Company applies for salmon farming licence on freshwater lake
Eight-week consultation period begins following ministerial decision that an ‘Appropriate Assessment’ is necessary
Mowi Ireland has applied for an aquaculture licence to cultivate salmon at its facility beside Lough Altan, near Falcarragh, with an eight-week public consultation on the proposal now under way.
The application, submitted by Comhlucht Iascaireachta Fanad Teoranta, trading as Mowi Ireland, relates to a site at Procklis and is being considered by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine.
A public notice, published in the local press this week, invites submissions and observations on the renewal application, which has also been referred for an Appropriate Assessment under European nature conservation regulations.
The Minister for Agriculture has determined that an Appropriate Assessment is required because it cannot be ruled out, on the basis of the initial scientific screening, that the proposed development could have a significant effect on an environmentally protected site, either individually or in combination with other projects.
Lough Altan is a freshwater lake, and the facility is an established land-based fish hatchery and smolt production operation, with the juvenile salmon it produces used to stock Mowi fish farms elsewhere.
The site has been operating under an existing aquaculture licence, with the application listed by the Department as received in July 2017.
The application is accompanied by an Environmental Impact Assessment Report and other supporting documentation, which will be available for public inspection during the consultation period.
Members of the public have until 23 December to make submissions or observations, which must quote reference number T12-093-3.
The application documents can be viewed free of charge at Letterkenny Garda Station, which is open 24 hours, or through the Department's website.
Submissions can be sent by post to the Aquaculture and Foreshore Management Division, Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, National Seafood Centre, Clogheen, Clonakilty, Co Cork, P85 TX47, or by email to [email protected].
The notice states that submissions must include the name and address of the person making them. All submissions will be made available to the applicant for comment and published on the Department's website.