LAST UPDATE | 20 Aug

INLAND FISHERIES IRELAND has said it was not formally notified of a significant farmed salmon escape in Co Galway within the mandatory 24-hour period.

Various organisations, including Salmon Watch Ireland and Galway Bay Against Salmon Cages, were informed of a “major escape of farmed salmon” from Killary Harbour on 11 August.

Salmon farm operators are required to inform the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and Inland Fisheries Ireland (IFI) of any “abnormal losses” within 24 hours.

IFI is the State environment agency responsible for protecting, managing, and conserving Ireland’s inland fisheries.

However, in a statement to The Journal, IFI said it was “not formally notified” of the escape “in line with the statutory requirement to inform IFI within 24 hours of any escape”.

IFI added that it “became aware of the incident early last week” and that it has “made contact with local fishery owners and angling clubs regarding the incident”.

The spokesperson added that IFI continues to monitor for any escaped fish at local rivers, as well as at its research trapping facilities in the National Salmonid Index Catchment at River Erriff in Co Mayo.

The National Salmonid Index Catchment comprises the Erriff Catchment and Killary Harbour area, with research activities further extending out into the adjacent marine zone.

IFI also noted that identification of farmed salmon mixing among wild stocks “can be challenging due to the lack of clear markers identifying farmed fish”.

IFI said it “remains concerned about the impacts of salmon farming, including such issues as escapes and sea lice on our wild Atlantic salmon and sea trout stocks – whose continued sustainability remains under threat from a range of pressures”.

It also remarked that escaped farmed salmon are detrimental to wild salmon stocks through interbreeding, which can impact the health and diversity of wild salmon populations.

“The nearby Erriff and Delphi (Bundorragha) wild salmon and sea trout stocks in particular have been negatively impacted over a long period by sea lice associated with salmon farming,” said IFI.

“If local anglers catch farmed salmon, a blue salmon gill tag must be placed in the fish and this can be replaced by IFI when surrendered to staff,” the IFI spokesperson added.

While IFI said it was not in a position to confirm the exact number of salmon that escaped, Salmon Watch Ireland estimated the figure could be around 10,000.

Salmon Watch Ireland was formed in 2004 and its stated aim is to “highlight the alarming decline of Atlantic salmon in Ireland”.

Meanwhile, Galway Bay Against Salmon Cages (GBASC) used the 10,000 figure as its lowest estimate, and claimed the number could be as large as 30,000.

GBASC warned the escape could have “a devastating impact on the Erriff and Delphi rivers flowing into Killary Harbour and other nearby rivers, such as Kylemore River, Clifden River, Culfin River and Ballynahinch River, if these escapees are not recaptured”.

In a statement today, GBASC said some of the farmed salmon have entered local rivers and that a number have been caught by tourists fishing for mackerel.

Chair of GBASC Billy Smyth said the escaped salmon are in a “very poor condition”.

Smyth also voiced concern that no public statement was issued by the Department or IFI until this week, and he labelled the incident an “environmental disaster”.

The cage at Killary Harbour is licensed to Docon Limited in Co Mayo but operated by the Mannin Bay Salmon Company.

In a statement to The Journal, Mannin Bay Salmon Company said: “We confirm that an escape of VERY HEALTHY fish that had NEVER been exposed or treated with pesticides, whatsoever, did occur at our farm on/after August 12th.”

It added that “all Statutory agencies were notified of this event as soon as was possible” and that it has “cooperated fully with these agencies to investigate the root cause and put in place mitigation measures including recapture of any farmed stock”. 

“We are obviously very upset at this loss of stock and are implementing measures to prevent recurrence,” said the company.