A substantial release of farmed salmon from a cage in Killary Harbour has raised concerns about its impact on wild stocks in some of Ireland’s most important angling rivers nearby.
A spokesman for the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM), which is the licensing authority, confirmed that on August 13th it received notification from a licensee that there had been an escape of salmon at a site in the Co Galway harbour.
“The licensee has advised that the damaged cage has been repaired. The department’s marine engineering division is currently preparing a report on the incident,” it added.
Galway Bay Against Salmon Cages (GBASC) said it was informed by a source connected to the salmon farming industry in Connemara that “there was a large escape of farmed salmon” on Sunday, August 11th – estimated at between 10,000 and 30,000 fish.
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“This major escape will have a devastating impact on the Erriff and Delphi rivers flowing into Killary Harbour and other nearby rivers such as Kylemore river, Clifden river, Culfin river and Ballynahinch river if these escapees are not recaptured,” said GBASC spokesman Billy Smyth.
This salmon farm is operated by Mannin Bay Salmon Company. It confirmed its “divers discovered a tear on one of our nets on Monday morning on the routine dive”.
“This followed on from works that were conducted on Sunday during rough weather. Upon discovery the net was repaired by the divers in the water and was subsequently replaced with a new one,” it added.
DAFM, local fishery managers and Inland Fisheries Ireland (IFI) were notified, while an engineer from the department conducted a detailed assessment on the site on Thursday.
“In tandem with the inspection it was also agreed with Marine Institute inspectors under direction from DAFM that specialised trap nets would be set west of the cages.”
IFI also agreed to place additional draft nets on the north shore. The company said it had agreed to provide finance toward this operation. “It is hoped that this will much reduce the possibility of any of the fish heading up into the Erriff or Delphi fisheries,” it said.
“From a ‘genetic pollution’ point of view it should be noted that these fish will not mature until winter 2025 at the earliest and survival till then will be minimal. We are obviously very upset at this occurrence and will now have a detailed review to arrive at a plan to prevent such a recurrence in the future.”
Salmon farm licensees must notify DAFM and IFI within 24 hours when an escape occurs, Mr Smyth noted, while a comprehensive emergency plan must be in place to deal with any unforeseen circumstances in relation to the proper operation of a salmon farm, including fish escapes.
“The question is, what plan or measures have been implemented to recapture the escapees. According to reports from the area large numbers of farmed salmon can be seen jumping in the vicinity of the cages,” he said.
The company said “the number that escaped was insignificant”.
Salmon Watch Ireland said it was alerted about a large escape of farmed salmon from the Rosroe salmon farm. “The escape appears to have been caused by a fish farm boat colliding with salmon cages,” it added.
The farm licence is listed as owned by Docon Limited of Mulranny, Co Mayo.
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