The Western Development Commission has doubled its investment in a Connemara-based production initiative for farmed Atlantic salmon.
The commission has increased its financial support for Maoiniu Mara Teo (MMT) of Kilkieran, Co Galway, by €500,000, bringing its total interest in the company to €1 million.
This may be doubled again to €2 million over the next two years if certain criteria are met, according to Gillian Buckley, the commission's investment manager.
The package has been approved under the commission's €34 million State-supported western investment fund, which assists businesses, community projects and initiatives in the western region, through seed and venture capital or loans.
Since 2001, the fund has injected €13 million into 60 projects across the region, including counties Donegal, Sligo, Leitrim, Roscommon, Mayo, Galway and Clare.
The money will be used by MMT to sign agreements with producers of farmed salmon and other species during this year and next.
MMT was established by the Irish Seafood Producers Group and Údarás na Gaeltachta to try and resolve the problems in the salmon farming sector, partly caused by dumping and over-supply from other international competitors such as Norway and Chile. It also aimed to increase the value of Irish farmed salmon.
The commission says its western investment fund support for MMT will help to underpin the 491 jobs already existing in the industry, and another 1,100 related posts along the western seaboard.
Richard McNamara, chief executive of MMT, said that the investment came at a critical time. "It moves our fish farmers from being production led to being market led," he said.
"This funding will ease their acute cash flow problems and therefore will allow fish to be kept in the water longer, grow bigger and these fish can then be sold at optimum market times, such as around Christmas."
