Galway Bay FM reports that An Bord Pleanála has refused planning permission for a development at a Connemara site overseen by Udarás na Gaeltachta.

Plans for the Páirc na Mara facility were previously approved by Galway County Council, but continued to face opposition from local groups concerned that the initial proposals would develop into a full-scale salmon farming facility.

That decision has now been overturned by the national planning authority, according to Galway Bay FM.

Four months ago the Páirc na Mara marine project had welcomed the announcement of €2 million in funding from the Business, Enterprise and Innovation to develop a market-focused marine innovation and development centre at the Cill Chiaráin site.

The latest research and knowledge on oyster diseases was presented at a meeting on Pacific oyster health held recently by the Marine Institute’s Fish Health Unit.

The event attracted more than 80 participants from Ireland’s oyster farming industry, as well as representatives from Ireland’s seafood development agency Bord Iascaigh Mhara.

Presentations focused on mortality, disease management and current national and international research in oyster health.

Oyster mortalities in recent years in Ireland have been mainly associated with either Ostreid herpes virus-1 μVar (OsHV-1 μVar) infection or the bacterium Vibrio aestuarianus. Both diseases cause significant oyster mortality events and an economic loss to oyster farmers and producers.

Researchers from the Marine Institute and University College Cork presented the major findings from the REPOSUS project, funded by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine’s FIRM programme.

The three-year REPOSUS project focused on reducing the impact of pathogens associated with mortalities in Pacific oysters. This included results from sentinel trials in disease impacted bays, molecular and pathogenicity characterisation studies on isolates of OsHV-1 and rache and studies on environmental parameters which influence mortality.

French institute IFREMER also presented the latest results from the VIVALDI project (Preventing and Migrating Farmed Bivalve Diseases) funded by the EU’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme.

VIVALDI combines European research resources to better understand shellfish diseases and improve the sustainability and competitiveness of the European shellfish industry. The Marine Institute is one of 21 partners involved in this research project.

Industry representatives from Ireland also shared their experience of managing losses in shellfish production due to oyster disease and mortality on their sites.

This feedback, along with research presented, will be used to update the current best practice guide for disease control and management in Ireland's oyster industry.

Kinsale Yacht Club is encouraging its members to make submissions on the recent licence application for a mussel farm off Castlepark Beach in the West Cork harbour.

Following its previous trial in the area, Woodstown Bay Shellfish — based in Dunmore East, Co Waterford — made its application late last year for an Aquaculture Licence to dredge for mussels at a site of around 25 hectares beyond James Fort.

The application also states that the site is located in or adjacent to a sensitive area, the closest to the site being the Sovereign Islands Special Protection Area.

A public notice was published in the Southern Star last Thursday 7 February, and submissions must be made prior to Wednesday 6 March quoting the reference T05/472A to:

Department of Agriculture Food and the Marine
Aquaculture and Foreshore Management Division
National Seafood Centre
Clonakilty, Co Cork

All submissions must be signed and no fee is required.

Kinsale Yacht Club Commodore David O’Sullivan confirmed that the club has already made its own submission on behalf of KYC members, which is available on the club’s website.

The letter cites the strong tidal current in the proposed location of the mussel bed as a concern – and suggests a recent "notable increase" in mussel growth in the marina, allegedly resulting from mussels from the trial being washed towards the town after stormy conditions.

“We must do all we can to preserve our beautiful harbour and every little helps,” Cdre O’Sullivan said.

#Seafood - Marine Minister Michael Creed has called for European Maritime & Fisheries Funding (EMFF) for small to medium enterprises in aquaculture and seafood processing to be continued post-2020.

Addressing the Council of Agriculture and Fisheries Ministers meeting in Luxembourg yesterday (Monday 18 June), the minister said: “Ireland expects to fully spend its 2014-2020 allocation and we foresee increasing investment opportunities and demands for the 2021-2027 period.

“I would like to highlight one particular area of initial concern that we have identified, namely the apparent proposal to restrict EMFF aid for capital investment in aquaculture and seafood processing to financial instruments only. Currently such a restriction applies to large scale operators only.

“The majority of our operators are small or medium enterprises. Depriving them of grant aid would have a very negative impact on our policy objectives to grow scale and add value in our processing and aquaculture sectors.

Minister Creed added: “While we are in favour of continued and increased use of financial instruments, we must continue to have recourse to grant aid where these are most appropriate.”

#PáircNaMara - Galway County Council is seeking further details on the Páirc na Mara development for Connemara, following an objection from a local group opposed to salmon farming.

New plans for the ‘marine innovation park’ were submitted late last year by Údáras na Gaeltachta, envisaging a low-carbon marine industry hub over nine hectares, and with a focus on aquaculture research.

But as Galway Bay FM reports, an objection by Galway Bay Against Salmon Cages — which has long campaigned against aquaculture projects in the region — has “caused anger in west Connemara” where the park is slated to be developed.

The situation has now prompted the council to seek more information on the fish farming aspects of the project.

Galway Bay FM has more on the story HERE.

#Aquaculture - Researchers in Galway and Athlone are leading a project to identify technologies that can improve the management of freshwater fish farming and reduce its impact on the environment.

As Green News reports, the teams at NUI Galway and Athlone Institute of Technology will look at new techniques that can reduce disease rates in inland aquaculture and the accompanying risk of transmission to fish in the wild.

Concerns over the latter were raised after a number of farmed salmon escaped into five rivers in Galway and Mayo last October.

Green News has more on the story HERE.

#MarineScience - A new planning application is set to be submitted for the proposed ‘marine innovation park’ in Connemara, as Galway Bay FM reports.

Páirc na Mara is envisaged as a low-carbon marine industry hub over nine hectares, with a focus on aquaculture research.

As previously reported on Afloat.ie, the new research cluster would form part of a network including the existing Marine Institute facilities at Newport in Co Mayo.

The deadline for expressions of interest in the revised project is tomorrow, Friday 1 December.

Galway Bay FM has more on the story HERE.

#Aquaculture - The INvertebrateIT Project for the aquaculture sector, in which the Marine Institute is one of five partners, has been officially launched.

The project is focused on developing innovative approaches for aquaculture, particularly on the use of organic waste for the production of insects as alternative ingredients in fish feed.

INvertebrateIT aims to help aquaculture operators mitigate their current dependence on costly, volatile, and often unsustainable ingredients in traditional fish feeds, to diversify their business and to contribute to a better management of valuable organic waste and/or new algal substrates for invertebrate production.

This proposed integrated scheme builds on available technology in insect production and strategic policy for the aquaculture and waste sectors.

It is one of three projects selected to develop joint roadmaps and bankable demonstration projects in the Atlantic and North Sea to co-ordinate further investments for innovation.

Funding is provided by the European Maritime and Fishers Fund under the Blue Labs – Innovative Solutions for Maritime Challenges.

“Perhaps the most exciting part of the INvertebrateIT project is that we get to support innovation in an extraordinary growth sector,” said Silvia Sarria, INvertebrateIT's project co-ordinator and European policies division lead at Innogate to Europe.

“Creating a circular economy for fish feed and other aquaculture products by feeding fish with something they would eat in their natural environment, is a win-win for all involved.”

The project plans to engage SMEs to support project development which will commercially exploit opportunities combining sustainable aquaculture, invertebrate production and smart waste management. To that end, an open contest will soon be announced at www.invertebrateitproject.eu.

#MarineScience - A new marine research cluster is planned for Connemara incorporating the Údaras na Gaeltachta facility at Pairc na Mara currently under development in Cill Chiaráin, NUI Galway’s Carna Campus Laboratories, and an aquaculture site in Beirtreach Buí near Carna.

The Connemara cluster will form part of a national aquaculture research cluster which includes the Marine Institute facilities at Newport, Co Mayo, with the Beirtreach Buí site touted as “an important part of the State’s marine research infrastructure”.

In 2016, the Marine Institute secured EU Horizon 2020 and Science Foundation Ireland funding for a range of research projects that will be carried out in close collaboration with Marine Institute teams in Newport and Galway as well as researchers at the NUI Galway campus in Carna and the Udaras na Gaeltachta facility at Páirc na Mara.

These research projects will include studies on cleaner fish, which are used to control sea lice and other external parasites; animal welfare; and poly culture of shellfish, fin fish and seaweeds to enhance biodiversity and reduce environmental impacts.

The Marine Institute says it has committed funding to create three jobs to run and maintain the Beirtreach Buí aquaculture research site and provide support to marine research teams and projects.

The Beirtreach Buí site is expected to support a number of research projects in the coming years, including the development of integrated multi-trophic aquaculture, which provides the by-products, including waste, from one aquatic species as inputs (fertilizers, food) for another. This research will be in association with project partners in both Irish third-level institutions and partners from other EU states.

The site will also be used to support a major international project TAPAS, which has received €7 million from the EU under Horizon 2020.

The TAPAS project aims to develop cost-efficient management tools and practices for the European aquaculture sector to investigate the limits to fish farming activity in a location, social interactions, potential environmental impacts and any future risks.

The Marine Institute has applied to the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine to amend the licence for the aquaculture site at Beirtreach Buí from a commercial to a research license.

This application to amend the aquaculture licence at Beirtreach Buí will involve a reduction in the size of the site, a decrease in the number of licensed structures, from 48 structures to a maximum of 12 cages and 12 smaller structures made up of a combination of long lines and sentinel cages/passive sampling structures.

The amendment also includes a reduction in the level of fish stock at the site from the current level of 100 tonnes to a maximum of 50 tonnes. The amended license will allow for holding a range of fish, shellfish and seaweed species for research purposes. No commercial production will be licensed at the site.

The site was originally used for farming salmon in the 1980s and, in 2010, the aquaculture licence was amended in order to carry out culture trials on cod in collaboration with NUI Galway and Údaras na Gaeltachta.

In 2013 the site was taken over by the Marine Institute to focus on research work on cod and related studies, including research into natural alternatives for antifouling.

The new research licence application will go to public consultation this week.

#Seafood - Marine Minister Michael Creed has announced the award of a further €1,324,040 in grants to 19 seafood enterprises in nine different counties under the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF) Operational Programme for the seafood sector.

The grant awards will support total investment of €3.5 million in 2017. The grants are co-funded by the Exchequer and EU and subject to terms and conditions.

Minister Creed said: “In March, I announced EMFF grant awards of €1.8 million to seafood enterprises. I am delighted to now announce a further €1.3 million in EMFF grant awards to 19 seafood enterprises.

“It is especially welcome to see that aquaculture enterprises are dominating this round of grant awards. Grants of almost €1 million are being offered to 10 aquaculture enterprises. Nine of these will further develop our oyster production, while the other concerns mussels.

Taken together with the earlier awards in March, this means grant offers of nearly €2 million have already been made this year to 18 aquaculture enterprises and are supporting €5 million in aquaculture capital investments.

The minister added that the EMFF Sustainable Aquaculture Scheme “remains opens for applications and I am optimistic that we will see yet more aquaculture projects coming forward as the year progresses.

“The Sustainable Aquaculture Scheme supports capital investments in licensed aquaculture sites to grow our production and mitigate environmental impact. Our National Strategic Plan for Sustainable Aquaculture Development is aiming to sustainably grow our production by 45,000 tonnes and these 2017 projects are welcome contributions towards that target.”

Grant approvals - Sustainable Aquaculture Scheme

*         Subject to confirmation of SME status 

Grant approvals - Seafood Processing Capital Investment Scheme

*         Subject to confirmation of SME status

Grant approvals - Seafood Scaling & New Market Development Scheme

Grant approvals - Seafood Innovation & Business Planning Scheme