Madam, – I refer to Angling Notes (April 6th) and the content of a letter to Derek Evans by Donal McGuire, the aquaculture development manager of Bord Iascaigh Mhara, regarding the longstanding problem with sea lice in Connemara.
This matter has been thrashed around for more than 20 years although numerous scientific papers have been published by eminent scientists clearly identifying the salmon louse as a major cause of both wild salmon and sea trout mortality.
Recently the international scientists of both ICES (the International Council for the Exploration of the Seas) and NASCO (the North Atlantic Salmon Conservation Organisation) warned against the dangers posed by sea lice emanating from marine salmon farms and their impact on wild salmon smolts. It cannot be ignored that salmon farms are the greatest sources of lice by orders of magnitude over wild fish.
As a nation we have failed to protect the wild salmon and sea trout, but to ignore the scientific findings and continue to permit salmon aquaculture in bays belonging to rivers that are special areas for conservation for Atlantic salmon would be nothing short of irresponsible.
The time for debate is long over, the scientific facts are undisputable, the wild fish cannot be permitted to be destroyed. It’s time for Ireland to follow Norway’s example and to designate the bays into which important salmon rivers (proposed SAC rivers) flow as conservation areas for wild fish and to relocate the salmon farms elsewhere. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – It was with a creeping sense of dismay that I read Donal McGuire’s correspondence that appeared in Angling Notes relating to sea lice and the reintroduction of salmon farming to Bertraghboy Bay in Connemara.
Mr McGuire states that when salmon farming was re-introduced into the bay (six months ago), the farmed salmon were rapidly infested by sea lice. His conclusion that the source of the sea lice was from the minuscule numbers of wild salmon and trout in the bay at that time of the year beggars belief. He might well have looked elsewhere for the source of the problem – such as neighbouring Kilkieran Bay, only 10 kilometres to the south – where several salmon farm operators have a total of over a million salmon in open net pens. In one operation sea lice levels at the time were twice the guideline limit. Only last month I attended an international aquaculture conference in Boston along with other salmon conservationists and members of the salmon farming community. The international scientific and salmon farming communities have long established the fact that sea lice emanating from salmon farms have serious detrimental effects on wild fish stocks, and is now in the process of having multi-sector dialogue to discuss how salmon farms and wild fisheries might coexist.
Proper regulation of the industry and correct siting of salmon farms should mean that there can be an amicable coexistence between both wild and farm interests. However, until such time as the salmon farming industry in Ireland and the regulatory authorities face up to their responsibilities and recognise the link between fish farms and sea lice, then the “respectful and balanced dialogue” that Mr McGuire yearns for will not progress to a sustainable solution. This will no doubt result in the unfortunate likelihood of an intervention from Brussels to clean up our mess.
Time to put our own house in order. – Yours, etc,