2012

01 TittelTopicChapter

During September we received a positive license determination for our Shot Head license application. This was a very important signal for our industry, although it does not as yet mark the end of the process to enable us to farm at this site as the license has yet to go through the appeals process by ALAB (Aquaculture License Appeals Board).

MHI itself is appealing a few small prescriptive clauses in the license that don’t anticipate future development and changes in technology, and so may become restrictive in years from now. Since even the smallest change to a license can represent a complex and lengthy process, we thought it best to raise such points from the start.

Nevertheless, the outcome and broadly positive public response to the decision

represents a coming of age for this process and we hope that future applications, including many renewals and reviews, will take now be decided more expediently.

Our relatively cool summer weather contributed to record growth amongst pre-harvest stocks which represented a mixed blessing in that all our stocks reached harvest weights at the end of the summer at the same time. Larger fish are more vulnerable to plankton blooms and this late summer and autumn we saw a number of successions of very dense phytoplankton blooms. Not surprising then that we had no option but to accelerate harvesting to bring us a few very busy months. Just as experienced in Scotland and Norway there are environmental factors driving an element of seasonality back into our business;

Some white smoke and busy times

Marine Harvest Herald

ISSUE 13 - AUTUMN 2015

I guess we are like all other types of farming after all – always talking about the weather and prices! Such seasonality is not easily managed and I would like to say a big thank you to all our colleagues who pulled out all the stops over these past months; without early starts, late finishes and weekend work we would not have managed this as well. We continue to be busy with beautiful fish now being harvested from Inishfarnard and Clare Island.

Sadly we have pulled our rearing pens out of Ardmore in Connemara since the last newsletter. We produced an excellent crop at this site resulting in busy times for the local processing plant as well as our value added activities in Rinmore. We are grateful for having had the opportunity to lease the site from the Udaras and Michael Mhur, and it was a pleasure to work here with the local community who are very knowledgeable about our industry – this is where salmon farming first became a serious employer in the 1980’s when the now MHI (then Fanad Fisheries) was still only farming a few hundred tonnes in Mulroy Bay. A small number of staff from Kilkieran remain with us and we hope that the licensed capacity in Co. Galway will continue to play an important role in the Irish salmon industry. Ireland’s salmon production remains small at about 60% of its high in 2001.

Jan

Ardmore sea site staff pictured L to R: Ronan McGrath, Ralf Podsiadly, Ciaran Devane, Hugh Heraghty, Ray Flaherty, Arkadiusz Podsiadly, John M Kane.

2

Pictured L-R: Maurice Kelly (HR Manager), Helen Raftery (CEO Junior Achievement Ireland), Julie Coyle, Patrica Friel (JAI), Catriona O’Brien, Kathleen McGrory, Bernie McElwaine, Marie McElwaine, Bernie Friel, Michelle Hay, Phonsie McAteer and Bernie Gallagher. Missing from picture Ellen McGonigle, Shane Friel, Caroline McElwaine, Maire McAteer, Kathleen Coll.

Helen was accompanied by Patricia Friel, JAI’s Development officer, to assist in presenting certificates to 14 volunteers from MHI who participated in delivering Junior Achievement programs in seven local primary schools. The company ran a “Schools to Work Day” where students visited their processing plant and laboratory. The company also ran a “Working it Out” event which mixes the worlds of sport and maths: this is where long division and penalty shootouts, averages and skipping, ratios and basketball all collide in a fun learning experience.

Addressing those volunteers at the presentation of certificates hosted by Maurice Kelly & Julie Coyle, Helen thanked the company for its continued support.

“Having MHI staff work with local students on Junior Achievement activities helps students to make connections between their studies and the world of work and underlines the value of education in developing meaningful and rewarding careers”, she said. Commenting on the location of the various MHI sites in Co Donegal, Patricia reflected: “By getting involved in JA activities, MHI

Leaders in Sustainable Aquaculture Promote the Value of Education in Local SchoolsMHI welcomed the CEO of Junior Achievement Ireland (JAI), Helen Raftery to their processing plant in Rinmore, Co, Donegal.

staff serve as ‘real-life’ proof that a career in this beautiful but remote area is a realistic ambition….provided they listen to their teachers and work hard in school.”

Concluding, Helen thanked Jan and his leadership colleagues: “Without the support of MHI we would not have been able to reach the seven local schools involved last year and those students would not have enjoyed opportunities to work with positive adult role models from the world of work. Thanks to everyone involved and we look forward to another rewarding challenge next year.”

“This is our second year joining forces with Junior Achievement Ireland, a connection which enables our brilliant staff volunteers to deliver programmes in 7 local national schools in areas where were operate in Donegal.” said HR Manager Maurice Kelly

“We also held very well attended and successful “school to work” days and “working it out” events during 2015. We have concentrated in Donegal for the time being, but if successful we will roll this program out to our other locations in Mayo, Galway, Cork and Kerry.”

Felix Sproll New Marine Biologist

Felix Sproll has recently joined the company as a Marine Biologist and will be based in Donegal. Felix, who is from Co. Mayo, holds a degree in Marine Science and will work with our cleaner-fish project in our north west sea sites.

His main responsibilities will involve cleaner-fish husbandry and health surveillance in addition to liaising with local wrasse fishers and site staff on all related matters. We all wish Felix every success in his new role.

Sandra Schlittenhardt New Fish Health Manager

MHI welcomes their new Fish Health Manager Sandra Schlittenhardt to the company. Sandra is originally from Germany and is a qualified Veterinarian with an MSc in Aquatic Veterinary Studies.

Sandra is also currently completing a PhD in Aquatic Veterinary Studies. Sandra will be based in Kindrum, Co. Donegal but will be a frequent visitor to our Freshwater and Marine locations throughout the west coast.

New Staff A number of new staff have recently joined MHI.

3

Seamus Gallagher reaches 25 year service milestone

Marine Harvest Ireland promoting fitness with Charity 5K

MHI’s Seamus Gallagher celebrated 25 years with the company in July 2015.

Seamus, a native of Falcarragh Co. Donegal, began in the company’s Lough Altan Smolt unit in 1990.

Jan congratulated Seamus on his long service and dedication to his role in the company and wished him all the best for the next 25 years. Marine Harvest now has 43 employees with over 25 years’ service.

To promote our staff and community wellbeing initiative, MHI organised and ran a very successful “Couch to 5k” programme commencing in late June which culminated in a charity 5k fun run/walk on Saturday 5th September.

Pictured Left to Right: Pat Connors, Maurice Kelly, Mick Watts- MH Head Office, Phonsie McAteer, David Brennan.

Pictured Left to Right: Angela McElwaine, Amanda Fahey, Catherine Heraghty, Jackie Friel, Kate McGrenaghan.

Seamus (4th from left) is pictured with the rest of the freshwater team in Altan Smolt Unit.

Nigel, a native of Co. Sligo, began in the company’s Laboratory in 1990. At a service award lunch held in the company’s processing facility in Fanad, Jan Feenstra remarked that Nigel was instrumental in the Laboratory becoming INAB accredited in 2011. Jan also commented on Nigel’s vast array of interests in astronomy, football coaching, gardening and photography.

Jan congratulated Nigel for 25 years of hard work and dedication that he has given to MHI.

Nigel Teape celebrates 25 years with Marine Harvest Ireland Lab Quality Manager Nigel Teape also celebrated 25 years with the company this summer.

Pictured is Nigel Teape – Lab Quality Manager.

The 10 week programme was led by Paddy Shiels, a qualified personal trainer and fitness instructor. Despite the wet and sometimes windy weather, a core group of staff and locals trained 3 nights per week to build up their fitness levels. MHI were delighted to provide this programme free to both staff and the local community. Well done to everyone who completed the programme.

The 5k run/walk raised €800 euro from entry fees which will be matched by MHI for the purchase of first aid equipment for the seven local National Schools and 3 local Naíonraí or preschools. MHI would like to thank the staff and community for their participation and support, Paddy Shiels for his motivation and Fanad United for the use of their facilities.

4

Mulroy Bay Adventure Race

MHI Adventure Racers Pictured L to R: Paddy Martin, Gerard McFadden, Bernie Gallagher, Barry Carr, Maire Callaghan, Maggie Sweeney, Darren Carr.

On Thursday, 18th June 2015 at the Ballsbridge Hotel Dublin, the cream of Ireland’s maritime and marine sector were recognised and celebrated in front of an audience of senior executives. Hosted by the hilarious Irish comedian Colm O’Regan of ‘Irish Mammies’ fame, 15 prestigious trophies were presented to the very best individuals and organisations within Ireland’s maritime industry.

The students from Boulogne in France enjoyed a talk on organic salmon production before they visited the operations in our Roancarrig and Ahabeg sites.

Marine Harvest Ireland win award

French aquaculture students visit southwest farms

At the Maritime Industry Awards, MHI won the “Excellence in Aquaculture” prize.

A group of French aquaculture students visited our marine sites in Cork during the summer.

Pictured; Donal Maguire (right), Director of Aquaculture Development Services, BIM, presents the Excellence in Aquaculture Award to Catherine McManus and Joseph Gibbons.

The ice plant at Rinmore has been able to supply our ice needs but this has resulted in more numerous and longer journeys to and from harvest stations. Liam Doherty came up with the idea to develop a mobile slush ice tanker which would manufacture a super chilled slush ice paste on demand at a harvest site. A new aluminium general purpose tanker was modified to accommodate a slush ice machine with a pump in a cargo container.

In conjunction with a team from Blak Engineering, Preimair Refrigeration, Ernan from Meenan Plumbing, James Gibbons Electrical, Paddy Martin and his Rinmore Maintenance team had the new “Slushie” machine ready for the Ardmore harvest in May. Thereafter the Millstone and Clare Island harvests have benefited from this mobile ice solution which has greatly improved our chilling capacity and reduced our chilling costs.

What a good idea! – Slushie iceWith increased salmon harvesting from Cork, Mayo and Donegal comes the increased problem of having a sufficient supply of good quality ice to chill our fish.

New mobile slush ice machine.

5

Diagram of a sea pen with

cleaner fish hides in place.

Corkwing Wrasse.

Ballan Wrasse.

Lump fish reared at NUIG research station in Carna.

Goldsinny Wrasse.

Wrasse are found in the oceans all over the world living amongst rocks, sea weed or corals. They feed on everything ranging from small fish to crabs to tiny plankton. Many wrasse are also known in different parts for the world for their ability to clean other fish by removing dead skin and parasites such as sea lice, which is mutually beneficial for both. Thus larger fish that require cleaning often seek ‘cleaner stations’ where they allow and encourage the cleaner fish to clean them. Wrasse are perfectly adapted to picking parasites off larger fish due to the shape of their mouth and sharp teeth.Wrasse are becoming more and more important in today’s organic fish farming. In Ireland there are 5 species of wrasse which can and are being used as cleaner fish. Three of these are found close to our sites, these include Ballan Wrasse, Corkwing Wrasse and Goldsinny Wrasse. They are found in rocky coastal waters near seaweed during summer and move into deeper water for the winter. Corkwing are by far the most abundant while Ballan are the biggest wrasse caught by the fishermen in Fanad.

Cleaner Fish – a natural way to control sea liceMHI has embarked on a new strategy to control sea lice on its sea sites. These sites will be stocked with cleaner fish which include wrasse or lump suckers.

For every 100 salmon in a pen, 4 wrasse are introduced. Since they are a shy fish, wrasse are provided with places to hide which are designed to look like seaweed.In pens where we have stocked wrasse, the results to date are very encouraging with clear evidence that they are nibbling on the sea lice and helping to break the life cycle of this parasite. Our next phase of this project involves stocking lumpfish this month with our 15S0 input into Inver bay, Co. Donegal. The lump fish have been reared at the National University of Ireland Galway (NUIG) research station in Carna with the support of NUIG and BIM.

The purpose of the visit was to train in the operation of a new computer database called M3 which integrates sales, production and financial information.

This system has been implemented in MH Scotland since April 2015.

MHI visit to MH Scotland During the month of September, a few members from our Sales and Finance teams visited the MH Scotland Office and Rosyth Plant.

David Brennan, Nicola Conlon (MHS), Tracy Purves (MHS), Bernie Gallagher, Annette Rodgers, Caroline McElwaine, Pat Connors.

6

NATURE FOCUS:Beara Peninsula SPAwww.npws.ie/protected-sites The Beara peninsula has been designated as a Special Protection Area (SPA) under the E.U. Birds Directive because it is of special conservation interest for Chough and Fulmar.

This area encompasses the high coast and sea cliff sections in the West of the peninsula from Reenmore Point/Cod’s Heads, to Dursey Island and Bear Island. Vegetated sea cliffs dominate the site; these occur along the length of the site and support a variety of plant species typical of the habitat, including Thrift, Sea Campion, Sea Spleenwort and Rock Sea-spurrey.

Choughwww.birdwatchireland.ie

Choughs (Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax) are a member of the crow family. One of favourite foods is a pest of grassland, lawns and root crops - the larvae of the Crane Fly or ‘daddy-long legs’ probably best known to gardens and farmers as ‘leather jackets’. Choughs are about the size of a Jackdaw

with glossy black plumage, bright red legs and down curved beak. Note the square shape of the wings in flight and marginated flight feathers giving the wingtips finger like projections. Most Choughs build their nests on ledges in crevices and caves of coastal cliffs, although some pairs use inland crags and cliffs.

Choughs are monogamous usually pairing for life. A Chough’s nest consists of a bulky cup fashioned from twigs and stems of heather, which is then lined with sheep’s wool, moss and grass. Most Pairs start displaying their ownership of breeding territories in March when they become highly vocal and pairs are often observed flying in together, swooping and bouncing in the vicinity of nest sites. In early to mid-April between 1 and 6 eggs are laid. The eggs hatch after about a 21 days incubation period. Over the month of May there are hungry mouths to feed and both the male and female feed the chicks. Unattended chicks are at risk from nest site predators such as Ravens. The chicks remain in the nest for about 6 weeks and in June the nestlings start to fledge.

Fulmarwww.birdwatchireland.ie

Fulmars (Fulmarus glacialis) are resident all along the Irish coast. They are from the same family as petrels and shearwaters. The fulmar is a gull-like bird with white underparts and pale grey upperparts. It has a thick neck, large head and a stout bill with hooked tip and tube shaped nostrils

on the upper beak, giving it a distinctive bill shape if seen at close range. The fulmar uses these tube shaped nostrils to excrete excess salt from its body.

Fulmars fly with very stiff wings, and glides in the air currents along the coast and cliffs. Fulmars eat a great variety of food including fish, discards from trawlers, crustaceans and whale flesh. Fulmars can live for up to 40 years. Fulmars were historically bred on St. Kilda (most western islands of the outer Hebrides, Scotland) where they were harvested for oil, feathers and meat to support the islands economy.

Fulmars mainly breeds on sea cliffs, but will nest on level ground, on buildings and in burrows and crevasses and lay a single egg on a ledge of bare rock. Both incubating adults and chick use projectile vomiting as a defence against predators, the oily, foul smelling stomach contents effectively fouling the plumage of other birds. Fulmars are highly pelagic outside the breeding season but can be seen along the Irish coast throughout the year.

What’s the difference in protected areas?Areas are classified depending on the legislation that protects them:

› Special Protection Area (SPA) is an area that has protection under the E.U. Birds Directive.

› Special Area of Conservation (SAC) is an area that has protection under the E.U. Habitats Directive.

› National Heritage Area (NHA) is an area that can be protected under the Wildlife (Amendment) Act 2000.

› A Nature Reserve is an area of importance to wildlife, which is protected under Ministerial Order.

Glengarriff Nature Reservewww.glengarriffnaturereserve.ie/ Amidst the layers of sheer rock in the Caha Mountains is the spectacular setting of Glengarriff Woods Nature Reserve, from the Irish Gleann Gairbh which translates as the rough or rugged glen. Glengarriff Woods Nature Reserve, which was originally part of Lord Bantry’s estate, covers some 300ha, with the dominant habitat being old oak woodland. The area is protected under the E.U. Habitats Directive for its oceanic sessile oak woodland, alluvial forests, Kerry Slug (Geomalacus maculosus) and Lesser Horseshoe Bat (Rhinolophus hipposideros). The Nature Reserve is part of the much larger Glengarriff Harbour & Woodlands Special Area of Conservation (SAC).

Sea Campion.

Source: Wild Flowers of Ireland. Images by: Zoe Devlin.

Source: Bird Watch Ireland. Image by: Andrew Kelly

Source: Bird Watch Ireland. Image by: Andrew Kelly

Source: Glengarriff Nature Reserve.

Source: Mollusc Ireland. Image by: Dr. Rob Anderson.

Source: Wikimedia Commons. Image by: F.C. Robiller.

Thrift. Rock Sea-spurrey.

7

James Gibbons & Joan McVeigh: Baby Kian.Jerome Doherty & Teresa Coll: Baby Conan.Shaun Friel and Tamara Boyce: Baby Daithi.

New babies

GREAT TASTE AWARDSQuinlan’s Fish were awarded three stars for their Organic Smoked Irish Salmon and their new innovative Organic Smoked Irish Salmon with Atlantic Sea salt and Dill Pollen Cure.

BLAS NA HEIREANNQuinlan’s also won Gold for their Organic Smoked Irish Salmon with Atlantic Sea salt and Dill Pollen Cure. Clarkes Fish in Ballina won bronze for their Organic Smoke salmon

IRISH QUALITY FOOD AWARDS 2015The Burren Smokehouse won an Irish Quality food award for their Smoked Irish Organic Hot Smoked Salmon Marinated with Honey, Lemon and Dill.

Marine Harvest Ireland Organic Salmon – A winning ingredientA number of our customers have recently won a variety of prestigious food awards using our organic salmon.

Pupils from Drumfad NS in Fanad visited our Rinmore plant on June 18th for a tour of the factory and laboratory.

These fish achieve an excellent 5.32kg average weight with 96.4% superior quality grade.

School visit

A successful harvest from Ahabeg – Bantry BayThank you to the Ahabeg sea site team and South West harvest staff for a successful harvest of the 13S0 crop.

Marine Harvest Ireland, Rinmore, Letterkenny, Co. Donegal. T: 074 915 9805. F: 074 919 2500.

www.marineharvestireland.com

If you have any comments on this newsletter or ideas for future features please contact Catherine McManus at catherine.mcmanus@marineharvest.com or Maurice Kelly at maurice.kelly@marineharvest.com

For each of the 12 months from November 2015 to October 2016 we will select a winning salmon based recipe for inclusion in the 2017 MHI calendar. Fill in your recipe below by 20th November 2015 and return by post or email to: Maurice Kelly, Marine Harvest Ireland, Rinmore, Letterkenny, Co. Donegal. Email: maurice.kelly@marineharvest.com

Salmon Recipe Competition

Terms and conditions: The competition is open to all employees of Marine Harvest Ireland. There is one prize only. No cash alternative will be offered. The prize winner will be selected at random from all correct entries received before the closing date of 20th November.

The judge’s decision is final. No correspondence will be entered into. Only one entry allowed per person.

Name:

Name of recipe:

Method:

(Continue on seperate sheet if needed)

Ingredients:

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

Address:

Contact No:

✂

Win a €200 one4 all gift card