Press Releases

Archived Press Releases:

 May 12 ,2007
ELECTION 2007: How clean is Donegal’s water, and other pertinent political questions…?

 September 25 ,2006
OYSTER CRISIS EXPOSES "SHAMBLES" IN MANAGEMENT OF SWILLY

 July 11 ,2005
ATTEMPT TO DOUBLE SALMON-FARMING OUTPUT IN LOUGH SWILLY

 August 23 ,2004
WHICH PART OF "NO" DON'T THEY UNDERSTAND?

 June 02 ,2004
COULTER CALLS FOR POLITICAL CHANGE IN DONEGAL

 December 15 ,2003
PORTSALON SALMON-FARMING LICENCE REFUSED BY ALAB

 November 05 ,2003
PRESS RELEASE ISSUED BY FEDERATION OF IRISH SALMON AND SEA TROUT ANGLERS, FRIENDS OF CLEW BAY AND SAVE THE SWILLY

 September 24 ,2003
PRIME TIME EXPOSES AQUACULTURE'S SHORTCOMINGS

 July 24 ,2003
SAVE THE SWILLY CALLS FOR FARMED SALMON MORTALITY MONITOR

 July 21 ,2003
ANOTHER DISASTER IN INVER BAY - INQUIRY ESSENTIAL

 July 17 ,2003
"RURAL DEVELOPMENT TOWARDS SUSTAINABILITY"

 June 21 ,2003
ANOTHER DISASTER IN INVER BAY - INQUIRY ESSENTIAL

 February 08 ,2003
SAVE THE SWILLY MEETS INISHOWEN POLITICIANS

 February 03 ,2003
BLUE FLAG BEACH THREATENED BY 80-ACRE FISH FARM

 January 29 ,2003
SAVE THE SWILLY 10,000-SIGNATURE PETITION ACCEPTED BY EUROPE

 January 28 ,2003
NEW ALLIANCE FORMED IN SWILLY

 December 16 ,2002
"STOP RIPPING UP THE SWILLY" INDIGENOUS PEOPLE DEMAND

 December 13 ,2002
LOUGH SWILLY'S INDIGENOUS FISHERMEN SPEAK OUT

 October 01 ,2002
Press Releases Save The Swilly 1 October 2002 PUBLIC MEETING TO DISCUSS INTEGRATED COASTAL ZONE MANAGEMENT

 September 25 ,2002
SAVE THE SWILLY WELCOMES EU STRATEGY ON COASTAL ZONE MANAGEMENT

 August 12 ,2002
'Lough Swilly ICZM Report'

 August 02 ,2002
QUESTIONS OVER DECOMPOSING SALMON IN INVER BAY

 June 03 ,2002
NO ROOM FOR TRADITION IN LOUGH SWILLY

 May 03 ,2002
Save The Swilly opts for "Swilly First"

 May 03 ,2002
Save The Swilly/Green Party candidate withdraws

 May 01 ,2002
Save The Swilly/Green Party candidate to contest Donegal North-East

 April 18 ,2002
COULTER TO BE "AMBASSADOR-AT-LARGE" FOR SAVE THE SWILLY

 March 25 ,2002
Save The Swilly presents 10,000-signature petition to EU

 March 12 ,2002
Study of Lough Swilly launched

 November 30 ,2001
STS letter to Hugh Byrne, Minister for State for the Department of the Marine

 November 27 ,2001
ICZM AND OSPAR - NOT CLAMS - FOR SWILLY

 October 17 ,2001
SALMON FARM WANTS STILL MORE LICENCES INSHORE

 September 17 ,2001
SAVE THE SWILLY MEETS LABOUR PARTY

 September 13 ,2001
SAVE THE SWILLY MEETS MINISTER OF STATE BYRNE

 September 01 ,2001
SAVE THE SWILLY BEGINS FUNDRAISING DRIVE

 August 28 ,2001
SAVE THE SWILLY WELCOMES I.F.A. INITIATIVE

 May 15 ,2001
EXPANSION OF SALMON FARMING TRAGIC FOR SWILLY

 April 09 ,2001
MUSSEL BARRELS ADRIFT IN LOUGH SWILLY

 March 22 ,2001
SAVE THE SWILLY PRESENTS PETITION

 March 13 ,2001
SAVE THE SWILLY QUESTIONS MINISTER BYRNE

 March 11 ,2001
SAVE THE SWILLY REAFFIRMS CALL FOR MORATORIUM

 February 20 ,2001
LAUNCH OF SAVE THE SWILLY WEBSITE

 January 24 ,2001
An open letter to the people on the shores of Lough Swilly:

 January 16 ,2001
Delegation meets Minister Hugh Byrne

 January 09 ,2001
Save The Swilly (from looking like Mulroy Bay)

SAVE THE SWILLY - July 24 ,2003

SAVE THE SWILLY CALLS FOR FARMED SALMON MORTALITY MONITOR

Mystery still surrounds the sudden death of more than 400,000 farmed salmon in Inver Bay, the biggest fish kill in the history of salmon farming in the European Union, two weeks after the mortalities were first reported to the authorities. Save The Swilly has called on the Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources to disclose in public details of all farmed salmon mortalities and escapes.

"Fishermen and residents in the Inver Bay area claim that farmed salmon have been dying on a continuing basis, at levels that are well above standard practice. That may be unsubstantiated, but the onus is on the regulatory authority, the Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources, to disclose everything that might affect water quality," said Tony Morrison, chairman of Save The Swilly. "It takes the deaths of hundreds of thousands of fish for any action to be taken. We need to know details of all deaths and escapes on a regular basis." The group, which comprises more than 30 member organisations, has argued for some time that an inherent conflict of interest exists in the role of the Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources as the principal promoter as well as the regulator of fish farming.

"As stakeholders in the marine environment our members - fishermen, anglers, tourist operators and the general public - have a right to feel confident that their interests are being protected," said Mr Morrison. "At the moment that is not the case. There is a pervasive culture of secrecy surrounding the Department regarding its obligations to protect the marine environment, and the relationship with the aquaculture industry is far too close. We would like to see a complete overhaul of the regulatory environment surrounding aquaculture, but at the very least a disaster such as the Inver Bay fish kill, following a major kill last summer in the same area, should be examined independently."

Save The Swilly said in a statement the report awaited from the Marine Institute was meaningless in the way it has been held back from public scrutiny. "Reliance on the Department and the industry to regulate the industry has produced disasters in two successive years in Inver Bay, and we must know the facts so that similar disasters can be avoided in other areas where salmon-farm expansion is being contemplated," said Mr Morrison.

It is a year since the last major fish kill in Inver Bay, and until now there has been no detailed report about that incident. The Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources accepted a recommendation from a consultant hired by the fish farm concerned, Ocean Farm, to leave the 50,000-80,000 mature farmed salmon on the seabed. The pile of dead fish, estimated at more than 300 tons, has been decomposing since June 2002. What is the state of this pile of rotting fish?

"It seems obvious that the first thing to do is to establish the condition of the area where the Ocean Farm kill occurred last year," Mr Morrison said. "We need an explicit reassurance from the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources that the Ocean Farm fish kill in 2002 has no bearing on the recent disaster."

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