NORWAY must not be allowed to "dump" farmed salmon on to European markets when it is not even an EU member state, the Minister for the Marine has warned.
Speaking at the Government's marine policy seminar in Galway yesterday, Mr Barrett said Ireland would continue to put pressure on the European Commission over the issue, Lorna Siggins writes.
The Minister of State for the Marine, Mr Eamon Gilmore, has taken up the case with the EU Fisheries Commissioner, Ms Emma Bonino.
The flood of low priced Norwegian salmon imports continues to be of "major concern", Mr Gilmore said yesterday at the seminar which was hosted by the Marine Institute.
Ireland now produces 12,000 tonnes of farmed salmon, and aquaculture accounts for 25 per cent of total Irish fish production. However, Norway's annual production of 280,000 tonnes means that at times it can place as much fish on the market in one week as Ireland produces in a year.
Although not an EU member state, Norway is entitled to trade within the larger European Economic Area.
New legislation for aquaculture is expected to be brought before the Government shortly, the Minister of State said.
Welcoming Mr Gilmore's commitment, the Irish Salmon Growers' Association chairman, Mr Diarmuid Mulcahy, said the lack of it had put the Irish industry "on hold" for the past two years.
The potential of seaweed and the future of the shellfish industry within the EU Common Fisheries Policy were also debated at the seminar, which was the third of four designed to formulate marine policy.