BRENDAN McLAUGHLIN,
Sir, - It was frightening to read in your edition of March 16th that BSE is on the increase, with 16 new cases being confirmed by the Department of Agriculture, Food and Rural Development.
It is now established that BSE was caused by animal feed derived from pig and poultry ration that contained meat and bone meal.
This leads me to ask a question regarding the aquaculture industry in this country. If salmon in fish farms are being fed on a diet of fish meal, is it not inevitable that sooner or later some variant of a new disease will raise its ugly head, if indeed it has not already entered the food chain?
I would like to ask the Minister of the Marine, Mr Frank Fahy, if any research has been carried out by the Irish Government or any other government regarding this matter - or will we wake up some morning and find we have another catastrophe on our hands? - Yours, etc.,
BRENDAN McLAUGHLIN,
Secretary, Buncrana
Environmental Group,
Co Donegal.