Ombudsman investigation could damage Galway Bay salmon farm

In a move that could prove damaging to plans to locate a €100 million salmon farm in Galway Bay, a second government department is to be investigated over claims that important information was deliberately withheld from an European Commission investigation into sea lice.

Following a complaint by the environmental lobby group Friends of the Irish Environment (FIE), the office of the Ombudsman has now opened preliminary investigations into both the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Foreign Affairs.

The complaint alleges that the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, which through Bord Iascaigh Mhara (BIM) is seeking to locate the salmon farm off Inis Oírr, deliberately suppressed a report by Inland Fisheries Ireland (IFI) in which the state body was critical of sea lice control in Irish fish farms…

Galway Independent 30/10/2013 Read the article: ‘Ombudsman fish lice investigations widened’

Opponents of the Galway Bay salmon farm claim important information on sea lice was withheld from an EU investigation. Photo Boyd Challenger.
Opponents of the Galway Bay salmon farm claim important information on sea lice was withheld from an EU investigation. Photo Boyd Challenger.