THE ONLY tidal lobster ponds in Ireland – at Cleggan Lobster Fisheries in Co Galway – have been quietly offered for sale in France and Spain at an asking price of around €800,000.
The owner, John Fouere, 67, said yesterday that he is planning to dispose of the tidal holding facility and the business before retiring.
The ponds, located on the scenic west coast of Connemara, can store up to 20 tons of lobster and crawfish, frequently numbering up to 35,000 fish. About 80 per cent of the catch is exported to France with most of the remainder going to Spain.
The storage facilities extend to 4,000sq m (43,056sq ft) and in recent years have been used to store an average of 15 to 18 tons a season. The lobster and crawfish are bought from fishermen during the summer months and sold in December and January when prices generally peak. Last summer newly landed lobster made an average of €11 per kilo. It was subsequently sold on the Continent in December and January at €26 to €30 a kilo.
Water renewal in the ponds is entirely tidal and the water levels can be controlled by three sluice gates. Also for sale is an adjoining factory building where shellfish are processed, packed and prepared for export. The first floor of the building has offices and a two-bedroom caretaker apartment with uninterrupted sea views. There are also several cold storage rooms and blast freezing facilities.
The Cleggan lobster ponds are opposite Inishbofin, about 11 miles from Clifden, Co Galway.
The business was originally set up in the late 1920s/early 1930s when a shellfish merchant from Brittany, Marcel Samzun, established a tidal holding base in Inishbofin harbour. He later relocated to a small creek behind Aughrusbeg pier on the mainland. Once in operation, the ponds were used as a base for the collection, storage and shipping of lobsters, crawfish, winkles and other shellfish to the UK and France.
Mr Samzun was joined in 1949 by Yann Fouere, a Breton political refugee who was granted asylum by the de Valera Government. He later changed his name by deed poll to Sean Mauger and took over the running of Cleggan Lobster Fisheries in 1955. He currently lives in Brittany and will celebrate his 100th birthday on July 26th. Mr Mauger retired in 1975 and since then the business has been run by his son John Fouere. He is the brother of the actor Olwen Fouere.
