5.6 Aquaculture Licencing

5.6 Aquaculture Licencing

Despite the difficulties presented by the COVID-19 crisis in 2021 and first half of 2022, aquaculture licence applications have continued to be processed. There has been a significant increase in new shellfish licence applications over the past two years.

Work on the backlog in processing finfish licence applications is progressing. The majority of operators submitted Environmental Impact Statements/Environmental Impact Assessment Reports (EIS/EIAR) documentation by the final deadline of 30 June 2021. However, further work is required in relation to a number of the applications, including in respect of the EIS/EIAR documents received. The Department is currently engaging with those operators concerned in relation to the outstanding documentation. Once the necessary documents are received, and the required technical and scientific reviews are completed, the applications will then proceed to both public and statutory consultations in accordance with the relevant legislation.

In July 2022 phase one of AQUAMIS (Aquaculture Management Information System) was launched. Phase one involved the production of a public facing aquaculture licence viewer which will allow all stakeholders involved in the licensing process, as well as the general public, to view licenced aquaculture sites. This will add an additional layer of transparency to the licensing process. The development of the viewer involved close collaboration between DAFM and the Marine Institute. Work on the development of Phase II is ongoing.