#GALWAY FISH FARM - Galway Bay FM reports that a full public consultation on proposals for what's set to be Europe's largest fish farm off the Aran Islands is scheduled to begin next week.

As previously reported on Afloat.ie, the 15,000-tonne deep-sea organic salmon farm would be located on a 500-hectare site in Galway Bay off Inis Oírr, and would be one of the largest of its kind in Europe, projected to be worth €103 million annually for the economy.

The statutory consultation period ended earlier this month after delays over the summer in publishing the licence application. And from next Monday 15 October, Bord Iascaigh Mhara (BIM) will make the plan and all statutory feedback available to the public via its website at www.bim.ie.

Advertisements announcing the consultation will appear in local and national newspapers, and packs will also be available to view for locals at Kilronan and Salthill Garda stations, including copies of the environmental impact statements and information on the statutory consultation process.

BIM aquaculture development manager Donal Maguire told Galway Bay FM that transparency is key to ensuring the public had all the information they need regarding the scheme - which has faced opposition from local anglers who fear the fish farm could have a negative impact on wild salmon numbers.

#MARINE WILDLIFE - The Globe and Mail reports that Canada is keeping tabs on an EU plan to "manage" Europe's seal population amid growing controversy over the issue.

Last month the European Parliament approved a resolution on the Common Fisheries Policy that called for the European Commission to investigate the impact of "natural predators such as sea lions, seals and cormorants" on the reduction of fish stocks and draw up plans to regulate their numbers.

Canada's sealing industry claims this about-face in EU policy is hypocritical considering Europe's ban on commercial seal products three years ago, as well as its longstanding criticism of the Canadian seal hunt.

Already Scotland has approved a cull that has granted licences to kill over 1,000 seals on its coastline this year alone. And fishermen in Ireland, particularly on the west coast, are calling for the Irish authorities to take similar action.

Afloat.ie has previously reported on the tensions between fishermen and marine wildlife campaigners over the impact of protected seal populations on fish stocks.

Over the summer, the Dingle Seal Sanctuary claimed that a number of horrific reports of illegal seal killings committed by culprits unknown are part of a "swing in activity" since the start of the year - although the National Parks and Wildlife Service said it has not recorded any increase.

Fishermen in Kerry have come out in condemnation of these illegal killings, in particular the barbaric scene in which two baby seal heads were nailed to signs outside the Dingle sanctuary in early June.

However, they maintain that a cull of the local grey seal population is necessary, claiming they are "over-protected" and can consume as much as 10kg of fish each per day, resulting in depleted stocks of hake and haddock, as well as posing a threat to salmon conservation measures.

The Globe and Mail has more on the story HERE.

#FISHING - Inland Fisheries Ireland has in the last week seized illegally caught bass off the Wexford coast and illegal fishing nets off the Waterford coast.

While the specifics of these cases are not being released for legal and operational reasons, IFI says that the successful seizures are the result of "the flexibility and dedication of IFI staff".

The national fisheries body said that these types of seizures are often initiated following significant covert, intelligence-led policing operations which are carried out during both day and night time.

In both instances off-duty fisheries staff were quickly mobilised to execute the seizures.

The regional director at IFI praised the staff involved in the operation and described the seizures as very important in the protection of Ireland’s bass, salmon and sea trout resource.

It is widely held that illegal coastal fishing could have devastating consequences on the nation's valuable fishery resource.

#FISHING - A Wexford fisherman has defended the free giving away of monkfish to the public yesterday morning after exceeding an EU quota.

RTÉ News reports that Seamus O'Flaherty, owner of the trawler Saltees Quest, handed out the fish to hundreds of passers-by at Kilmore Quay rather than have the surplus catch thrown back into the water.

The vessel's skipper Jimmy Byrne defended the move as a protest against an EU rule that requires over-quota fish to be discarded at sea.

According to The Irish Times, officers with the Sea Fisheries Protection Authority, who observed the monkfish giveaway yesterday, have prepared a file for submission to the Director of Public Prosecution.

The authority said it found a large quantity of monkfish retained on the vessel which had been logged as having been discarded - and emphasised that catches landed that are not declared as discards are still counted against the national quota.

Byrne, meanwhile, described the practice of discards of dead fish as "crazy" especially when many people in Ireland are "going hungry".

He commented: “I have a certain quota of fish to catch and the monkfish end up getting caught. There’s more monkfish in Ireland than ever before. I can’t tell the monkfish not to go into the net."

The Irish Times has more on the story HERE.

#RESCUE - The Irish Examiner reports that a man has been airlifted to hospital after taking ill on a fishing vessel off Galway yesterday Friday 21 September.

The man reportedly experienced chest pains on board the fishing boat off the coast of Spiddal.

Galway RNLI's lifeboat was dispatched to the scene to attend to the man before he was airlifted by Irish Coast Guard rescue helicopter to Galway University Hospital. His condition is as yet unknown.

#SHARK ATTACK - The UK Sun has posted a dramatic video of the moment when two anglers in the English Channel were attacked by sharks.

Graeme Pullen and Wayne Comben had been fishing for Mako sharks to tag and release off Falmouth in Cornwall, as part of a marine wildlife conservation programme, when their 17-foot boat was suddenly surrounded by a school of blue sharks.

The three sharks were described by Pullen as being in a "frenzied state" during the three-minute assault.

“Normally they would hold back and wait to see if there was any food drifting free but these were very aggressive and just charged directly at the boat," he said.

“One of them came out of the water and launched an all-out attack on the bag of fish, biting and tearing it to pieces — it was very worrying to witness."

Pullen concurred with experts' belief that such sharks are coming closer to land to hunt as overfishing in the Atlantic has all but wiped out their food supply.

#FISHING - A new radio series on developments in Galway's fishing industry is part of the new autumn schedule on Raidió na Gaeltachta.

As the Galway Advertiser reports, Ballach, Bradán agus Bairneach is funded through the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland's Sound and Vision scheme and will cover the changes experienced in fishing in Galway Bay from Famine times till the present day.

Topics to be covered on the seven-part series, presented by former RnaG station head Tomás Mac Con Iomaire, include traditional fishing methods and classic fishing boats, the establishment of Bord Iascaigh Mhara (BIM), the effects of European fisheries policy, and contemporary developments such as fish farming that have prompted some recent controversy.

Ballach, Bradán agus Bairneach will be broadcast Saturdays at 6.30 pm, with the first programme tonight 15 September focusing on fishing in olden times and the folklore surrounding it. Link to the show here.

#FISHING - Bord Iascaigh Mhara (BIM) has called on environmental campaigners opposed to changes in the current fish farm licensing system to "get behind Ireland's aquaculture industry".

In a letter to The Irish Times yesterday, the fisheries board wrote in response to Tony Lowes of Friends of the Irish Environment, whose own letter to the paper on Tuesday lambasted the IFA's claims of an "inexplicable delay" in the State's processing of licence applications for new fish farms off the west coast.

BIM chief executive Jason Whooley said it was "refreshing" to read Lowes "expressing confidence in and support for the current Irish aquaculture licensing system", which is "both rigorous and science-based... involves a high level of public consultation and is fully transparent."

However, Whooley hit out at what he described as Lowes' "scare tactics" and "spurious" attempts "to mislead by comparing the output from a salmon farm with human sewage".

Lowes had written that salmon farming "is a highly polluting industry", and that discharge of nitrogen and phosphorous from aquaculture facilities "can fuel toxic algae blooms, which have cost the shellfish industry dear".

Whooley countered that argument, stating that "the harmful elements from human sewage, such as E.coli, cryptosporidium or viruses, are simply not present in the excretions from cold-blooded creatures, such as the Atlantic salmon."

He also urged Lowes to "get behind Ireland’s aquaculture industry and support it as a sustainable and valuable source", adding that "increasing the output of farmed Irish organic-certified salmon represents a great opportunity to create a large number of sustainable jobs in Ireland’s coastal communities."

#FISHING - Environmental campaigners have lambasted the IFA's claims of an "inexplicable delay" in the State's processing of licence applications for fish farms.

In a letter to The Irish Times yesterday, Tony Lowes of Friends of the Irish Environment says that the delay – to allow for proper environmental studies to be conducted – "has been explained again and again" by Minister for the Marine Simon Coveney.

He was responding to a letter last Friday by Richie Flynn of IFA Aquaculture, who highlighted the "suffering" of coastal communities as a result of processes that "hamper development and delay investment in the hundreds of companies involved in farming salmon, oysters, mussels, trout and other species".

Lowes writes in counter that salmon farming "is a highly polluting industry", and that discharge of nitrogen and phosphorous from aquaculture facilities "can fuel toxic algae blooms, which have cost the shellfish industry dear".

He claims that the proposed salmon farm in Bantry Bay in West Cork would have a nitrogen and phosphorous discharge "equivalent to the sewage of a town 10 times the size of Bantry".

Lowes also alleges that the deep-sea "super salmon" farm in Galway Bay - the licence application for which is undergoing statutory consultation till 2 October - would produce the equivalent effluent of a city more than double the size of Galway.

In addition, he makes reference to the threat to native salmon in Irish rivers through sea lice infestations.

"The EU habitats directive requires baseline studies and environmental impact statements," writes Lowes. "Licensees can be granted only if the project will not have adverse impacts on protected species and habitats."

#FISHING - Bord Iascaigh Mhara (BIM) recently convened a Fisheries Local Action Group (FLAG) with representatuves from the fishing and tourism industries, community groups and county councils to discuss ways to boost revenue in the Galway and Clare region.

As the Galway Advertiser reports, the Western region FLAG comes after the official launch of the 'Axis 4' programme for sustainable development of fishery-dependent areas, which aims to empower communities that rely on fishing or aquaculture to further develop the marine resources at their disposal.

It also comes hot on the heels of the Government's 'ocean wealth roadmap' launched by Marine Minister Simon Coveney earlier this month, which is specifically geared towards exploiting Ireland's potential for 'blue growth'.

The six FLAGs established in key coastal areas around Ireland are responsible for formulating a development strategy for funding suitable local projects. To qualify for funding support, such projects must satisfy a list of critera, such as having a clear marine connection or providing specific benefit to a fishing area.

The Galway Advertiser has much more on the story HERE.