Kenmare Bay is located in the South West of Ireland and is home to two currently operating salmon farms (Deenish and Inishfarnard) owned and operated by MOWI. There are two other farms within the bay which are not currently operating with a further application pending for another site near Inishfarnard.
The farm at Deenish was ordered to close in April 2019 but has continued to operate pending the outcome of an appeal which has yet to be determined. This situation is appalling considering that five years have elapsed without any sign of determination. The farm has been allowed to continue to the detriment of the once famous sea trout fishery in Waterville. This fishery had the potential to generate up to three million euro for the local economy but is essentially now derelict with little if any angling tourism in the area. Make no mistake this fishery can be returned to a vibrant fishery with economic prosperity returning if salmon farming is removed from Kenmare Bay.
No sea trout fishery has ever survived along side open pen salmon farming and Waterville is no exception. This situation is completely mirrored in the west of Ireland, Scotland and Norway. It is worth noting that when the farms in Kenmare Bay were closed in the period from 2004 to 2009 there was a substantial increase in sea trout numbers and a rebalancing of the population through all age groups. Waterville is home to genetically distinct sea trout and are a national asset which has been effectively destroyed by salmon farming.
In 2023 MOWI applied for a renewal of their expired licences for Deenish and Inishfarnard and this is under examination by the Department of Agriculture, Food and Marine and is awaited with interest by all. There were a significant number of objections to these applications so we await determination but we expect this may take some time if previous experience is anything to go on.
We would like to draw your attention to our submissions regarding the renewal applications and feel free to extract information to bolster your understanding of the issues surrounding salmon farming in Ireland.
