The Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Jimmy Deenihan, T.D., today (Monday 1 July 2013) officially opened a workshop titled “Aquaculture in Kerry” which was organised by Bord Iascaigh Mhara (BIM) in association with Kerry Enterprise Board. The workshop was held in The Carlton Hotel, Tralee, Co. Kerry.
The Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Jimmy Deenihan, T.D., today (Monday 1 July 2013) officially opened a workshop titled “Aquaculture in Kerry” which was organised by Bord Iascaigh Mhara (BIM) in association with Kerry Enterprise Board. The workshop was held in The Carlton Hotel, Tralee, Co. Kerry.
The workshop’s primary purpose was to showcase the current aquaculture industry in Kerry which last year alone was worth in excess of €4 million. BIM also regards the event as an opportunity to help raise awareness of the industry among the local community in Kerry where the sector has already established itself as a valuable source of sustainable employment. In 2012, 115 people were employed full-time in the county’s aquaculture sector.
In 2012 Kerry’s vibrant aquaculture industry produced between three and four thousand tonnes of aquaculture products that include bottom mussels, clams, gigas oysters, native oysters, scallops and seaweed. The county generated over ten per cent of national aquaculture shellfish production in 2012.
Commenting for BIM, Catherine Butler, aquaculture development officer for the South-West said:
“BIM, in association with Kerry Enterprise Board, is very pleased to host this event. It will be a valuable networking opportunity by bringing together all of the stakeholders involved in aquaculture in Kerry. We look forward to making people on the ground aware of aquaculture and the important role it plays in the community as a source of economic income generation and job creation.”
