The Department has officially rejected the planning applications for the mussel farm in Dunmanus Bay. This successful outcome ensures that our local fishing grounds remain protected for the benefit of our community. We shall remain vigilant regarding any future developments that threaten this ecosystem.
December 10, 2017
Final supporters
Dear Minister
We represent the following organisations: The Association of Dunmanus Bay Fishermen, Fishermen's Inshore Saltwater Heritage Ltd, Goleen Community Council, Ahakista Community Association, Kilcrohane Development Association, Muintir Bhaire Community Council, The Sheep's Head Way, Mizen Head Tourism Co operative Society Ltd and Barley Cove SAC, and attached 422 signatures from landowners and residents on both sides of Dunmanus Bay and those on this petition which continues to gather signatures.
We object to the new planning applications ref T05/590A, for aquaculture and foreshore licenses for an intensive mussel farm in Dunmanus Bay, outside Kiltomane Pier and directly across from Ahakista. These applications are a repeat of similar applications T05/590 for the same location, denied 5 years ago. The revised applications, engineer's report and photos are date stamped 2013/14 and thus out of date and largely invalid.
Despite the offhand reference to "fishermen ad hoc" in the application, the area is a highly productive, sustainably managed, year round fishing ground, targeting different species as they come in and out of season. 12 fishing boats from both sides of the Bay congregated there on a November day to protect their ground, which has supported fishermen and their families for generations, back into the mists of time and hopefully will continue for generations into the future.
When the Fisheries (Amendment) Act 1997 was passed and licenses were being sought for unlicensed mussel farms, the Dunmanus Bay Fishermen decided not to protest mussel installations already in situ. In effect the fishermen gifted without rancour, a portion of their livelihood to the mussel farmers and said goodbye to what had been productive sheltered fishing ground for small boats. Now after 20 years of intensive mussel culture, this area is environmentally destroyed, the ground under and around the lines and the foreshore deep with detritus and discarded mussel socks.
Evidence of the applicant's failure in best practice is to be found at their abandoned mussel farm installation at Gouladoo in Bantry Bay. Ropes, anchor blocks and debris have been left as a marine safety hazard rendering this productive scallop ground unfishable. (Application refers to their operations in Bantry Bay. Directors of Bantry Bay Mussels Ltd are also Directors of Dunmanus Bay Mussels Ltd.)
Fishing between lines as suggested by applicant is not possible in deep rough water, where change of wind and tide could lead to loss of fishing gear or serious accident.
The Wild Atlantic Way runs down both sides of Dunmanus Bay, an environmentally sensitive area of unspoiled scenic beauty. We have complied with the tourism directive to cut ditches and improve views of the sea wherever possible. Any new aquaculture development would be clearly visible from long sections of our Wild Atlantic Way and detrimental to it.
The Luxury Holiday homes and Stud Farm overlooking the proposed site bring celebrity tourism to the region. These high-end rental properties are at capacity during the warmer months and with business increasing annually for the cooler months. More aquaculture in the Bay would destroy this business, which employs up to 15 people.
Kiltomane is a public pier used by fishing boats and pleasure craft, adjoining a beautiful and popular swimming strand packed with tourists and locals during the warmer months and more occasional use in the cooler months. This public amenity should never be spoiled by any installation, least of all a mussel farm, a navigational hazard for fishing boats and pleasure craft of all sizes.
A Fin Whale, second largest mammal on earth, was photographed 4 1/2 miles inside Dunmanus Bay looking North to Dooneen Pier, taken November 16th 2016. An Affirmation of our pristine marine environment that we wish to preserve.
To underwrite any more environmental damage to wildstock fisheries and endanger our lucrative tourist industry for the sake of 1 or 2 part time jobs on a mussel farm makes no sense to any of us. Please deny this application.
Dunmanus Bay Marine Association
Dunmanus Bay
The Hidden Jewel of SW Ireland
http://www.savedunmanusbay.org
Updates
Reached 250 supporters
November 23, 2017
Reached 100 supporters
November 22, 2017
November 21, 2017
We are approaching two hundred and fifty signatures as we press to protect Dunmanus Bay. Please help us maintain this momentum by directing your networks toward our petition so that our message reaches the Ministry with greater weight.
97 Comments
Aquaculture is a hideous eyesore and damaging to marine ecosystems. It has no place in an environment where tourism is so important to the local economy. The application should be rejected without hesitation. Stephen Cobb, Ahakista
The heritage and culture of the area must be preserved. The way of life of the local fishing communities must be protected. As someone who can trace my family history to the area, I have a special interest in its conservation and well-being.
It is totally unacceptable to obliterate traditional fishing grounds that have been fished by locals for hundreds of years. Fisherman have managed conservation of stocks resulting in a healthy ecosystem.
This application was already rejected five years ago and nothing has changed to make it more palatable to residents and people who care about our local waters now. This needs to be rejected in no uncertain terms, firmly and finally.
Dunmanus Bay is one of the last pristine bays left on the SW coast of Ireland. As someone who uses Dunmanus Bay and the other Bays in West Cork for sail training and international tourism it's important that we keep thjs bay and it's environment pure and untouched by human intervention.
Please leave at least this spectacularly beautiful section of coastline alone. We have seen what the intensive mussel fishing has done to the Ardgroom section of the Kenmare river with the truly ugly lines and the restrictions to navigation caused by them. Who knows what the environmental impact has been there. No reliable or believable studies exist. This part of Ireland needs tourist traffic to survive. Local businesses need tourists to stay in the area to help the flagging local economy. They will avoid the peninsular if this unsightly aquaculture business is allowed to take hold and expand. (as it always does). Mussel fishing is a low level employer. No new jobs for local people. Local fishermen and accommodation businesses that currently employ people will be driven out. Please leave this part of Ireland alone!
Please have mercy on them. Thank you
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The Department has officially rejected the planning applications for the mussel farm in Dunmanus Bay. This successful outcome ensures that our local fishing grounds remain protected for the benefit of our community. We shall remain vigilant regarding any future developments that threaten this ecosystem.
December 10, 2017
Final supporters
Dear Minister
We represent the following organisations: The Association of Dunmanus Bay Fishermen, Fishermen's Inshore Saltwater Heritage Ltd, Goleen Community Council, Ahakista Community Association, Kilcrohane Development Association, Muintir Bhaire Community Council, The Sheep's Head Way, Mizen Head Tourism Co operative Society Ltd and Barley Cove SAC, and attached 422 signatures from landowners and residents on both sides of Dunmanus Bay and those on this petition which continues to gather signatures.
We object to the new planning applications ref T05/590A, for aquaculture and foreshore licenses for an intensive mussel farm in Dunmanus Bay, outside Kiltomane Pier and directly across from Ahakista. These applications are a repeat of similar applications T05/590 for the same location, denied 5 years ago. The revised applications, engineer's report and photos are date stamped 2013/14 and thus out of date and largely invalid.
Despite the offhand reference to "fishermen ad hoc" in the application, the area is a highly productive, sustainably managed, year round fishing ground, targeting different species as they come in and out of season. 12 fishing boats from both sides of the Bay congregated there on a November day to protect their ground, which has supported fishermen and their families for generations, back into the mists of time and hopefully will continue for generations into the future.
When the Fisheries (Amendment) Act 1997 was passed and licenses were being sought for unlicensed mussel farms, the Dunmanus Bay Fishermen decided not to protest mussel installations already in situ. In effect the fishermen gifted without rancour, a portion of their livelihood to the mussel farmers and said goodbye to what had been productive sheltered fishing ground for small boats. Now after 20 years of intensive mussel culture, this area is environmentally destroyed, the ground under and around the lines and the foreshore deep with detritus and discarded mussel socks.
Evidence of the applicant's failure in best practice is to be found at their abandoned mussel farm installation at Gouladoo in Bantry Bay. Ropes, anchor blocks and debris have been left as a marine safety hazard rendering this productive scallop ground unfishable. (Application refers to their operations in Bantry Bay. Directors of Bantry Bay Mussels Ltd are also Directors of Dunmanus Bay Mussels Ltd.)
Fishing between lines as suggested by applicant is not possible in deep rough water, where change of wind and tide could lead to loss of fishing gear or serious accident.
The Wild Atlantic Way runs down both sides of Dunmanus Bay, an environmentally sensitive area of unspoiled scenic beauty. We have complied with the tourism directive to cut ditches and improve views of the sea wherever possible. Any new aquaculture development would be clearly visible from long sections of our Wild Atlantic Way and detrimental to it.
The Luxury Holiday homes and Stud Farm overlooking the proposed site bring celebrity tourism to the region. These high-end rental properties are at capacity during the warmer months and with business increasing annually for the cooler months. More aquaculture in the Bay would destroy this business, which employs up to 15 people.
Kiltomane is a public pier used by fishing boats and pleasure craft, adjoining a beautiful and popular swimming strand packed with tourists and locals during the warmer months and more occasional use in the cooler months. This public amenity should never be spoiled by any installation, least of all a mussel farm, a navigational hazard for fishing boats and pleasure craft of all sizes.
A Fin Whale, second largest mammal on earth, was photographed 4 1/2 miles inside Dunmanus Bay looking North to Dooneen Pier, taken November 16th 2016. An Affirmation of our pristine marine environment that we wish to preserve.
To underwrite any more environmental damage to wildstock fisheries and endanger our lucrative tourist industry for the sake of 1 or 2 part time jobs on a mussel farm makes no sense to any of us. Please deny this application.
Dunmanus Bay Marine Association
Dunmanus Bay
The Hidden Jewel of SW Ireland
http://www.savedunmanusbay.org
Updates
Reached 250 supporters
November 23, 2017
Reached 100 supporters
November 22, 2017
November 21, 2017
We are approaching two hundred and fifty signatures as we press to protect Dunmanus Bay. Please help us maintain this momentum by directing your networks toward our petition so that our message reaches the Ministry with greater weight.
97 Comments
We stay in this area every year and use the bay off Kilcomane Pier for leisure with family and friends. We have seen dozens of dolphins as well as a whale in the bay. It would be a tragedy to spoil this most special environment.
Aquaculture is a hideous eyesore and damaging to marine ecosystems. It has no place in an environment where tourism is so important to the local economy. The application should be rejected without hesitation. Stephen Cobb, Ahakista
The heritage and culture of the area must be preserved. The way of life of the local fishing communities must be protected. As someone who can trace my family history to the area, I have a special interest in its conservation and well-being.
It is totally unacceptable to obliterate traditional fishing grounds that have been fished by locals for hundreds of years. Fisherman have managed conservation of stocks resulting in a healthy ecosystem.
This application was already rejected five years ago and nothing has changed to make it more palatable to residents and people who care about our local waters now. This needs to be rejected in no uncertain terms, firmly and finally.
Dunmanus Bay is one of the last pristine bays left on the SW coast of Ireland. As someone who uses Dunmanus Bay and the other Bays in West Cork for sail training and international tourism it's important that we keep thjs bay and it's environment pure and untouched by human intervention.
Please leave at least this spectacularly beautiful section of coastline alone. We have seen what the intensive mussel fishing has done to the Ardgroom section of the Kenmare river with the truly ugly lines and the restrictions to navigation caused by them. Who knows what the environmental impact has been there. No reliable or believable studies exist. This part of Ireland needs tourist traffic to survive. Local businesses need tourists to stay in the area to help the flagging local economy. They will avoid the peninsular if this unsightly aquaculture business is allowed to take hold and expand. (as it always does). Mussel fishing is a low level employer. No new jobs for local people. Local fishermen and accommodation businesses that currently employ people will be driven out. Please leave this part of Ireland alone!
Please have mercy on them. Thank you
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We stay in this area every year and use the bay off Kilcomane Pier for leisure with family and friends. We have seen dozens of dolphins as well as a whale in the bay. It would be a tragedy to spoil this most special environment.