This article is from page 11 of the 2013-01-29 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 11 JPG
FISHING groups opposed to the construction of a large fish farm off the Clare coast say that they will mobilise 5,000 protesters to picket a commercial fishing expo due to take place in Galway in March.
The Irish Skippers’ Expo is a large commercial fishing expo, featuring up to 130 stands from local and international maritime and fishing industries. The event is being sponsored by Bord Iascaigh Mhara (BIM), who are currently applying to the Department of Agriculture for a licence to construct the fish farm.
More than 100 delegates from anglers and environmental groups attended a meeting last week and decided to target the second day of the Irish Skippers’ Expo, Saturday March 2, for the protest. An umbrella group called Galway Bay Against Salmon Cages or GBASC, has been formed to coordinate the mass protest.
The BIM project, which is planned for five miles off the Fanore coast, would produce up to 15,000 tonnes of organic grade farm salmon a year or effectively double Ireland’s farm salmon output.
BIM claim than as many as 500 local jobs could be created through the project, with 350 jobs coming directly through the operation and maintenance of the farm and a further 150 jobs through support industries locally.
The projects has come in for some criticism with government agency Inland Fisheries Ireland (IFI) coming out against it, disputing BIM’s figures for job creation and the amount of pollution which will be produced.
GBASC spokesperson, Michael Canney, last week claimed that the salmon farm would produce more waste than the entire population of Clare – or 150,000 people.
BIM CEO, Jason Whooley said the € 60 million project presents a major market opportunity for Ireland and said that people’s fears were real but unfounded.
“Organic salmon farming means there is 99 per cent water and one per cent salmon in the enclosure – very low stocking densities, which will further minimise any potential impact on the receiving environment,” he said. “It is time now to move forward together to seize this huge opportunity for Ireland before it slips from our grasp.”