Ireland’s status as an island nation is much-touted, yet we have failed to capitalise on it by building a thriving fish-farming industry.

Global demand for seafood is growing rapidly, far beyond what can be delivered from traditional wild-caught fish.

An estimated 42 million tonnes of extra seafood will be required annually by the year 2030 because of population growth. The global production of farmed salmon, which stands at two million tonnes a year, is expected to rise to three million tonnes by 2020….

ALISON HEALY, Food and Farming Correspondent, Irish Times, 05/11/2012, Read the article ‘There could be plenty more fish in the sea’

Salmon farming in Ireland is at a fraction of what it could be, say critics - a proposed new deep-sea fish farm in Galway bay would double Irish production. photograph: thinkstock
Salmon farming in Ireland is at a fraction of what it could be, say critics - a proposed new deep-sea fish farm in Galway bay would double Irish production. photograph: thinkstock