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Government Policy
The sustainable development of the aquaculture
industry is a State priority.
DCMNR
2006
The Department
of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources (DCMNR) exercises
direct responsibility for aquaculture policy. The Department's
Seafood
Policy & Development section is responsible for the strategic,
economic and sustainable development of the aquaculture sector
within the framework of the EU Common Fisheries Policy and the
Fisheries (Amendment) Act, 1997.
Meanwhile the licensing, monitoring and enforcement of aquaculture
activities are handled separately by the Department's Coastal
Zone Management Division (CZMD), supposedly "as an integral
part of coastal zone management" (DCMNR 2006). The CZMD,
Inland Fisheries and Seafood Policy & Development sections consult
and advise each other on matters relating to their respective
remits.
The Department's overall goal for aquaculture is "to support
the sustainable development of the sector in order to maximise
its contribution to jobs and growth in coastal communities and
to the national economy" (DCMNR 2006). One of the key objectives
underpinning this goal is to create a sustainable and "environmentally
appropriate" framework and critical mass for the expansion
of aquaculture under the current (and recently cutback) National
Development Plan 2000-2006.
The Aquaculture Industry Forum, comprising the Department, the
State agencies Bord Iascaigh Mhara (BIM), Údarás
na Gaeltachta and the Marine Institute, as well as key players
from the industry (but no environmental NGOs), was
established to facilitate communications and dialogue between
producers, representative bodies such as the Irish Shellfish Association
and the Government on strategic issues facing the industry.
"The Forum enables the aquaculture industry to play a leading
role in identifying and raising issues of priority and provides
a practical mechanism for periodic review and information exchange
on market trends and opportunities, investment strategies, R&D
needs, environmental issues, international and EU developments
as well as policy issues generally" (DCMNR 2006).
Gold rush mentality
On the back of an investment and development strategy study
undertaken by Circa Group Consultants (2000) concerning the future
direction and opportunities for the Irish aquaculture industry,
the Department states that "the mission for the Irish aquaculture
sector must be to exploit to the full new and existing business
opportunities, increase exports and employment in the peripheral
coastal areas by producing at least 150,000 tonnes of [annual]
output by 2015" (DCMNR
2006).
The Circa Group study estimated that when that level of production
is reached the Irish aquaculture industry will support over 6,000
extra jobs (part- and full-time) in peripheral coastal areas;
and will stimulate and increase existing services sector and downstream
(processing and transport) industries, in turn creating new business
opportunities and directly supporting a further 3,000 jobs (DCMNR
2006).
Heavily subsidised
Under the Regional Programmes [1]
of the National Development Plan 2000-2006, some €31.7 million
of State Exchequer and EU investment support (i.e. subsidies to
producers and research and development projects paid for by the
taxpayer) are being ploughed — through BIM and Údarás
na Gaeltachta — into supporting the rapid growth of Irish
aquaculture. This is in support of a total overall investment
of €76 million (in other words the industry is receiving
an overall level of public subsidy exceeding 40%).
The major objectives of the Aquaculture Measure under the National
Development Plan are "to support the development of the aquaculture
industry to achieve critical mass in existing production species,
diversification into novel species, infrastructural and technological
development, environmental sustainability and quality assurance"
(DCMNR
2006).
Furthermore, the Aquaculture Measure "is targeted at rural
and coastal communities who depend on fishing and aquaculture
for income and is designed to increase the viability of these
communities, to provide alternative sources of income and to contribute
to national and regional economic growth through the sustainable
development of the sector" (DMNR 2000).
High-energy site strategy
In a bid to achieve a four-fold increase in the production of
farmed salmon within a decade, bringing it close to 100,000 tonnes
annually, State agency BIM has adopted a strategy of supporting
and encouraging the location of new high-technology marine finfish
production systems at exposed marine "high-energy" sites
(i.e. sites that are quite exposed in terms of wave energy and
high current flow).
According to The Irish Skipper (2002),
BIM believes that Ireland's marine finfish farming industry is
unlikely to find the necessary space to achieve full production
capacity close to the coast because of demands from increasing
numbers of other users on inshore marine resources, and opposition
from tourism interests and environmentalists. Unlike in Norway
and Scotland, the Irish coast lacks suitably sheltered deepwater
sites for salmon farming. Trials have been conducted on a variety
of large, robust sea cages [2] for use in extreme
conditions.
Many in the industry believe the BIM strategy will open-up less
controversial sites, and will provide the opportunity to farm
new species such as cod and haddock.
Donal Maguire, BIM's aquaculture development manager said: "State
policy favours expansion of the salmon farming industry at more
remote sites where there will be less competition from other interests…
So, if we are to have a substantial industry here, it is better
to have it in those areas where the potential for environmental
impact is very limited." Maguire added that long-established
salmon farms in relatively sheltered inshore sites would not be
abandoned in the move to open-up more remote sites. "Instead,
BIM's twin aim would be to support both."
For more about high-energy sites see Open
Ocean Aquaculture.
Novel species policy
In September 2001 BIM hosted a conference aimed at bringing
together the aquaculture and commercial fishing industries to
discuss the potential in Ireland for farming cod and other new
or "novel" species of whitefish, including hake and
haddock.
According to industry sources in Newfoundland, intensive mass
production of cod fry is now a reality, enabling development of
industrial scale cod farming, and that most of the current salmon
farming technology is directly transferable to cod farming.
Dr Reid Hole, head of the Nutreco Aquaculture Research Centre
in Norway, predicted that annual harvest of intensively farmed
Irish cod could be between 5,000 and 10,000 tonnes within a decade,
with haddock and halibut to follow. Dr Hole introduced the concept
of dedicated industrial marine aquaculture parks instead of separate
production operations far removed from one another (The Irish
Skipper 2001).
For more about novel species, including seahorses, see Novel
Species.
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