Plans lodged for significant expansion of oyster and mussel farming on Lough Swilly

Plans to substantially extend oyster and mussel farming on Lough Swilly have been put out to public consultation by the Department of Agriculture.
Eight different companies and individuals have sought permission to develop or renew oyster and mussel farms at 13 locations covering almost 300 hectares (around 750 acres) of the lough, stretching from Stragill near Buncrana to the Big Isle at Manorcunningham, and from Aughinish Isle to Kinnegar Head near Rathmullan.
If approved, the applicants suggest the farms would produce more than 7,000 tonnes of shellfish annually within five years and sustain a few dozen jobs.
Public notices advertising the applications have been placed in the Donegal Democrat newspaper over recent weeks.
The public consultation runs until 4 March, and documents associated with the applications are available for inspection at Buncrana and Milford Garda stations, as well as online on the Department of Agriculture website.
The regulatory process on Lough Swilly, which requires applicants to seek permission from the State and allows a four-week period for the public to make observations, stands in sharp contrast to nearby Lough Foyle.
Lough Foyle - where there is legal uncertainty over whether the Irish Department of Agriculture or Britain’s Crown Estate owns the foreshore - has been described as a “wild west”, where tens of thousands of trestles have been erected without licensing, regulation or environmental assessment.

Rathmullan
Applications for three sites near Rathmullan – at Delap Bay, Aughinish Isle and in the Letterkenny Channel – for the farming of Blue Mussel (Mytilus edulis), made by Greencastle-based Fresco Seafoods Ltd, were submitted 24 years ago, in February 2002. The company’s directors are Gerard Kelly and Michael McLaughlin.
These are by far the largest in area of the 13 applications currently being considered by the Department.
At Delap Bay, south of Rathmullan, permission has been sought to cultivate Blue Mussel through bottom culture on a 109-hectare (270-acre) site. A similar application at Aughinish Isle seeks permission to farm on a 59-hectare (146-acre) site, while permission has also been sought for a 38-hectare (94-acre) site in the nearby Letterkenny Channel, also for the cultivation of Blue Mussel.
The applicants estimate that 2,000 tonnes of the edible shellfish could be harvested annually by year four of operation.
A separate application, at Ballygreen Point south of Aughinish Isle, for an oyster farm was submitted by Burtonport-based Shannon Shellfish Limited in December 2024. Alan O'Sullivan has sought to review the lience to cultivate Pacific Oysters and change the licensee name to Shannon Shellfish Limited, and to amend existing access routes. The farm stretches across a two-hectare zone, with an estimated 80 tonnes available for harvest annually within five years.

An application from Inish Oysters Limited of Redcastle, where the directors are Fergal and Michael Havlin, seeks to develop a 25-hectare (62-acre) site off Macamish Point to cultivate mussels.
Lodged with the Department in December 2023, the applicants have sought permission to cultivate Blue Mussel on ropes and nets. They estimate production of 480 tonnes of mussels in year one, rising to 1,450 tonnes by year five.
The same company has also sought permission for a 13.5-hectare (33-acre) site off Kinnegar Head to cultivate Blue Mussel, with annual production projected to rise from 360 tonnes in year one to 1,100 tonnes within five years.
Clonmany-based Atlantic Crab Limited has sought permission to renew and review its licence for oyster farming on 12,610 trestles at a 12-hectare (30-acre) where it plans to add new flip-farm structures on the site off Kinnegar Head.
Director Michael Kearney says the company intends to farm gigas (Pacific) oysters in baskets and discontinue the cultivation of mussels. Annual oyster production is anticipated to grow from 207 tonnes in year one to 1,007 tonnes by year five.

Stragill
Derek Diver, from Clonmany, has sought permission to renew the licence to farm oysters on 12,600 trestles at a 17-hectare (42-acre) on Stragill Strand, north of Buncrana.
In an application dating from August 2024, Mr Diver has applied to cultivate Pacific oysters (Crassostrea gigas) in bags. He estimates annual production of 70 tonnes in year one, rising to 450 tonnes annually by year five.

Significant local opposition was mounted to the initial licensing approved by the Department back in 2015.

Manorcunningham
There are five separate applications for new oyster farms near the Big Isle at Manorcunningham. While these are smaller than elsewhere on the lough, combined they would see around 13,000 trestles installed across six adjacent farms covering a total of 17.5 hectares (43 acres) in the mudflats off Ballybegley and Ballylawn.
A co-operative called the Lough Swilly Wild Oyster Society, which has an address at St Johnston Community Centre, accounts for the three largest proposed farms, where Pacific oysters would be cultivated. The applications, submitted in September 2021 by the co-operative’s chairman Paul Bradley and vice-chairman Paul McCrossan, cover two four-hectare zones and one six-hectare zone.
Two further applications in the vicinity, in the names of Paul McCrossan of St Johnston and Andrew White of Moville, were submitted in August and September 2024.
Mr McCrossan’s application envisages the installation of 1,450 trestles across a 1.6-hectare area, while Mr White’s application is for 1,522 trestles on a 1.8-hectare farm. Both are for the cultivation of Pacific oysters.

Public consultation
The Department of Agriculture is running a public consultation on each application for 30 days, up to and including 4 March.
Documents relating to the applications are available at Buncrana and Milford Garda stations, and online in the consultation section of the Department’s website at www.gov.ie/en/department-of-agriculture-food-and-the-marine/
Written observations can be made by post or email and will be published on the website.