Farmers say salmon safe despite fish kill

Salmon farmers have told consumers their produce is safe to eat following concerns in the wake of the fish kill in Inver Bay, …

Salmon farmers have told consumers their produce is safe to eat following concerns in the wake of the fish kill in Inver Bay, Co Donegal, last week.

Mr Richie Flynn, executive secretary of the fish farming section of the Irish Farmers' Association and secretary of the Irish Salmon Growers' Association, said supermarkets had received a number of queries about the safety of salmon in recent days.

"It's very important to stress to consumers that the fish they will see in the supermarkets in the coming days and weeks is not from this area. But the fish from the Inver area don't have any disease and they will be fit for market at some stage," he said.

It is believed the fish kill at the salmon farm was caused when material at the bottom of the sea bed was disturbed by other fishing activity, releasing dangerously high levels of poisonous hydrogen sulphide gas.

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However, Mr Flynn said the salmon growers did not want to place the blame on fishermen for the problem. "We don't want to see a wedge driven between fishing and fish farming. We are not putting the blame on the fishing community - we come from that community," he said.

But he said: "It is clear that not enough is being done to assist fish farmers in their hour of need".

Mr Flynn said that if all the cattle in Donegal had been found dead, the relevant Minister would be treating it as a crisis and that this situation was a crisis for fish farmers.

"It's not only going to cost people in terms of fish, but also in terms of the disposal. Because although the fish are perfectly safe to eat, they can only be sold on the market if they have been killed by approved methods."

The Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources received an interim report on the matter from the Marine Institute on Wednesday.

The report says it does not have enough evidence yet on what caused the deaths of the farmed fish.