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January 09 ,2001SAVE THE SWILLY BEGINS FUNDRAISING DRIVE
Dear Friends and neighbours,
We last addressed this type of letter to you in January this year. Save The Swilly is an umbrella organisation whose members - anglers, tourism providers, commercial fishermen, residents and business-owners - believe the licensing of fish farms (salmon and shellfish) on Lough Swilly is going ahead without adequate research or consultation, and with no end in sight.
At that time, we presented our case: there should be a moratorium on further aquaculture licensing until a detailed, independent baseline study and an independent environmental impact assessment have been conducted. We asked you, the people on the shores of Lough Swilly, to register your support for these objectives by signing our petition, either on paper or on our website. So far, well over 9,000 people have signed, and our submission has been presented to the Minister for the Marine and Natural Resources, Mr Frank Fahey.
Unfortunately, neither Mr Fahey nor the Dept of the Marine appears to take these concerns seriously. Mr Fahey told the Dail in February that there would be no overall study of Lough Swilly's aquaculture potential. The Dept of the Marine has again begun issuing aquaculture licences, despite serious unanswered EC charges that it has breached environmental directives in the Swilly. The Department's expansion plans have not been disclosed, and the risk is that Lough Swilly will become a site similar to Mulroy Bay. Have you been consulted about these intentions? Do you agree with such an outcome?
Save The Swilly has decided to commission an independent baseline study and an environmental impact statement for Lough Swilly ourselves, but this will be a costly exercise, and in the next few weeks we will be approaching you, the public living on the shores of Lough Swilly, to support this effort. No stone will be left unturned in our effort to ensure the preservation of the lough for future generations.
The Coordinated Local Aquaculture Management Systems (CLAMS) document for Lough Swilly will soon be introduced with much fanfare. You should be aware that CLAMS is in existence to develop aquaculture - it has no other objective, and it has no legislative or statutory basis. The members of Save The Swilly (35 groups) and the 9,700 signatories to our petition believe the other users of the lough also have rights, and we intend asserting them.
We want YOU to be part of the planning process for Lough Swilly - have you been asked what you want for Lough Swilly? We would like to take the baseline study and make it available to all of you, so that we can all make decisions about this vital issue.
Please support our fund-raising drive in Buncrana (8th September) and Letterkenny (15th September). This is about your future and the future of your children.
SAVE THE SWILLY
contacts:
Email: info@loughswilly.com
Phone: Tony Morrison (353) 07493-63733
Phone: John Mulcahy (353) 07491-59113; (353) 086-2808636
Address: c/o Buncrana Anglers Association,
Castle Lane, Buncrana, Co. Donegal
Website: www.loughswilly.com