| 05/11/2003 -
Sea
trout and wild salmon have been victims of 'ethnic cleansing'
PRESS RELEASE ISSUED BY FEDERATION OF IRISH SALMON AND SEA TROUT ANGLERS, FRIENDS OF CLEW BAY AND SAVE THE SWILLY - 5 November 2003 Ireland has experienced the equivalent of an ethnic cleansing of our wild fish stocks over the past 20 years. The Federation of Irish Salmon and Sea Trout Anglers (FISSTA), in a submission today to the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Communications, Marine and Natural Resources, said the problems in the salmon-farming industry highlighted by the recent RTE Prime Time programme were not unique, or a case of "one or two bad apples". FISSTA was one of several groups asked to appear before the Joint Committee following revelations in the Prime Time programme which focused on the problems of sea-lice and on breaches of regulations by a number of salmon farmers. These were not isolated incidents, according to FISSTA chairman Mr Noel Carr. He said there are issues relating to sea-lice infestation and pollution from salmon farming that pose a real and increasing environmental threat to the Irish coastline. "We hope and trust that a wake-up call is heard and understood, " Mr Carr told the Oireachtas Committee. "It is not an exaggeration to state that the survival of Ireland's wild sea trout and salmon will depend on the actions taken by our legislators." While the linkage between declines in wild salmon and sea trout stocks and infestation of sea-lice from salmon farms is accepted in countries such as Norway, Mr Carr said Ireland's regulatory agencies are in denial about this dire threat to our native species. He quoted the respected marine scientist Dr Paddy Gargan, that "there is no doubt that salmon farms producing sea-lice are the major contributing factor to the sea-trout collapse." Mr Michael Kennedy, of the Western Regional Fisheries Board, also was interviewed during the Prime Time programme, blaming salmon farms for the sea-trout collapse. Mr Kennedy said that the Western Board "had considered everything" in its efforts to establish a cause for the decline in wild-fish stocks. "Forestry, over-grazing, angling, but it all came down to one thing - sea-lice emanating from salmon farms." FISSTA and various affiliated organisations, including Friends of Clew Bay and Save The Swilly, have called on the government to suspend all further licensing of salmon farms while Ireland conducts its own research into the relationship between sea-lice and declines in salmon and sea-trout stocks. "Why are we prepared to continue risking the very existence of the wild salmon as we have already brought our sea trout to the point of extinction?" the FISSTA submission to the Joint Oireachtas Committee asked. Norway has closed many bays and fjords to fish-farming in a determined bid to conserve its wild salmon and sea trout stocks. "In Ireland, we have not reached that level of honesty about the risks posed by salmon farming," FISSTA said. "We know of no fish farm in Ireland that has been reprimanded, much less fined, for exceeding maximum permitted sea-lice levels on their farms." Mr Carr of FISSTA said it was common knowledge that many Irish fish farms consistently exceeded maximum permitted sea-lice levels. "In a recent report, the Northern Regional Fisheries Board (NRFB) said sea-lice levels in Inver Bay, Co. Donegal are five to six times the levels permitted under present regulations." The Chief Executive of the NRFB said the problem had existed for a number of years, and he had raised the matter with the Department of the Marine several times. "Yet, to our knowledge nothing has happened in response to these disclosures," said Mr Carr. FISSTA said the "appropriate State agencies must be given the powers to regulate the [salmon-farming] industry in an objective way, and that they must be seen to be doing so." Contact: Noel Carr,
FISSTA, 087-2352001 www.fissta.com
|
