Farmed salmon (Photo: Inland Fisheries Ireland)

BIM has revolutionary plans for organic salmon farming

REPUBLIC OF IRELAND
Friday, January 25, 2013, 22:50 (GMT + 9)

The Irish Sea Fisheries Board, Bord Iascaigh Mhara (BIM), is set on expanding salmon farming in territorial waters to help meet burgeoning demand for the product worldwide. Planned protests against a proposed deep sea fish farm notwithstanding, CEO Jason Whooley is convinced that the industry has nowhere to go but up.

Consumption of farmed salmon across the globe is growing by 7 per cent per year, and even newer markets such as Russia are showing sharp increases of up to 27 per cent annually, according to Pareto Securities. Moreover, market analysts expect that a 50 per cent-higher output of farmed salmon will be required to meet demand by 2020.

BIM is taking advantage of the trend by applying for a licence to farm organic Atlantic salmon off the west coast of Ireland off Inis Oírr. The EUR 60 million-deep-sea farm could generate annual expenditure on wages and salaries locally of some EUR 14.5 million and create 500 jobs.

Meanwhile, concerns exist, particularly regarding the potential transfer of sea lice from the farmed fish to wild fish in the vicinity. But these fears are unfounded, according to the Environmental Impact Study carried out for the project and by Marine Institute data, Galway Advertiser reports. 

Regardless, BIM told, the government will act as the licence holder and not the operator for the new site, intending instead to hold it in trust for the State and bring in commercial developers to operate the farm. This will allow BIM to apply additional standards and make the most of returns to the local coastal economy.

Currently, Ireland produces just 15,000 tonnes each year, most of which is organic farmed salmon, versus 160,000 tonnes produced by Scotland and the 1.2 million tonnes by Norway. And Irish organic farmed salmon has become popular in Europe, fetching a 50 per cent premium on average on farmed salmon produced in other countries.

Right now, the main challenge facing Irish farmers is meeting demand. Still, Bord Bia has announced that the value of Irish seafood exports in 2012 rose by 18 per cent to EUR 493 million – exceeding by far all Irish food export categories.

The Harnessing our Ocean Wealth report published by the government last July set a target of increasing the turnover of its ocean economy to more than EUR 6.4 billion by 2020, and then doubling it to account for 2.4 per cent of GDP by 2030. The report includes proposals for actions such as building three large-scale deep water sites for salmon farming, estimating that each one could spawn an extra EUR 100 million in yearly exports and create 350 direct jobs and 150 indirect jobs.

Related article:

- BIM applies for aquaculture licence for the first time

By Natalia Real
[email protected]
www.seafood.media

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