49 Mr. Dukes asked the Minister for the Marine and Natural Resources if he will accede to the request of the Save the Swilly group to commission an independent comprehensive baseline study of the situation in Lough Swilly and a comprehensive environmental impact assessment of the impact of aquaculture expansion and fisheries development on the Lough; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1151/02]

The public campaign launched by the Save the Swilly Group in opposition to the further development of aquaculture in the lough has raised a number of issues relating to the approach which has been taken in respect of licensing aquaculture and the sustainable level of aquaculture operations within the lough. The campaign gives the impression that Lough Swilly is overwhelmed by aquaculture.

The reality is otherwise. The surface area of Lough Swilly is 15,400 hectares and the total water of Lough Swilly which, on average, exceeds two billion tonnes is changed every two days or so by tidal movements. To date, the total area licensed for intensive aquaculture such as salmon farming, rope culture mussels or the growing of oysters in bags on trestles, amounts to just over 1% of the surface area of the lough. Approximately 7.5 % of the area of the lough is licensed for the bottom culture of mussels, a traditional and unobtrusive method of cultivating shellfish which does not require any equipment in or on the water and, therefore, has no visual impact whatsoever. Most of the these licences date from the 1980s and with no evidence of adverse consequences.

This means that over 91% of the area of the lough remains entirely free of aquaculture of any sort and for the forseeable future the great bulk of it will stay that way. The few remaining licence applications currently on hands, which amount to approximately 280 hectares in total, will be considered on their merits, within the legal framework governing the licensing of aquaculture and with no prior commitment to licensing any or all of them.