Author: Noel Carr

FISSTA UPDATE ON THE EU SAGA OF COMPLAINTS
FISSTA commends TONY LOWES & FRIENDS OF THE IRISH ENVIRONMENT on their pursuit for accountabilty within the maze they call the EU framework.
Once again, the failure of the EU to protect our wild Atlantic salmon as outlined in long standing complaints have highlighted the weaknesses in the system.
While this major setback and not good news for all 19 wild Atlantic salmon countries, FISSTA are hopeful as the closure letter from the Commission states that the wider infringement case against Ireland arising from the adverse judgement of the Court of Justice in 2007 remains open and ??????the debate is not closed.??????

See full Press release below:

FRIENDS OF THE IRISH ENVIRONMENT – 8 OCTOBER 2014 PRESS RELEASE

EU INVESTIGATION CLOSURE DEMONSTRATES LIMITATIONS OF EU CONSERVATION LAW

The EU??????s decision to close its longstanding PILOT and CHAP investigations into Irish salmon farming demonstrates the limitations of EU environmental law, according to Friends of the Irish Environment.

COMMISSION ADMITS IMPACT
The environmentalists provided a number of studies that demonstrated the link between salmon farms and wild salmon mortality which the commission in fact accepted, stating:

??????The various studies brought to our attention and relied upon by you and the Irish authorities clearly show that sea lice infestation levels in salmon farms have an effect on migrating wild Atlantic salmon in terms of their overall survival rate.??????

However, it points out that there is no provision under EU law for a general ban on salmon farming. They are in fact limited in their powers to examining only salmon in rivers specifically listed for their protection. In this case, the three rivers cited by Salmon Watch Ireland ?????? the Bundorragha River, The Newport River, and the Ballynahinch catchment – have maintained ??????reasonable conservation status??????. Therefore the commission had no grounds to proceed further to court

A review published last week by top international scientists from Norway, Scotland and Ireland of all 300 available published studies on the effects of sea lice confirmed that sea lice have ??????negatively impacted wild sea trout stocks in salmon farming areas in Ireland, Scotland and Norway?????? and that ??????sea lice have a potential significant and detrimental effect on marine survival of Atlantic salmon with potentially 12-44% fewer salmon spawning in salmon farming areas??????.

BIM??????s statement welcoming the closure of the case in which they state that there is ??????no evidence to support the suggestion that salmon in Irish rivers are being adversely affected by sea lice from salmon farms?????? is both unscientific and unsound.

CONTESTED SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE
The other failure of the system that emerged over the five year investigation was the environmental directorates insistence on ‘uncontested scientific evidence’. The nature of scientific research is to test – or contest – accepted hypothesise. That is the way science proceeds. In this case, a Marine Institute staff Fisheries inspector published works dismissing the impact of salmon farm lice on wild salmon as ??????minor component of marine mortality??????. In spite of the subsequent criticism by five international scientists of three statistical errors in this work which rendered its result without value, the Commission was still able to state that the ??????debate is not closed??????.

The correct legal test used by the ECM is the balance of probability’. If this test were applied and the overwhelming scientific evidence of the adverse impact of farmed salmon lice on wild salmon fell within the terms of the directive, the outcome of the investigation would have been very different.

CASE REMAINS OPEN
Further, the closure letter from the Commission states that the wider infringement case against Ireland arising from the adverse judgement of the Court of Justice in 2007 remains open and ??????the debate is not closed.??????

Tony Lowes 027 74771 / 087 2176316

——————————-

Read the letter
http://www.friendsoftheirishenvironment.org/attachments/article/17279/EU%20pilot%20764-09%20and%20CHAP(2011)658_pre%20cl.pdf

SEE IFI??????s comment ??????Salmon Farms can have Significant Impact on Wild Salmon and Sea Trout Stocks??????
http://www.fisheriesireland.ie/Press-releases/salmon-farms-can-have-significant-impact-on-wild-salmon-and-sea-trout-stocks.html

NOTES

PLOT and CHAP investigations were established in 2008 as a pre-infringement proceedings in which member states were required to answer within strict time frames. Complaints were forwarded to the relevant Governments who were encouraged to contact the complainant in an effort to resolve the issue. That did not happen in the Irish salmon case, and delays in receiving documents from Ireland – some over a year in length – led to a long drawn out investigation.

The closure comes 5 years after FIE and Salmon Watch Ireland lodged formal complaints over the impact of sea lice in farmed salmon cages on wild salmon, a species protected under European legislation.

The investigation was initially closed in 2012 but was reopened later that year after FIE provided the commission with further information, including a damming report from IFI.

Salmon Farms can have Significant Impact on Wild Salmon and Sea Trout Stocks
The Chairman and Board of Inland Fisheries Ireland (IFI) have today (18.09.14) welcomed a definitive review of over 300 scientific publications, which has just been published, on the effects sea lice can have on sea trout stocks. A team of top international scientists from Norway, Scotland and Ireland reviewed all available published studies on the effects of sea lice and have now concluded that sea lice have negatively impacted wild sea trout stocks in salmon farming areas in Ireland, Scotland and Norway.
Effects of salmon lice on sea trout

Previously research was based on individually published studies but this new review reached its conclusions based on comprehensive studies of the effects of salmon lice from over 300 scientific publications. The project was funded by the Norwegian Seafood Research Fund which provides investment in Norwegian seafood industry-based R&D with the objective of creating added value for the seafood industry.
The study also examined the potential effect of sea lice on salmon and concluded that sea lice have a potential significant and detrimental effect on marine survival of Atlantic salmon with potentially 12-44% fewer salmon spawning in salmon farming areas. Chairman Brendan O??????Mahony commented, ??????These conclusions concur with previously published Inland Fisheries Ireland research on the potential impact of sea lice from marine salmon farms on salmon survival.??????
The studies reviewed indicate that salmon farming increases the abundance of lice in marine habitats and that sea lice in intensively farmed areas have negatively impacted wild sea trout populations. The effects of sea lice on sea trout are increased marine mortality and reduced marine growth. This new study confirms the evidence collected since the early 1990??????s in Ireland regarding the impact of sea lice on wild sea trout stocks, particularly in relation to the collapse of Connemara??????s sea trout stocks. The Board of IFI has consistently called for marine salmon farms to maintain sea lice levels close to zero prior to and during the wild sea trout and salmon smolt migration period in spring. IFI has also raised concerns regarding the location of salmon farms in the estuaries of salmon and sea trout rivers.
The Board of IFI believes this new review confirms the need for very tight regulation of sea lice levels on salmon farms and raises legitimate concerns with regard to the potential impact of new, large scale salmon farms, proposed along Ireland??????s west coast, on salmon and sea trout stocks. Regulators will now need to consider the results of this comprehensive review when making decisions on the sustainability and approval of future marine salmon aquaculture licences and the regulation of sea lice at existing sites so as to ensure no negative impact on salmon and sea trout stocks.
To download the document:
Effects of salmon lice on sea trout a literature review NINA Report 1044 September 2014
…ENDS…
Contact:
Suzanne Campion, Head of Business Development, Inland Fisheries Ireland
Tel: 087-2690183Email: suzanne.campion@fisheriesireland.ie
Notes to Editor
About Inland Fisheries Ireland:
Inland Fisheries Ireland is a statutory body operating under the aegis of the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources and was established under the Fisheries Act on 1st July 2010. Its principal function is the protection and conservation of the inland fisheries resource. IFI will promote, support, facilitate and advise the Minister on, the conservation, protection, management, development and improvement of inland fisheries, including sea angling and develop and advise the Minister on policy and national strategies relating to inland fisheries and sea angling.
About the Study:
A new study has just been published by the Norwegian Institute for Nature Research (NINA) which outlines the negative effect of salmon lice on sea trout populations in intensively farmed areas of Norway, Scotland and Ireland. The project, funded by The Norwegian Seafood Research Fund, indicates that salmon farming increases the abundance of lice in marine habitats and that salmon lice in intensively farmed areas have negatively impacted wild sea trout populations. The effects of salmon lice on sea trout result in increased marine mortality and reduced marine growth.
The aim of this project was to summarize available knowledge on effects of salmon lice on sea trout to provide the aquaculture industry, wild fishery managers and researchers with a comprehensive and updated knowledge status. Knowledge gaps are also identified. The literature review was based primarily on international publications in peer-reviewed journals or books in order to establish a solid and justifiable knowledge base on the effects of salmon lice on sea trout. The authors of the report constitute an international group of scientists, from several institutions in Norway, Scotland and Ireland. A reference group was established to serve as advisors for the authors of the report and included individuals from NINA, the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Bremnes Seashore AS and the Norwegian Seafood Federation.
The study reviewed laboratory studies which show that salmon lice may induce osmo-regulatory dysfunction, physiological stress responses, anaemia, reduced feeding and growth, increased susceptibility to secondary microbial infections, reduced disease resistance and increased mortality in individual sea trout. Osmo-regulatory dysfunction is likely caused both by the mechanical damage of the skin and tissue and is an expression of overall physiological stress responses. Mechanical abrasion and impairment of the barrier between the fish body and seawater results in increased leakage of water from the host individual, and thereby affects its overall osmotic and ionic balance. Salmon lice-induced fish mortality tends to be incurred within 10-20 days of exposure to juvenile lice (copepodids) in the laboratory, by which time the salmon lice have developed to the pre-adult and adult stages. Field studies have confirmed laboratory observations on the effects of sea lice.
Premature migratory return of salmon lice-infested sea trout to freshwater has been documented in Ireland, Scotland and Norway. Premature return is interpreted as an adaptive response by the host to salmon lice-induced osmo-regulatory dysfunction in seawater. Return to freshwater may, in the short term, enable the fish to regain osmotic balance and survive. Return to freshwater also allows short-term recovery from salmon lice infestation, because salmon lice have a low freshwater tolerance. In the long term, however, growth opportunities and future fecundity of individuals may be greatly reduced by an abbreviated sea migration caused by salmon lice.
The study revealed a number of comparative field studies which have demonstrated a link between Atlantic salmon farms and salmon lice levels in wild sea trout, with increased salmon lice levels on wild sea trout closer to salmon farms. Several studies have shown elevated salmon lice levels of wild sea trout, particularly within 30 km of the nearest farms. Elevated salmon lice levels also may be recorded at distances >25-30 km, and models have shown that the planktonic stages of salmon lice larvae can be dispersed >100 km. How far, and in which direction, larvae are transported depend upon numerous variables, including their development rate, water temperature, currents and salinity. Several studies have also shown temporal correlations between salmon lice levels in wild sea trout and year of the production cycle and biomass of fish in adjacent farms, with increased salmon lice levels on sea trout with increased total fish biomass in those farms.
The study also examined the potential effect of sea lice on salmon. The overall effect is consistently clear; salmon lice have a potential significant and detrimental effect on marine survival of Atlantic salmon. Meta-analyses and long-term studies, and similar results from an increasing number of experimental studies in Ireland and Norway, show that these are levels of extra mortality (i.e., 12-44% fewer spawners) that can be expected for Atlantic salmon in farm-intensive areas. The study points out that the salmon louse-induced mortality from Atlantic salmon studies referred to above should likely best be regarded as minimum estimates for sea trout mortality as sea trout remain in near coastal waters and are therefore exposed to seasonally higher risks of salmon lice infestation.
Elevated marine mortality rates, such as that induced by salmon lice, result in a proportional reduction in the number of spawning adults. Because sea-run brown trout typically are females, any additional marine mortality has the potential to affect egg deposition and hence ultimately recruitment even more negatively than would be the case were there an equal sex ratio.
Conclusions
The studies reviewed indicate that salmon farming increases the abundance of lice in marine habitats and that salmon lice in intensively farmed areas have negatively impacted wild sea trout populations. The effects of salmon lice on sea trout are increased marine mortality and reduced marine growth. In summary, the combined knowledge from the reviewed studies provides evidence of a general negative effect of salmon lice on sea trout populations in intensively farmed areas of Ireland, Norway and Scotland.
Premature migratory return, increased marine mortality and reduced growth of survivors that are induced by elevated salmon lice levels inevitably imply (1) a reduction in numbers and body size of sea trout returning to freshwater for spawning, and (2) a reduced or eliminated surplus that can be harvested by recreational and commercial fisheries. In the extreme, reduced marine growth and increased mortality could result in the local loss of sea trout populations.
Reference:
Effects of salmon lice on sea trout a literature review
NINA REPORT 1044
Eva B. Thorstad1, Christopher D. Todd2, P?????l Arne Bj?????rn3,
Patrick G. Gargan4, Knut Wiik Vollset5, Elina Halttunen3, Steinar K?????l?????s6, Ingebrigt Uglem1, Marius Berg1 & Bengt Finstad1
1 Norwegian Institute for Nature Research
2 University of St Andrews, Scotland
3 Institute of Marine Research, Norway
4 Inland Fisheries Ireland
5 Uni Research Environment, Norway
6 R?????dgivende Biologer AS, Norway
F

PRESS RELEASE – FISSTA- Federation of Irish Salmon & Seatrout Anglers

MINISTER MC HUGH MUST CHAMPION OUR WILD ATLANTIC SALMON – NOT WIPE THEM OUT WITH FISH FARM POLLUTION.

FISSTA’s campaign of consistent objection and intensive lobbying is preventing fish farmers from being awarded new salmon cage licenses. A private high powered meeting took place on January 31st last as reported in yesterday’s Sunday Business Post which was held in the Taoiseach’s offices with Marine Harvest CEO Mr Aarshog and the minutes confirm that extesive lobbying for new licences were made. Hoowever, it has now been confirmed by Dail PQ that Minister Coveney some weeks later on 6th March, travelled with BIM to Norway to meet up once again with Marine Harvest Ireland CEO Mr Jan Feenstra in Bergen, Norway. Mr. Feenstra, at this meeting outlined the rapid progress and development they were enjoying in Chile, North America, Norway and in particular Scotland compared to the stagnation of the Irish industry due to delays in licenses being granted by state. The main reason for such delays may be due to negative publicity of Amoebic Gill Disease (AGD) being highlighted by FISSTA and other NGO’s who oppose the applications in the mgratory paths of the wild salmon in their marine environmental habitat.

Following several FISSTA protests against the Coveney ten mega fish farm plan announced in 2012, FISSTA helped to establish local pressure groups such as GALWAY BAY AGAINST SALMON CAGES to focus on the massive Inis Oir 15,000 ton application by BIM. Following our successful protest GBASC has grown into an active opposition to fish farming in their own righ thanks to the their Chairman and long term FISSTA member Billy Smyth. To date, Minister Coveney has delayed his decision to grant or not grant the license to BIM despite suffering several significant developmental setbacks including the resignation of their CEO Jason Whooley. The Chairman of Fissta Mr Paul Lawton stated today that “We have won the science debates, we have won the economic and jobs argument, and following our research cooperation with our international colleagues such as in the ATLANTIC SALMON FEDERATION we have proven that open net cage technology as proposed by BIM is outdated and damaging to our marine. Despite these realities which seem to be ignored, FISSTA were concerned by the news that the salmon farmers lobby can access the highest level of Government (both Taoiseach and Ministers in the Dail and Norway) to lobby their case while our Federation can only rely on doorstepping them at their constituency functions as frequently as we can. I thank all our members and clubs on our 143 salmon rivers who wait patiently to object to salmon farm applications and lobby their local politicians on the ground to prevent the dreaded salmon cages of sealice and disease that decimate our wild Atlantic salmon.

Attachment 1.
Dail record answer to Ciar??????????n Lynch T.D.

Parliamentary Question No. 517

To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he attended a meeting earlier this year with a group (details supplied) in regard to fish farms; if he will make available the minutes and records of this meeting; and if he will make a statement on the matter.

– Ciar??????????n Lynch.

For WRITTEN answer on Wednesday, 17th September, 2014.

Ref No: 34715/14

Marine Harvest Ireland
REPLY

The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine : (Simon Coveney)

On 30th January I met with representatives of the company referred to by the Deputy. The meeting was chaired by an Taoiseach. Officials from the Department of the Taoiseach and my Department were also in attendance. The meeting was held at the request of the company to discuss licensing and industry development issues associated with the company???????????™s operations in Ireland.

As is appropriate, it was explained from the outset that specific applications which the company submitted to my Department for consideration could not be discussed in detail in view of the statutory basis of the assessment process.

There is always a strict separation between my Ministerial role as decision maker in respect of aquaculture licence applications and my Ministerial duty to promote the sustainable development of the industry. This separation of duties is always strictly observed.

I will be glad to forward my Department???????????™s report of the meeting to the Deputy as soon as possible.

I had a separate meeting in March of this year with the Chief Executive of Marine Harvest Ireland en marge of the North Atlantic Seafood Forum, in Bergen , Norway . I will also forward the record of that meeting to the Deputy.

Attachment 2.

Related article –

With regard to political lobbying see the following article from the Irish examiner.

http://www.irishexaminer.com/viewpoints/ourview/political-lobbying–the-power-to-influence-government-261941.html

Political lobbying – The power to influence Government

Political lobbying and funding political parties are two sides of the same coin. They are about trying to ensure that a certain view shapes Government decisions and legislation.

This is entirely appropriate in a democracy ????????????????? but only if they are done in an open way and if all parties to the process are aware of the objectives and status of everyone involved. Parity of access, to adapt a well-worn phrase, for all views is essential too. Achieving that level of transparency is a huge challenge but one worth pursuing. Events of recent days showed what happens when those lines are blurred or ignored.

Last month the European Commission published the EU Anti-Corruption Report which showed that 81% of us believe corruption is widespread in this country, 5% above the EU average of 76%. Once again, events of recent days, in more than one sphere, justify those suspicions. While the report found that Government had ????????????????undertaken substantial reforms in its anti-corruption policies???????????????? it also suggested ????????????????more work could be done to improve the capacity to prosecute and punish corruption cases????????????????. The authors also argued that ????????????????further work could also be required to address the few remaining concerns around the funding of political parties????????????????. So many recent developments vindicate that contention.

One aspect of this murky business that does not get the attention it deserves is how access to the highest levels of power can facilitate one view and frustrate another. For instance, in recent weeks Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Simon Coveney shared a meeting with Taoiseach Enda Kenny and Alf-Helge Aarskog, chief executive of Norwegian fish-farming world leader Marine Harvest who hope to secure more licences for salmon farms along our shores. Would ????????????????? or have ????????????????? those who oppose salmon farms been offered the same high-level opportunity to influence decisions? This meeting would not have come to light had Mr Aarskog not spoken of it elsewhere. It must be assumed these off-radar meetings take place on a range of subjects without the knowledge of other, equally legitimate, interests in decision-making processes.

The role of former politicians in lobbying is more than questionable too, especially if they move seamlessly from one career to the other. The practice of retired senior civil servants joining corporations interacting with the area of public life they were so recently involved in seems pretty dubious too. It should not be too difficult to put a clause into these pension packages that would prevent this gun-for-hire approach. Ex-politicians should be subject to a cooling off period too, one measured in years rather than months, before they could join a lobbyists???????????™ register ????????????????? if only we had one.

However, no matter how stiff measures to prevent inappropriate lobbying or funding are made it is impossible to hermetically seal something as human as government from those determined to influence it. It is not, however, impossible to impose convincing sanctions on those who would breach those disciplines ?????????????????if we had them. That such measures are still pending suggests that Government realises, as we all do, that they would be honoured more in the breach than in their observation. We, it seems, get the politicians we deserve in more ways than one.

?????????? Irish Examiner Ltd. All rights reserved
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
WHO WE ARE

FISSTA- Federation of Irish Salmon & Seatrout Anglers are an all Ireland angling representative body and the voice of over 20,000 wild salmon and seatrout members in up to 90 affiliated clubs located on the main Irish angling waterways. Many FISSTA registered members fish for other species such as wild brown trout and also pursue the many ouutdoor nature based sports including shooting and hunting. To ensure our voice is heard more clearly, FISSTA cooperate and assist other organiastions in protecting our countryside way of life. FISSTA have signed an agreed Memorandum of Understanding with our shooting colleagues in the NARGC.

FISSTA were established in 1986 as an effective lobby group to improve and assist the lot of the Irish angler. Local anglers who want to develop and conserve their fishery need the help to get started and FISSTA have assisted many anglers to organise themselves into formally registered clubs on their local waters and by providing the most competitively priced insurance scheme that protects the personal assets of club officers and our registered membership.

We campaign for anglers rights and conservation of wild salmonid stocks. We seek fair access to angling waters for the local club angler at a reasonable cost and campaign for the right for a 7 year secure tenure for all Irish angling clubs leasing state waters.

As an umbrella body for anglers it is a strong voice for the conservation of salmon both nationally and internationally. Our motto is ??????Committed to Conservation?????? and continue to work to achieve the abundant return of the wild Atlantic salmon to our waters and our work has been acknowldeged worldwide. In December 2007, the Icelandic President awarded the Knight??????s Cross for the many years of support for the wild Atlantic salmon.

FISSTA continue to campaign for the wild Atlantic salmon to return to abundance and the issues now are the increase of draft netting, pollution from fish farms, and develpment of our salmonid habitat. We seek new members who support clean water, the sport of angling and saving the wild Atlantic salmon.

Sent from the desk of
Noel Carr Secretary FISSTA
Federation of Irish Salmon & Seatrout Anglers.
Address: Teelin Rd. Carrick. Co. Donegal Office Tel: 00353 749730300
Mobile. 00353872352001
Email. Dgl1@indigo.ie

Thank you Charles Clover for yet another fine article – we will copy to our Government and maybe they might read it before they wipe out our wild Atlantic salmon.

Sunday times 17.8.14, headline.

Marine fish farming will kill jobs and glorious Hemingway moments

I was meant to be at the Edinburgh festival all last week but at the final moment, seeing the weather map spotted blue with downpours and sensing a great migration was about to begin, I packed a fishing rod. I am so glad I did. For early one morning, having seen my son??????s play, I crept out of the door on my way to the River Till, a tributary of the Tweed.

The Till is one of the dwindling number of UK rivers where sea trout are found in any numbers. There are fewer of these mysterious, little understood fish now on Scotland??????s west coast, because of the relentless march of salmon farms, with their chemicals, effluent and the infestations of parasitic sea lice that are so fatal to sea trout as they spend much of their time in coastal waters.

Only in the Borders, Wales and the West Country

http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/comment/columns/charlesclover/article1447549.ece