Irish salmon farmers are holding their own in an increasingly turbulent international market, where prices have plummeted as a result of stiff competition from Chile.

But fish farmers here will have to focus on "world class quality" to ensure the sector's future, the Minister of State for the Marine, Mr Hugh Byrne, told the annual conference of the Irish Salmon Growers' Association in Westport, Co Mayo.

Chile's assault on the international farmed fish market has seen prices fall by one-third - to a 10-year low. At the conference, Mr Finnian O'Luasa, head of Bord Iascaigh Mhara's European office in Paris, noted that Ireland had increased its market share in France by 111 per cent, in Britain by 2 per cent and in Italy by 104 per cent, while market share was also up in Germany and Spain.

Despite this rise in tonnage, unit values had dropped - in Ireland's case, by around 18 per cent. In each case, Chile had penetrated to the extent that even Norway, the European leader, had been adversely affected.

Mr O'Luasa noted the trends towards organic food, and towards self-service pre-packed fish on the European market. Ireland had been the first European state to penetrate the organic market for salmon, with the highest prices being secured by Clare Island Seafarms in Mayo.

The low-fat content of Irish salmon and its cleaner environment should be used to secure a firm foothold in the upper end of the sector, he said.

The 200 fish farmers and industry representatives attending the conference heard that Ireland compared very well environmentally to Scotland and Norway. Dr Brendan O'Connor said most farms here were in very exposed sites with strong current flows throughout the year.

The conference also heard the board's marketing chief, Ms Helen Brophy, outline the board's marketing campaign which aims to increase the domestic consumption of fish by 57 per cent within the next five years. About 52 per cent of fish sold here is imported, and this figure is rising by 7 per cent annually, she said. The campaign's focus would be on increasing home-produced and caught fish, she said.

Ireland is the only state in Europe that consumes more fish away from home than at home, she said.