FIE threatens court action over salmon escapes

Irish environmental activist group Friends of the Irish Environment (FIE) is threatening to take the government to court over a report on the escape of 230,000 salmon in Bantry Bay during a storm in February.

The 1 February storm flipped over one of the salmon cages at Geahies in Bantry Bay. The 230,000 salmon escape figure provided by FIE has not been independently confirmed. FIE has asked for a report on the incident from the government, but Minister for Agriculture Simon Coveney has declined to release it, declaring the report is not complete and not in the public interest.

The FIE has appealed to the Irish Information Commission, but accused the commission of dragging its feet on the matter, prompting FIE to announce it was prepared to take the matter to an Irish High Court.

Environmental groups are concerned about farmed seafood escaping into the wild due to fears that the farmed marine animals have a different diet, could carry disease or otherwise disrupt the natural ecosystem.

FIE Director Tony Lowes referred to a report on a similar incident in Clew Bay in 2010 where 80,000 salmon escaped. According to the report on that incident, Lowes said the agricultural minister was blamed for “not requiring the necessary inspections of the equipment.” Proper oversight, the report said, might have prevented the 2010 incident.

“We believe the Bantry Bay Report will show that in spite of the 2010 recommendations, nothing has been done to ensure that these installations are inspected to ensure their viability,” Lowes said. “That is the reason the Minister is refusing to release the Report.”

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