in Bantry Bay.

That aquaculture licence had been granted to the entity MOWI Ireland, which already operates two separate salmon-growing farms in the bay.

The proceedings against the Aquaculture Licences Appeals Board had been taken by three separate entities — Salmon Watch Ireland, Inland Fisheries Ireland, and a joint action taken by, amongst others, private citizen Peter Sweetman and the Federation of Irish Salmon and Sea Trout Anglers.

In his 543-page judgement, Justice Holland said he was quashing the licence granted due to:

• There having been insufficient consideration of the possible effects of the farm on a local seal population;
• An unsatisfactory environmental impact assessment concerning the risks of salmon escaping the farm;
• Inadequate reasons for concluding that the proposed farm would not be in breach of the Water Framework Directive in terms of the potential release of inorganic nitrogen into local waters as a byproduct of the salmons’ feed.

The judge said he would make final substantive orders on the case at the end of July, whereupon he would direct a hearing for costs should the parties to the action not be able to agree on how they should be split.

Johnny Murphy, director of Salmon Watch Ireland, said the group is “delighted” at the judge’s decision, describing it as “a victory for wild salmon”. Mr Murphy said: 

It is a vindication of our efforts to protect wild salmon and to ensure that coastal ecosystems are not harmed by this destructive industry.

“We will look carefully at the judgement and would hope that this decision may herald a change in government policy in promoting open cage salmon farming which has been found to be highly destructive to wild salmon and sea trout both in Ireland and internationally,” he added.

Alec O’Donovan, secretary of the local Save Bantry Bay group, described the ruling as “great news” for the environmental health of the rivers in the Bantry Bay area.

He said it had been achieved “through the enormous effort of concerned citizens” in the area.

   

   

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