• Salmon Farm Escape – Killary Harbour , County Galway

    Salmon Watch Ireland has been alerted this morning to a large escape of farmed salmon from Rosroe salmon farm in Killary Harbour which occurred on Sunday, 11th August. The escape appears to have been caused by a fish farm boat colliding with salmon cages which resulted in an escape of farmed salmon numbering over ten thousand fish. It must be stressed that this figure may be an underestimate as it is likely that accurate reporting of such escapes are at best, estimated. The farmed salmon are 1.5 kg to 2kg in weight and reports indicate that large numbers can be seen throughout Killary Harbour. The farm licence is listed as owned by Docon Limited, Mulranny Co. Mayo with a recent transfer from previous owners in October 2023. Local information suggests that MOWI have a substantial interest in this farm. Salmon Watch Ireland would like to ascertain if all operating procedures were put in place to safeguard the cages prior to this incident and if all necessary reporting steps were taken once the escape was discovered. We would also like to know if steps are to be taken to trap the escapees and prevent them from entering the nearby wild salmon catchments.  In the recent decision by Judge Holland in relation to the Bantry Bay Judicial Review, he noted that the EIA was not comprehensive enough as it related to specification and structural integrity of the cage infrastructure.  This incident once again highlights the dangers and risk of damage to farms and highlights the very real risk to wild salmon genetics. These fish may in time enter rivers and interbreed with the wild salmon both in Killary harbour catchments and indeed further afield. We regard the removal of open cage technologies as a priority to protect wild salmon and are calling on DAFM to reconsider siting these farms at sea. In the interim it is of the utmost importance that the maximum number of escapees are captured to reduce risks to local wild salmon populations. We encourage anglers to report and remove farmed salmon if caught and we strongly suggest that Inland Fisheries Ireland and the Marine Institute should facilitate a program of removal by all available means.


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  • Deenish Island – Six years and counting

    The MOWI (Deenish Island) owned salmon farm located within nine kilometres of the once famous Waterville sea trout fishery has once again escaped judgement by the Aquaculture Appeals Board. This farm was officially ordered to close in April 2019 but has since operated unchallenged while pursuing an appeal against the closure. The sea trout fishery is effectively abandoned with a substantial loss of economic activity and the loss of many jobs associated with  angling tourism. The text of the letter is as follows: "I refer to my letter of 05 September 2023 in which the Board indicated it anticipated this Appeal would be determined by 30 September 2024. The Aquaculture Licences Appeals Board (ALAB) reviewed this timescale for the determination of this Appeal at its meeting on 25 July 2024 and has formed the view it will not be in a position to determine these Appeals within that timeframe due to the ongoing collation of technical advice and the vacant position of an internal ALAB Technical Advisor. In light of this, as provided for in Section 56(3) of the Act, the Board hereby gives notice of its intention to determine this Appeal by 31 January 2025." The ongoing damage to Waterville and its angling reputation is continuing while sea trout stocks continue a rapid and accelerating decline. While Salmon Watch Ireland has successfully taken judicial review proceedings in regard to Bantry Bay we are conscious that the Deenish situation should be prioritised by all concerned with bringing back stability to sea trout stocks with economic benefits accruing to the local community.  We are disappointed with the apparent apathy demonstrated by some within the local business community despite the best efforts of the local angling association (Currane Fisheries) and other conservation bodies to highlight the devastation occurring. This area more than ever needs sustainable tourism business and it is shameful that a lake like Lough Currane has effectively been consigned to the history books by the salmon farming industry. Make no mistake, salmon farming in open cage technology cannot coexist with healthy sea trout populations. It is also infuriating that the Aquaculture Licence Appeals Board has effectively allowed MOWI to delay and consistently mend their hand in relation to this appeal.  Recent submissions by Salmon Watch Ireland regarding Deenish Island: Submissions to ALAB - Deenish Island                


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  • Atlantic Salmon News

    High Court Ruling - A good day for Atlantic salmon The long running high court case against the Aquaculture Licence Appeals Board and the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine received judgement on Friday 12th July, and we were successful in having the decision to issue a salmon farm licence at Shot Head in Bantry Bay quashed and sent back to ALAB and DAFM for re-decision effectively  forcing MOWI to start the entire process of applying for a licence again which will be subject to our full consideration and renewed objection on numerous environmental grounds. Briefly put, the Aquaculture Licence will be quashed for inadequate: i. AA Screening of the risk of effects of seal scarers on seals of the SAC. ii. EIA as to the risks of escape of salmon from the fish farm. This finding relates to necessity of re-consideration of bespeaking the DAFM reports on the 2014 farmed salmon escape in Bantry Bay, and comprehensiveness of the EIA as it related to the specification and structural integrity of the cage installation. iii. reasons for the conclusion that the proposed fish farm will not lead to a breach of WFD limits as to Dissolved Inorganic Nitrogen – specifically, reasons for reliance on RPS’s “typical” data in reaching that conclusion. In addition, I will declare that ALAB delayed unreasonably as to AA Screening from the making of the Appeals in October 2015 to embarking on AA Screening after the Oral Hearing Report of November 2017. I will grant no further relief on that account. The Foreshore Licence will be quashed as • contingent on the quashed Aquaculture Licence, Ministerial regard to which was a statutory requirement of granting the Foreshore Licence. • the Minister erred, in breach of s.82 of the 1997 Act, in granting the Foreshore Licence in 2022, in having regard to his Aquaculture Licence decision of 2015 rather than to ALAB’s impugned Aquaculture Licence determination of 29th June 2021. The full decision is at following link. Court Judgement


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  • Marine Institute – Sea Trout Collapse

    This is a graph of sea trout collapse in the Burishoole system in the west of Ireland. This is a stark reminder that sea trout and salmon farming are mutually exclusive. Salmon farms basically make sea trout survival impossible. This station is operated by the Marine Institute which is in denial of the destruction of wild salmonids by salmon farms. The recent post from Alexandra Morton showing the effect bares a striking resemblance to this. The data source is the annual report of the Newport Research which is publicly available at the following link. Marine Institute Report There is a data set of both salmon and sea trout spanning back to 1970.  


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  • Lots of Licences for Salmon Farming – DAFM Active

    Spate of Salmon Aquaculture Licence Applications for renewal and review. They are not out for public consultation as yet but will be in a number of days. Please find link to applications.   https://www.gov.ie/en/search/?q=&sort_by=published_date&type=aquaculture_licence#search_result_label_id


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  • Genetic Impact – Escapees Norway – Is Ireland suffering same outcome

    This is a very impressive portal which demonstrates the genetic introgression from farmed fish on river catchments. The resource is alarming as it shows how escapees have spawned and affected wild genetic integrity. In Ireland reports of escapes are non existent but we understand that a study is ongoing to understand the extent of introgression in Irish rivers.   Norwegian Portal


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  • Kenmare Bay – Disregard for Special Area of Conservation

    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. Inishfarnard Submission Deenish Submission    


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  • Opening Remarks AGM – Salmon Watch Ireland

    Welcome to Salmon Watch Ireland’s AGM for 2023 being conducted by Zoom. This meeting is primarily held to conform with our obligations under the Companies Act. 2023 was again a year primarily dominated by our Judicial Review on the decision to award an aquaculture licence to MOWI in Bantry Bay. Having taken the decision to enter into this legal process it was necessary to devote a considerable amount of time to research our main avenues of approach to the legal process. The Judicial review took place in April/May and was a very complex case involving three separate parties taking the review namely IFI, SWIRL and Sweetman and others including FISSTA. The judgement is still outstanding, and we are certainly concerned at the time period this judgement is taking to finalise. We certainly agree that the hearing of the case was exceedingly fair and indeed comprehensive with all parties given a fair hearing. The judgement is listed for mention again in October, but we may see a judgement at a date earlier. I would like to thank all our directors and indeed our members and supporters who helped to prepare and support us both financially and with advice which enabled us to pursue this case. The 2023 salmon run in Ireland was extremely poor with regard to both grilse, and spring salmon. Certainly, it is probable that it was the lowest return in the time series. It will be interesting to see how this will be reflected in catch statistics and indeed how the fish counter report might illuminate and reinforce our view of stocks. It is also interesting that spring stocks in 2024 suggest extremely poor returns which feeds into the narrative that linkage exists between grilse and MSW stocks in regard to survival at sea in first year. The return of salmon to Ireland is in a very precarious position with stocks now at 10% of historic highs. This is also reflected in most countries supporting Atlantic salmon stocks with UK and Norway showing a similar decline. There is also evidence that the decline in perceived strongholds like Iceland and the Russian Federation is now accelerating and showing a similar worrying trend. The scale and basin wide declines are consistent with oceanic influences which may be related to warming SST which can and does have cascading influence on currents and productivity at sea. It is also worth noting that Baltic salmon saw a dramatic decline in 2023 which would certainly be remote from Atlantic influence, so a climate explanation is suggested. There is also a suggestion that unregulated high seas fisheries directed at Atlantic salmon may be occurring but evidence of this is currently not reliable, but areas of concern are North of Faroes and South of Greenland. These areas are consistent with fisheries for salmon which were carried out by the Faroes and Greenland during 1970s and 1980s. However, the evidence of these fish coming to market is not available. We do know that there are complex reasons which dictate strength of salmon populations but with a background of practical elimination of legal harvest it is not beyond the possibility that other illegal directed fisheries have grown in international waters. This must be investigated by NASCO and must include a directed and well-resourced program going forward. The newest threat to Atlantic salmon is certainly the vast and continuing expansion and strengthening of the pink pacific salmon presence in the North Atlantic. While these fish would appear to present difficulties in freshwater, we would suggest that vast populations of these fish are now at sea in Northeast Atlantic and certainly will further compete with all species in traditional feeding areas for Atlantic salmon. There is anecdotal evidence that pink salmon have reduced other pacific salmon populations through competition in North Pacific. Coming closer to Ireland it is quite evident that we have enormous problems in regard to water quality and other issues related to loss of biodiversity. It is alarming that the regular updates on water quality by the EPA usher in a consistent and robust denial of the role that agriculture plays. The agriculture lobby is strong politically but the derogation situation in regard to organic nitrogen limits will have to be discontinued and SWIRL will be actively promoting its removal. The spectre of lack of investment by the state in wastewater infrastructure is now coming to a head with a renewed investment in housing with consequent overload of already inadequate treatment plants.Again, SWIRL will be seeking to empower local communities to make observations on planning to seek proper and reliable infrastructure. We have also continued to engage in regard to open cage salmon aquaculture with a large number of submissions in regard to renewals of expired licences. We also are still awaiting a determination of our EU complaint against Ireland in relation to legislation surrounding salmon aquaculture. The issue of mortalities on Irish salmon farms has been consistently mentioned and is outside international norms which is certainly reflective of an industry which should never be operating in Irish waters. Mortalities and disease are certainly indicative of a dangerous near coastal environment which has the probable outcome of many negative outcomes for wild salmonids. SWIRL again has been at the forefront in calling for exploitation being reduced substantially. The commercial harvest of salmon is certainly not consistent with low stock levels and needs to be dis-continued while more protection of salmon from over harvest by other stakeholders is a necessity. Directed conservation is required with larger fish requiring more protection. We still view the allocation of ten tags as being over generous in times where salmon stocks are at such low levels. We have consistently not called for mandatory catch and release in rivers with a surplus, but we certainly cannot be happy in a situation whereby certain stakeholders may be compromising the calculations through inaccurate returns. Accordingly, we have made suggestions on how the process can be improved to increase accuracy. It would not be incorrect to suggest that very few salmon catchments are managed in an effective way. We need a situation where properly resourced management structures on rivers lead to a better outcome for the resource.To this end SWIRL has taken a strategic evaluation of our focus going forward and have decided to endeavour to empower local communities to act in the interests of salmon conservation through practical actions facilitated by resources provided by us. We again facilitated an annual conference and awarded the Salmon Hero Award for the excellent and ongoing work on the Suir Tributaries. The award is in recognition of local community involvement in preserving local salmonid populations through practical actions. These annual conferences serve as a very important information resource to which all stakeholders can engage in and will certainly be continued and expanded. ENDS.


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  • AGM Remarks by Chair John Murphy

    Remarks by John Murphy,  chair of the board of Salmon Watch Ireland CLG, to the company’s annual general meeting on Monday 19th June 2023.   Welcome to Salmon Watch Ireland’s AGM for 2022 being conducted by Zoom. This meeting is primarily held to conform with our obligations under the Companies Act. 2022 was a year primarily dominated by our impending Judicial Review on the decision to award an aquaculture licence to MOWI in Bantry Bay. Having taken the decision to enter into this legal process it was necessary to devote a considerable amount of time to research our main avenues of approach to the legal process. I would like to thank all our directors and indeed our members and supporters who helped to prepare and support us both financially and with advice which enabled us to pursue this case. The Judicial Review took place over four weeks in April /May 2023,  and we expect an outcome in the near future. The 2022 salmon run in Ireland was extremely poor with regard to grilse, but spring salmon runs appeared to be on an upward turn although from a low stock level. The low level of grilse last year did  manifest as a very poor reported spring salmon stock this year with anecdotal evidence suggesting a collapse in the majority of fisheries both here and the United Kingdom. Generally speaking, this may be related to the abnormally low river levels which greeted the adult stocks here and UK in 2018. This was also mentioned by the ICES working group on North Atlantic salmon and seems to be a recurring theme with the summer of 2022 experiencing very low water levels. Again, there is no need to mention this year as the trend continues. On a more positive note, the early spring this year did favour a more positive environment for smolt migration. These fish are the progeny of the 2020 run of adults which showed a very welcome upturn in stocks. The IFI fish counter data is indicative of an increased run of spring fish in 2022 but a large decline in grilse stocks and is probably at an all-time low when looked at over an extended period. It is evident that climate is causing a very poor environment for Atlantic salmon and these periods of low flow in conjunction with high water temperatures cause a cascade of effects with predation and biological factors having a significant negative effect on juvenile and adult survival. In conjunction with the pressures at sea it is evident that the future is far from secure. While most of these factors may be out of our control, we must continue to endeavour to maximise the amount of wild healthy smolts going to sea. It is interesting to note that a recent study in the UK noted that larger smolts survived to return at three times the rate of smaller smolts. Again, with a warming climate, can we expect larger wild smolts, I would suggest not. The publication of the state of Irish waters by the EPA for 2022 notes little improvement in regard to nitrate levels in Irelands rivers and lakes and is a major concern for salmon survival. It is evident that the farming community are engaged in a political agenda with little concern for climate or indeed the wider environment. Unfortunately, the vote on the recent legislative change at EU level in regard to protecting degraded land was postponed for one month which is disappointing but demonstrates that there is a considerable opposition to protecting nature which is all too evident within this country. With changing weather patterns, we are seeing a very substantial reduction in rainfall during critical periods for salmonid migration which only exacerbates an already precarious situation.   In early 2022 we sought through FOI correspondence between Minister Eamon Ryan and Minister Charlie Mc Conalogue regarding sea lice and their impact on wild salmonids. This was further illuminated by the Irish Times in August and a special segment on Prime Time followed in October. It is very significant in that a government department was willing to take on DAFM regarding their rather benign interpretation of the impact that salmon farming has on wild salmonid stocks. IFI were very robust on the Prime-Time program which is a welcome departure from previous pronouncements on the subject. This was further demonstrated with their participation in the Judicial Review. There appears to be a more proactive approach from IFI and there is further evidence that they are ramping up pressure with the recent job advertisement looking for a project manager to investigate nationwide introgression from farm escapees. These developments may have a bearing on future JR procedures. Mark Boyden from the Coomhola Salmon Trust was the recipient of our Salmon Hero Award in 2022. Mark has been at the forefront of educating Irelands school children on salmon matters for the best part of 30 years. He was most appreciative of our efforts to conserve Atlantic salmon. We did not hold a conference in 2022 but hope to hold one in 2023. Our focus has somewhat been overwhelmed by the judicial review process but we would hope to concentrate more on other issues going forward. The issue of commercial exploitation of salmon is causing a serious amount of controversy and our policy to effectively finish this practice must be revitalised. It is not an attempt to change the location where salmon are harvested as we also would like to limit exploitation by recreational anglers. The ability to harvest ten salmon by anglers is certainly not sustainable from a moral point of view and should be reduced significantly. It would be our intention to seek a redesign of the management of our salmon stocks with a review of conservation limits and surplus determination. It may be time now to increase the statistical probability of 75% of reaching a conservation limit to a higher number thus taking a more precautionary approach in these volatile times for salmon survival. On the aquaculture front we will continue to oppose open cage farming and intend to design a template for publication which will allow all to oppose licences in a concerted, legal and scientific manner. With stocks in such a precarious situation it may be time to examine rebuilding strategies. It is obvious that certain rivers have radically insufficient stocks to repopulate rivers. In these rivers we must use the best available strategies to rebuild stocks ENDS:


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  • High Court Case – Judicial Review

    The High Court Judicial Review Case involving Salmon Watch Ireland in regard to the granting of a licence by the Aquaculture Licence Appeal Board has finished. The case was conducted over four weeks and involved Salmon Watch along with Inland Fisheries Ireland and Sweetman and others including FISSTA against the Aquaculture Licence Appeals Board and the Minister of Agriculture Food and the Marine. MOWI were listed as a notice party and took an active part in proceedings.  The case was held before Judge David Holland and was very complex in nature. It is expected that a reserved judgement may be available in a number of weeks but that final judgement may not be available until July. Overall the case has many complex issues in regard to Irish and European law involving the EIA Directive, Water Framework Directive and the Irish legislation to comply with these European Directives. It is impossible to say if the judgement will be favourable but we must at this point congratulate all parties who brought this Judicial Review in order to protect wild salmonids.  We would like to thank our legal team for their work on the matter and look forward to the many issues that may come to the fore in future years.


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