Sir, – For some time now there has been an established link between overfishing and jellyfish blooms (“Jellyfish bloom kills thousands of farmed salmon off Co Mayo”, Lorna Siggins, October 21st).
More than 10 years ago the internationally renowned fisheries biologist Daniel Pauly predicted that we would “soon be eating plankton soup and jellyfish burgers” as a result of overfishing large, predatory fish.
When the fish – such as cod and other carnivorous fish – that eat jellyfish are removed, jellyfish flourish. The jellyfish then feed on juvenile fish and fish eggs.
According to the Marine Institute, three out of the four cod fisheries around Ireland are overfished or data deficient, while across all fisheries less than half of the stocks are sustainably exploited or too little is known to be sure.
Notwithstanding the fact that other factors such as pollution and climate change may also be at play, it is important we face up to this problem. It not only has huge implications for the health of our seas but also casts further doubt over the viability of proposals for large-scale fish farming at sea. Yours, etc,
PÁDRAIC FOGARTY,
Campaign Officer,
Irish Wildlife Trust
Glasnevin,
Dublin 11.