Fish farm proposals - Coveney has to listen to objections

With questions hanging over the future of the wild Atlantic salmon, a big money-spinner for Irish tourism, few issues provoke more heated controversy than the operation of fish farms off Ireland’s coasts.

The impassioned nature of debate around this contentious topic was seen at the weekend when 200 people from all parts of the country gathered in the rain outside Marine Minister Simon Coveney’s constituency office in Carrigaline, Co Cork. Their protest was against a Bord Iascaigh Mhara (BIM) proposal to locate giant salmon farms off the west coast.

Jobs, money, and environmental concerns already dominate debate on both sides of this argument. For BIM, the aim is to create 500 jobs at three super-sized deep-sea salmon farms, the first at Inis Oírr in the Aran Islands, each with an annual harvest capacity of 15,000 tonnes. Doubtless, the opening of the China market to salmon exports from Europe is an influential factor.