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Regulation of Aquaculture
For a comprehensive summary of Ireland's aquaculture legislation
and regulation (including planning and access, water and wastewater,
fish movement, disease control, veterinary medicines, feed, food
safety, aquaculture investment, and GMOs, which are not covered
below) see Ireland's search entry in the FAO/FIGIS National
Aquaculture Legislation Overview.
Aquaculture is recognised as having the potential
for further growth and development. The role of the regulatory
process will be to ensure that any development of the industry
is founded on sustainable projects, appropriately located and
carried on in accordance with high standards of environmental
and ecological protection.
DCMNR 2003
The main legal instrument governing the licensing and control
of the aquaculture industry is the Fisheries
(Amendment) Act, 1997. The 1997 Act defines aquaculture as
"the culture or farming of any species of fish, aquatic invertebrate
animal of whatever habitat or aquatic plant, or any aquatic form
of food suitable for the nutrition of fish". Under the provisions
of the 1997 Act, a person intending to engage in aquaculture must
first apply for and then be granted an aquaculture licence, a
trial licence, or an oyster bed licence or an oyster fishery order,
as appropriate. To engage in aquaculture without authorisation
is an offence. Unlicensed operations could entail a fine and/or
imprisonment. Furthermore, under Section 65 ("Offences and
general penalty for contravention or failure to comply with provision
of Act") of the 1997 Act, a person who contravenes or fails
to comply with a term of a licence or an attached condition is
guilty of an offence and is liable to a large fine or imprisonment,
or both. The 1997 Act has been further amended by the Fisheries
(Amendment) Act, 2001.
Also relevant to aquaculture are the Foreshore
Act, 1933, the Foreshore
(Amendment) Act, 1992 and the Fisheries
and Foreshore (Amendment) Act, 1998, which require aquaculture
project developers to obtain a foreshore licence before occupying
or undertaking any works or placing structures on state-owned
foreshore for the purpose of, inter alia, aquaculture.
The foreshore is defined as the seabed and shore
below the line of high water of ordinary or medium tides and extends
outwards to the limit of 12 nautical miles (approximately 22.24km).
The Fisheries
and Foreshore (Amendment) Act, 1998 prohibits any person making
an application from commencing aquaculture operations until duly
licensed under the 1997 Act. Under Section 4(1) ("Persons
not to engage in aquaculture in anticipation of grant of licence")
of the 1998 Act an application for an aquaculture licence shall
not be accepted, or if accepted shall not be determined, if the
applicant or any person on behalf of the applicant has already
engaged in aquaculture to which the application relates before
a licence is granted.
Responsibility for the regulation of aquaculture at the national
level is divided among a number of government departments and
their executive agencies, principally the the Department
of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources (DCMNR) and
its Coastal Zone Management Division (CZMD). The State agencies
Bord Iascaigh
Mhara/the Irish Sea Fisheries Board (BIM), Údarás
na Gaeltachta and the Marine
Institute also have a major role. (See Government
Policy).
International dimension
Ireland, as a member of the European Union, is subject to a substantial
body of EU legislation relevant to the aquaculture sector. The
main areas covered include food additives, animal diseases, environment,
labelling and packaging, market, research, sanitary and hygiene
measures, structures, third countries, and sanitary. The European
Commission's DG
Fisheries and Maritime Affairs is the lead agency concerning
aquaculture.
The legislation includes Regulations, which are directly applicable
and binding in all EU Member States without the need for any national
implementing legislation, and Directives, which bind Member States
as to the objectives to be achieved within a certain time-limit.
Directives leave the national authorities the choice of form and
means to be used and have to be implemented in national legislation
in accordance with the procedures of the individual member states
(FIRI 2006). Legislation is usually preceeded by proposals contained
in one or more Communications from the Euopean Commission.
Ireland is a member country of the International
Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES). There are a
number of ICES working
groups relevant to marine aquaculture. Particularly relevant
to the aquaculture sector is the ICES 2003 Code
of Practice on the Introductions and Transfers of Marine Organisms
(pdf), which sets out recommended procedures and practices to
diminish the risks of detrimental effects from the intentional
introduction and transfer of marine (including brackishwater)
organisms. It applies to public (commercial and governmental),
private, and scientific interests including introductions into
closed containment. ICES member countries contemplating new introductions
are requested to present to the ICES Council a detailed prospectus
on the rationale and plan for any new introduction of a marine
(brackish) species. The contents of the prospectus are detailed
in Appendix A to the Code. If any introduction or transfer proceeds
following approval, ICES requests member countries to keep the
Council informed about it (FIRI 2006).
In addition, the EU is a member of the North
Atlantic Salmon Conservation Organization (NASCO). Particularly
relevant to the aquaculture sector is the Resolution
by the Parties to the Convention for the Conservation of Salmon
in the North Atlantic Ocean to Minimise Impacts from Aquaculture,
Introductions and Transfers, and Transgenic on Wild Salmon Stocks
(2003) (pdf).
The EU is also a party to the 1992
OSPAR Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment
of the North-East Atlantic, which has direct implications
for marine aquaculture, for example, Recommendation
94/6 on Best Environmental Practice (BEP) for the Reduction of
Inputs of Potentially Toxic Chemicals from Aquaculture.
Authorisation and licensing
Under the Fisheries
(Amendment) Act, 1997, any person wishing to engage in land-based
or marine-based aquaculture must apply to the Department of Communications,
Marine and Natural Resources (DCMNR) for an aquaculture licence
or, in the case of investigative or experimental aquaculture,
a trial licence.
The Fisheries
and Foreshore (Amendment) Act, 1998 prohibits any applicant
from commencing aquaculture operations until duly licensed under
the 1997 Act. Unlicensed operations could entail a fine and/or
imprisonment.
The Aquaculture
(Licence Application) Regulations, 1998 specify how applications
for licences should be made, using the official application form
provided, and paying the appropriate application fee. The official
application form is also to be used where a foreshore licence
is required.
The Foreshore Acts, 1933 to 1998
[1] require that aquaculture project developers
must obtain a foreshore licence from the DCMNR before occupying,
undertaking any works or placing structures on State-owned foreshore
for the purpose of aquaculture. Foreshore licences are granted
subject to the payment of a fee in addition to the fee payable
for the aquaculture licence.
In 1999 the DCMNR granted 157 foreshore licences for aquaculture
projects. In 2000 the DCMNR granted a further 116 licences. The
figure dropped to 63 licences granted in 2001 comprising: 3 for
projects involving aquatic plants (seaweed), 7 for salmon cages,
22 for oysters and the remainder for other shellfish (mainly mussels).
The applicant must submit the form to DCMNR's Coastal
Zone Management Division (CZMD), which then requires the applicant
to publish a notice of the application in a local newspaper. The
CZMD informs the applicant of its decision to grant or refuse
the application.
The Fisheries (Amendment) Act, 1997 specifies
the following criteria to be taken into account by CZMD in making
licensing decisions, as may be appropriate in the circumstances
of the particular case:
• the suitability of the place or waters at which the
aquaculture is or is proposed to be carried on for the activity
in question;
• other beneficial uses, existing or potential, of the
place or waters concerned;
• the particular statutory status, if any, (including
the provisions of any development plan, within the meaning of
the Local Government (Planning and Development) Act, 1963 (as
amended) of the place or waters;
• the likely effects of the proposed aquaculture, or
revocation or amendment of an aquaculture licence, on the economy
of the area in which the aquaculture is or is proposed to be carried
on;
• the likely ecological effects of the aquaculture or
proposed aquaculture on wild fisheries, natural habitats and flora
and fauna;
• the effect or likely effect on the environment generally
in the vicinity of the place or water on or in which the aquaculture
is or is proposed to be carried out
1. on the foreshore, or
2. at any other place, if there
is or would be no discharge of trade or sewage effluent within
the meaning of, and requiring a licence under the Local Government
(Water Pollution) Act; and
• the effect or likely effect on the man-made environment
of heritage value in the vicinity of the place or waters.
If satisfied that it is in the public interest to do so, CZMD
may attach conditions to the aquaculture or trial license as it
thinks fit. Such conditions may relate to, inter alia, the amount
of feed inputs, annual or seasonal limits on stock inputs and
outputs, operational practices, the reporting of incidences of
disease, the disposal of dead fish, measures and arrangements
for preventing escapes of fish, monitoring and inspection, the
keeping of records, the protection of the environment and the
control of discharges.
FIRI 2006
Aquaculture licenses are valid for the period specified in the
license, which cannot exceed 20 years, and may be renewed upon
expiration of that period. Trial licenses are valid for the period
specified in the license, which, in the case of salmon farming,
cannot exceed one year, and, in all other cases, three years.
Trial licenses cannot be renewed.
For details of regulations and planning concerning access to
land and water, and protected areas such as Special Areas of Conservation,
see FAO/FIGIS National
Aquaculture Legislation Overview.
Aquaculture Licenses
Appeals Board
Any person aggrieved by a decision made by CZMD in relation to
an aquaculture licence application, or by the revocation or amendment
of an aquaculture licence, may make an appeal to the Aquaculture
Licences Appeals Board (ALAB) within one month of publication
(in the case of a decision) or notification (in the case of revocation/amendment).
The appeal procedures do not cover applications for trial licences
or foreshore licences.
The ALAB was established in 1998 under Section 22 of the Fisheries
(Amendment) Act, 1997. The function of the ALAB is to provide
an independent authority for the determination of appeals against
decisions of the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural
Resources (via CZMD) on aquaculture licences.
However, an unknown but significant number of appeals that would
otherwise be made by individuals and organisations against licence
awards are stymied by the hefty fee (€152.37) charged by
the ALAB for lodging an appeal. There is also an additional €76.18
fee for requesting an oral hearing.
The outcome of the ALAB's determinations on appeals received
from individuals or organisations against a decision to grant
an aquaculture licence speaks for itself. Of the 58 determinations
made by ALAB between 2002 and 2005, 43 were in favour of the decision
to grant a licence, and just 8 were against resulting in a licence
being refused. The number of appeals received by ALAB:
- 2002 – 13 new appeals (8 in relation to salmon licences,
2 scallops, 2 mussels and one in relation to sea urchins), with
38 previous appeals still awaiting decision.
- 2003 – 7 new appeals (all in relation to salmon licences).
- 2004 – 21 new appeals (18 in relation to the granting
of licences for the cultivation of mussels, 2 oysters and one
rainbow trout).
- 2005 – 17 new appeals (4 in relation to the cultivation
of scallops, 1 mussels and oysters, and 12 in relation to the
pacific oysters).
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