Fish bonanza possible, but only with conditions

In response to Donal Buckley’s recent opinion piece in the Irish Examiner (Agri-business, April 8) the Irish Wildlife Trust would like to point out that within Ireland’s “abundant fishing grounds” less than half of assessed fish stocks are considered by the Marine Institute to be exploited sustainably.

The remainder are either overfished or too little is known of their status to be sure.

Mr Buckley suggests the forthcoming bonanza in the seafood sector will be fuelled by “new salmon farms” and “harvesting new species”.

Due to a number of issues the current model of farming salmon at sea is fundamentally unsustainable.

Meanwhile after 60 years of intensive exploitation viable fisheries for wild salmon, cod, sole, whiting, oysters and herring are a distant memory.

The IWT is not against the sustainable use of ocean resources.

However, currently 0% of our open water is protected from damaging fishing practices and marine habitats are under assault from pollution, climate change, noise and the highly destructive practice of dredging for species such as prawns, scallops, razor clams and mussel seed.

No fish or marine invertebrate is protected under the Wildlife Act so our biodiversity is only ever seen as, in Mr Buckley’s words, ‘raw material’.

A sustainable bonanza is possible but only with the designation of large marine protected areas, more selective fishing gear, and sticking to the scientific advice when setting quotas.

Pádraic Fogarty

Irish Wildlife Trust

Glasnevin

Dublin 11