THE Government has approved long awaited measures for fish farming, which include a new licence appeals board similar to An Bord Pleanala.
The State's first Aquaculture Bill, which is to be introduced shortly by the Minister of State for the Marine, Mr Eamon Gilmore, will introduce a time limit on dealing with licence applications. If passed, it will empower the Minister to amend or revoke licences where the holder breaches conditions.
After a long campaign by the aquaculture industry, new legislation was first promised publicly by Fianna Fail's minister for the marine, Mr David Andrews, in early 1994 and was identified as a priority by Mr Gilmore when he assumed office last year.
An estimated 800 licences are pending from the Department of the Marine, for finfish and shell fish operations, according to the Irish Salmon Growers' Association (ISGA).
A recent consultancy study for the ISGA identified the delay in introducing new legislation as an obstacle to growth. The system was cumbersome, expensive and overly politicised," the study by Grant Thornton Consulting said. It did not provide a "climate of security conducive to stimulating a high risk/high return investment", it added.
Fish farming is valued at £45 million, and Irish farmed salmon production is running at 13,000 tonnes or 3.5 per cent of world production. Shellfish was quoted at £36 million in first sale value, in 1994, some £30 million of which represents the wild sector and £6 million the farmed.
The developing seaweed industry is valued at £3 million annually.
The Bill aims to update the 1959 and 1980 Fisheries Acts. The existing legislation was found to be flawed in several instances, in pre dating the significant growth of aquaculture since 1980. Local authority regulations were also applied inconsistently, according to the Grant Thornton study.
Announcing the legislation yesterday, the Minister of State said the Bill proposed to establish an Aquaculture Licence Appeals Board, modelled on An Bord Pleanala's system. Both applicants and third parties would be permitted to appeal decisions to this board.
The new legislation would underpin the industry, provide a basis for sustainable development and provide a more transparent licensing system, he said.
"Aquaculture is a very important industry, especially in coastal areas," Mr Gilmore said. "Some 25 per cent of Ireland's fish production now comes from fish farming, and the industry employs 2,500 people, mostly in remote coastal communities where there is little alternative employment."
The ISGA welcomed the Bill in principle but said it was looking forward to studying its contents.
