A socio-economic study of the impact of aquaculture on four Atlantic seaboard counties has found "indisputable" evidence of its significance in giving a boost in certain peripheral areas. In one Connemara locality, the community believes it would have died without it.
The study, published by the Marine Institute, recommends that the industry should be given development priority and investment support from both public and private sectors. It bases its findings on the industry's performance to date and communities' dependence on it in Galway, Donegal, Cork and Kerry.
A case study of Kilkieran Bay in southwest Galway indicates that unemployment and emigration levels would be higher, and that fewer young people would be building houses and starting families there, without the opportunity presented by fish-farming. Traditional skills such as boat-building would also be threatened, it says, and the cultural identity of these rural coastal communities would become more fragmented.
Authors Florence White M.Sc and Dr John Costelloe, of Aqua-Fact International Services Ltd in Galway, conducted the evaluation under the EU's operational programme for fisheries marine research measure. The task involved assessing finfish rearing, shellfish cultivation and the seaweed industry in the four counties, and drawing contrasts and comparisons between regions where relevant.
It notes that the aquaculture industry has developed from "humble beginnings" in Connemara 140 years ago to a sector with an annual value to the economy of about £60 million, and with 1,855 full-time employees. It is no coincidence that it has developed in coastal areas with few other economic opportunities, apart from inshore fishing and subsistence farming, and the case study of the community living around Kilkieran Bay clearly shows this. This area has a well-developed salmon-farming industry, active inshore fisheries, a shellfish co-operative and a strong seaweed harvesting and processing industry. Extensive consultation found that unemployment ratios were above national average in a population of just over 6,000, with levels of up to 51.9 per cent in some pockets. Agriculture in the area is not a viable source of income, with up to 100 per cent of farms in some district electoral divisions comprising fewer than 30 acres.
There are now seven salmon-farming companies in Kilkieran Bay. In 1997, the industry there recorded sales of £6.26 million. Seventy jobs are tied up in finfish aquaculture alone, realising annual wages of £1.1 million to local people.
The study finds that goods and services provided directly to fish-farming in Kil kieran amounted to just over £6 million, almost £1.5 million of which went to pro vision of local goods and services in the locality. At least seven ancillary local companies depend heavily or totally on finfish farming in the area, and these companies generate an additional £1 million in wages through approximately 120 full-time and 30 part-time jobs. The majority of employees expressed a long-term commitment to the job, although more than half had an additional source of income.
The authors find it a little more difficult to determine the improvement in social structure of communities in these areas due to the increased economic stability that aquaculture offered.
They note that the development of aquaculture has "not been without controversy", and conflict has arisen in some regions when the communities did not support development objectives. However, they say many of these issues have been resolved to the mutual benefit of the "fish farmer" and the "community neighbour", making the industry "more responsible, transparent and better represented in the community and at government level".
The study stresses that the successful development in each of the regions depends heavily on co-operation, but it gives a good forecast for an indigenous industry using an "abundant natural resource". Entitled A Socio-Economic Evaluation of the Impact of the Aquaculture Industry in Counties Donegal, Galway, Kerry and Cork it is number seven in the Marine Resource Series published by the Marine Institute at 80 Harcourt Street, Dublin 2. Tel (01)476 6500 or website: www.marine.ie