During a Seanad debate on the Inland Fisheries Bill 2009, I said: his Bill is likely to be welcomed by everybody. When speaking before the Minister in this House some time ago on a different topic I quoted a seanfhocal I recalled from my school days: “Éist le fuaim na habhann agus gheobhfaidh tú breac” or listen to the sound of the river if one wishes to catch a fish...

With this Bill the Minister has listened not just to the sound of the marketplace but also to the changes that are taking place in production from inland fisheries. Establishing the new board and the forum makes a great deal of sense. On foot of what Senator Walsh said, I just hope the envisaged savings will take place.

I was interested to read the report of the Oireachtas joint committee, Diversification of Inland Fisheries in our Communities, and particularly its approach on tourism, recreational angling and other areas, which I am sure influenced the Minister’s team when compiling this Bill. I particularly liked the report’s reference to the Irish weather, where it stated that because we cannot change the weather, we must change to suit the weather. There are changes and challenges and I hope the opportunities we will have with this new legislation will be helpful.

This Bill will allow our fisheries sector to operate more effectively and to realise even more of its great potential, which has not always been recognised in the past. The Bill also provides a welcome opportunity to have a wider discussion on fishing in this country. In the supermarket business, my company introduced the world’s first meat trace-back programme in a joint effort with a Trinity College start-up, IdentiGEN. This occurred in 1994 or 1995. At the height of the BSE or mad cow disease scare and the foot and mouth disease outbreak that occurred later, my company’s sales of beef experienced double digit increases. This was due to the effort we put into traceability.

Traceability will become increasingly important in the future. I do not know how easy or difficult it is to apply to fish but this type of technology is now taken for granted. Is there now scope to consider “fish to fork” as opposed to farm to fork? Mr. Charles Clover of The Daily Telegraph has set up a very interesting website, fish2fork.co.uk, with a ratings system to encourage restaurants and consumers to make informed choices. He refers to some fish that are scarce, and I assume he is referring not just to inland fish but also sea fish. He says that bluefin tuna, for example, should not be served at all. The well known chef, Jamie Oliver, has removed bluefin tuna from his menus and recipes, and some of the big restaurants in the UK have had second thoughts about serving it. I am not suggesting that bluefin tuna is likely to be found in the rivers of Ireland but this is an example of what is happening in this area. Can Irish restaurants follow a similar example? Can we encourage the Irish customer to eat local fish produce and encourage restaurants to serve it? Do they need to be pushed to do it? I believe it is more likely they can be pulled if there is consumer demand, and perhaps we can do something in that regard.

Is it ethical to keep eating farmed salmon, given that many salmon farms have earned criticism for damaging fragile coastal areas, polluting waterways with waste and antibiotics and spreading parasites to native fish? Penned salmon also frequently escape, where they breed with wild populations and dilute their genes. The fish meal fed to farmed salmon has been shown to be contaminated with toxic chemicals such as PCBs, which can lead to unsafe levels in the meat, and producing the feed can result in over-fishing. Do people know that in the wild, salmon feed on deep ocean krill and other small fish that are generally not eaten by humans? Farmed salmon, on the other hand, are fed processed anchovies, sardines and herring. I only learned this recently. It takes 2 kg to 4 kg of wild-caught fish to produce 1 kg of salmon. Therefore, it takes hundreds of wild fish to produce one wild salmon.

The Target Corporation is a big American supermarket group. It is probably the second largest retail company in the US after Wal-Mart. Target has become the first leading US food retailer to stop selling farmed salmon in its stores, citing the negative impact of salmon farming on the environment. It has eliminated all farmed salmon from its fresh, frozen and smoked seafood offerings in its hundreds of stores in the US. Leading US retailers, including Target’s main rivals, Wal-Mart and Whole Foods, the natural and organic foods supermarket which is highly recognised, have started to pay more attention in recent years to the sustainability of seafood purchasing.

Wal-Mart plans to continue selling farmed fish but has said it will eventually source all of its wild caught seafood from fisheries certified as sustainable by the US Marine Stewardship Council.

A positive development in Ireland comes from Ocean Harvest Technology. This Galway-based company has developed a product called OceanFeed to replace the synthetic additives currently used in commercial salmon feed. It is being hailed as a major breakthrough on product quality and environmental benefit for the €6 billion farmed salmon industry. It is believed that OceanFeed will be a key ingredient in helping to make the industry more environmentally and financially sustainable.

We also have to ask hard questions in other areas. Given that some fishmongers are arguing that cod stocks have recovered by approximately 5%, should we permit cod fishing around Ireland or wait until cod stocks recover much more before we even consider cod fishing again? I acknowledge cod is a sea fish but I am using it as an example of the trend in sustainability.

One notable company in Cork uses very large and broad nets to let smaller fish escape. This company is obviously progressive in its thinking but there are other stories of fishermen who still catch everything possible. Why is this still happening and how do we placate faddish Western tastes while making fishing sustainable?

It has been reported that a new and dangerous non-native invasive plant called creeping water-primrose has been confirmed by the central and regional fisheries boards as being present in a pond in County Kerry. This is the first time the plant has been recorded in Ireland. A native of South America and some US states, creeping water-primrose is a water-based herb with deep roots and tough stems which form dense mats strong enough to impede the passage of boats and prevent angling, swimming and other water-based recreational activities. It is believed that once established it will compete with native plants and result in damage to the native habitat. Its presence can also lead to a reduction in dissolved oxygen levels in the water and under certain conditions may adversely affect fish stocks. Dr. Joe Caffrey, a senior research scientist with the Central Fisheries Board, has stated:

If this invasive species were to spread throughout Ireland, the economic and ecological cost to the country would be too great to quantify... It is a cause of concern that many of these non-native invasive species can be purchased from retail outlets nationwide. However, legislation will soon make it illegal to import or sell such highly invasive species and this development is to be welcomed.

I ask when such legislation is due to come before us and how the establishment of inland fisheries Ireland can help us to fight invasive species which are so damaging to the water life and the environment in general.

This Bill is worthy of our consideration and support. I hope as we scrutinise it we amend areas we identify as in need of improvement.

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