Speaking at the close of the IFA aquaculture conference in Kenmare, Co. Cork , Tony Killeen, Irish minister for fisheries and forestry, praised the continued efforts of the aquaculture industry and the sector’s extraordinary rate of growth over a short period of time.
According to FishFarmingXpert, he also emphasised his commitment to further expansion of the industry, which could create more jobs in Irish coastal communities:
"We know historically that every hundred tonnes of output of farmed salmon generates one full time job on the farm and another 1.26 fulltime jobs ashore. So for every extra 100 tonnes we could produce, we would on average generate almost 2.5 full time equivalent jobs here in our coastal communities."
He acknowledged that there were difficulties with regards to agreeing arrangements with the European Commission for the licensing and regulation of the sector in compliance with the requirements of the habitats and Birds Directives. This issue had lead to a backlog of licence applications, reports FishFarmingXpert.
IFA Praise New Government Aquaculture Funds
IRELAND - The Irish government is giving €3.8 million in grant aid support for new aquaculture development projects for 2009, and €1.4 million for data collection to support aquaculture licensing.
