Kerry TD slams fish farm licensing ‘scandal’ – ‘we are the laughing stock of the whole world’
The Kerryman“We are the laughingstock of not just Europe, but the whole world,” Kerry TD Michael Cahill has said.
He was speaking during a recent Oireachtas committee meeting during which he expressed outrage at the sluggishness of Ireland’s aquaculture licensing system, calling delays a “scandal”.
“Up to 20 years waiting to be granted a licence is some statistic in the modern world. It would be unacceptable if we were counting the time in months, not to mind years,” he said.
While on the surface, this sedate system might appear to hamper aquaculture enterprise, it may also be used to reason against governmental authority.
Kerry’s only fish farm at Deenish Island, Waterville, has been the subject of furious debate in local angling communities and national government departments for near decades.
Concerns over the farm’s impact on wild fish stocks and Waterville’s tourist economy have been widely articulated and backed by prominent researchers in the field.
However, it was Ireland’s slow licensing system that featured in the controversial decision to reinstate the operating licence at Deenish this year.
Multi-national Norwegian operator Mowi had previously had its licence suspended after it was found they had harvested over double their prescribed quota – it emerged later that it was nearly quadruple.
The decision to reinstate the license by the Aquaculture Licence Appeals Board included the reasoning that the conditions were “inappropriate, outdated and inconsistent with best practice”, noting there were “significant delays in the licensing system”.
The appeals board further claimed there was no evidence of damage to the environment because of the breach in 2016, including impact on wild fish stocks.
Aggregated Irish Specimen Fish Committee (ISFC) figures paint a tragic picture for sea life in the region. Sea trout ‘specimen fish’ – exceptional fish over 6lbs – were often caught in Waterville, with an average year yielding over 20.
Number of specimen sea trout caught the Waterville area
However, in 2009 numbers began to crash, dropping to zero for the first time in recorded history in 2017. Since 2020, zero have been caught.
Fishery watchdog Salmon Watch Ireland said the reinstatement of Mowi’s licence “undermines the protection of Ireland’s wild Atlantic salmon and sea trout and fails to uphold the standards required under Irish and European law.”
They were concerned that the impacts on wild salmon and sea trout populations were not adequately assessed and the implications for angling tourism were ignored.
Vincent Appleby, a Retired gillie and Waterville local, said most of the fishing guides in the area are now way down on work, with many working part-time.
He said fish stocks across Ireland had been declining since the 60s, but with the introduction of fish farms, the numbers fell at a devastating rate.
“Since fish farms have started in Ireland, they’ve completely ruined the sea trout heritage of Ireland, and the government does not care two hoots. They have no intention of doing anything, they never have done and they don’t care,” said Mr Appleby.
“In the 80s especially, in Waterville, you’d think you were in Germany. That’s how many Germans came out here hiring boats. You might see 10 or 15 boats at one time on a regular basis.”