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January 09 ,2001Save The Swilly presents 10,000-signature petition to EU
Save The Swilly (STS) has presented a petition with close to 10,000 signatures to the European Parliament. The petition was handed to Green Party MEP Patricia McKenna in Dublin on Monday, 25th March, and she will present it to the Petitions Committee of the European Parliament in Strasbourg.
The STS petition calls on the Irish government to declare a moratorium on aquaculture licensing in Lough Swilly pending completion of a series of independent scientific studies on the lough. STS has commissioned the first of these, a Scoping Study now being conducted by the Coastal Studies Research Group at the University of Ulster's School of Environmental Studies in Coleraine. Once completed, the Scoping Study will be be used as the basis for a comprehensive study into a proposed Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) strategy for Lough Swilly.
The STS petition, gathered over the past year, is critical of both the Irish government and the European Union (EU) for failing to protect the marine environment in Lough Swilly. The Irish government has ignored calls to commission a scientific study of the lough, while the EU continues to provide extensive grant aid to aquaculture operators in Lough Swilly, at the same time expressing grave concern about aquaculture licensing within Special Areas of Conservation (SAC) and Special Protected Areas (SPA).
"It is not good enough for the Department of the Marine to continue licensing aquaculture operations, while ignoring the threats to wild-fish stocks, to bird habitats and to the legitimate interests of other users of the lough," STS chairman Tony Morrison said. "The attitude of the Irish government authorities is completely biased in favour of the expansion of aquaculture, and our reasonable demand that a detailed assessment of the lough be carried out has fallen on deaf ears. We have no alternative but to take our complaint to Europe."
STS believes the EU can play its part by withholding further funding of aquaculture activities in Lough Swilly until the series of scientific studies has been completed and assessed. EU funding for a comprehensive assessment of Lough Swilly would benefit all stakeholders, and not exclusively the aquaculture sector.
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