The Connemara fish farm which has successfully reared turbot and halibut in the west intends to install a re-circulation unit to improve growing conditions and save on water use.
The US-designed unit will be built onshore, and will allow for full re-circulation and treatment of water at Turbard Iarthar Chonamara (TIC) Teo. Situated near Lettermore in south Galway, TIC Teo is currently the only turbot farm in the State. Rearing of the flatfish was pioneered on Cape Clear island, Co Cork, before disease problems forced its closure.
Joe McElwee and partner Jimmy Reaney have been cultivating turbot and flatfish for the last five years, since taking delivery of their first juveniles from farms in the Isle of Man and France. Reaney is a Galway county footballer, and McElwee, wh is originally from Galway but worked abroad, was formerly involved with the ESB-owned Salmara fish farm company in the southwest.
The Lettermore farm is land-based, drawing seawater from Greatman's Bay where average temperature is two degrees Celsius warmer than Kilkieran to the north. Some 85,000 fish are fed anchovies and pilchard, and reach maturity at 18 months. Demand for the crop is growing and export markets extend from France to Singapore and Hong Kong.
The re-circulation unit will hold about 350 cubic metres of "full strength sea-water" and will cater for juvenile stock of both flatfish species.
The system will allow for control of all parameters associated with growth such as temperature, oxygen supply, water quality and effluent, according to McElwee.
The seawater will be constantly re-used, and all solid waste will be removed, so reducing discharge. The water will also be free of pathogens as it will be passed through ultra-violet filtration systems. In effect, the fish will be "technically organic" as they will spend their lives in a "disease-free" environment, McElwee points out. Consequently, no antibiotics or medical treatments will be needed.
The re-circulation unit is due to be commissioned towards the end of February, 2003.
