IFI statement re latest information on escaped farmed salmon, Galway

IFI teams are monitoring, trapping, and sampling farmed fish encountered in rivers, and liaising with fishery owners/anglers following an incident in Killary Harbour last week.

IFI teams are also monitoring for, and removing, any escaped fish intercepted at our research trapping facilities in the National Salmonid Index Catchment, River Erriff.

Identification of farmed fish is currently proving challenging as there are no clear markers to identify farmed fish from wild species.

IFI is operating so as to protect wild salmon, and avoid accidental removal of wild fish. 

IFI believes the escaped farmed salmon from Killary Harbour pose a significant risk to wild Atlantic salmon populations. IFI understands a very significant number of farmed salmon are now in the marine environment, and can travel up nearby rivers.

The agency is concerned that interbreeding with farmed salmon could compromise the genetic integrity of the local salmon population, which could impact their resilience in the long term.

Wild salmon are already under threat from water quality, habitat degradation, illegal fishing, and climate change - and this incident poses an additional challenge to salmon populations in rivers in Galway and Mayo.

It is possible that these fish can swim into neighbouring counties over time.

IFI has not been provided with the official total number of salmon that were in the impacted facility.

The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine manages the licensing of fish farms, and conditions attached to same.