Debate contribution: North/South Ministerial Council: Aquaculture and Marine

Debate contribution by Mr Andrew Muir on 9 September 2025.

MLA

Mr Andrew Muir

Party at the time

Alliance Party

Date

9 September 2025

Type

Debate contribution (made as a minister)

Business

Ministerial Statements

Heading

North/South Ministerial Council: Aquaculture and Marine

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 5086021

Read the official Assembly record

Text

Mr Deputy Speaker, can you clarify what the next statement is, because there is aquaculture and agriculture?

With your permission, Mr Deputy Speaker, in compliance with section 52 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998, I wish to make a statement about the thirty-second meeting of the North/South Ministerial Council (NSMC) in the aquaculture and marine sectoral format, which was held on Friday 4 July 2025. The Executive were represented by junior Minister Cameron and junior Minister Reilly, as accompanying Ministers, and me, as lead Minister. The Irish Government were represented by Darragh O’Brien TD, Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment, who chaired the Meeting. The statement has been agreed with junior Ministers Cameron and Reilly, and I make it on behalf of all of us. The North/South Ministerial Council welcomed the report on the activities of the Loughs Agency, including the ongoing conservation and protection efforts, most notably the EU-funded projects with the aim of improving the monitoring of aquatic animals and species; fisheries improvements to create climate-resilient rivers, improve water quality and maximise fisheries productivity; and marine tourism to promote aquatic ecosystems and support local economies. Ministers noted the success of the agency's international symposium on transboundary and collaborative water governance held in September 2024 to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the agency. It brought together experts, policymakers and researchers, focusing on cross-border cooperation for the protection of water, aquatic and marine systems. The Council welcomed the presentation by the Loughs Agency on its strategic plan for its role in Carlingford. Ministers noted the agency's collaboration with Fáilte Ireland, Louth County Council, the Carlingford Vision '31 steering committee and other local stakeholders, which has facilitated the development of a suite of co-designed proposals that reflect the aspirations of the people of the region.

The North/South Ministerial Council approved the Loughs Agency's revised business plan for 2024, and its business plan for 2025, and recommended the budget and grant provisions that had been agreed by both sponsoring Departments and Finance Ministers. The Council noted that the 2022 and 2023 Loughs Agency annual reports and accounts have been laid before the Northern Ireland Assembly and both Houses of the Oireachtas.

The Council welcomed the update on the implementation of the science strategy framework, which is structured as a three-strand approach inclusive of salmonoids and other fish, native oysters and aquatic ecosystems for all science delivery at the Loughs Agency. Ministers noted ongoing work to improve the accuracy of fish counts in order to generate more robust data to better inform salmon conservation limits. The Council noted ongoing fish surveillance in compliance with water framework directive requirements. Ministers noted the potential for oyster surveys to provide the evidence base for consideration in relation to the sustainable operation of the Lough Foyle native oyster fishery. They noted the work undertaken in water quality monitoring across both catchments to inform pollution responses, habitat improvement works and statutory environmental planning. They also noted the use of environment DNA (eDNA) techniques to identify the presence of invasive species. The Council commended the Loughs Agency for its proactive response to address the impacts of climate change and biodiversity loss on priority fish species. The Council welcomed the agency's continued commitment to working collaboratively with partners to help to deliver a collective response to the dual challenges of climate change and biodiversity loss. Finally, the Council agreed to hold its next aquaculture and marine meeting in autumn 2025.

The Loughs Agency has a focus on its territorial area, and that is what it focuses upon. I want to give it additional powers. There will, hopefully, be a fisheries and water environment Bill coming to the House, which will give the agency additional enforcement powers. I get the concerns in relation to the impact that pollution incidences have had, and that is something that we want to take forward. We also need to get the Loughs Agency budget agreed for the next financial year and going forward. North/South cooperation is beneficial to that, because it allows us to get good value for money and to deliver for the citizens of Northern Ireland. I will continue to work with the agency to ensure that it has sufficient budget in place.

Officials engage on that on a cross-border basis. It is important that we do that, and we have a number of initiatives that flow from that wider strategic commitment. However, we have to recognise that the border does not respect the issues regarding water quality. That is where we cooperate North/South, and at the Council meetings as well. There will be further work, because we are looking towards the fourth cycle of our river basin management strategy, and we need to cooperate North/South on that. North/South cooperation on water quality is absolutely fundamental.

The Loughs Agency operates on a relatively tight budget, and I know that it is doing a lot of good work. We examine its work at every meeting. I do not have additional concerns that it is inefficient, but if the Member has anything in particular on that, I can raise that with the agency.

Thank you, Andrew. I am aware of concerns about the levels of fines imposed for water pollution offences, particularly the maximum statutory fines. Fish kills within the Loughs Agency's jurisdiction are prosecuted under the Foyle Fisheries Act (Northern Ireland) 1952, with a recent prosecution in relation to the River Muff. My officials are taking forward a review of fines and penalties for environmental crime, including water pollution offences, as part of the policy development phase of the proposed fisheries and water environment Bill. Loughs Agency staff have been involved in the policy development phase and have taken part in stakeholder engagement on water quality. The Bill will give us the tools to be able to deal with a lot of the concerns that have been raised with me of late. It is important that the Loughs Agency be able to avail itself of those tools.

I do not have any specific detail to give you now. I think that I have the detail in my mind, but I do not know whether it is entirely accurate. I will therefore write to you setting it out. If you have any concerns, I am happy to meet you to discuss them.

As Daniel McCrossan outlined, the Loughs Agency has powers in that regard. I am concerned about the number of pollution incidents in our rivers and loughs and the associated fish kills. When I am informed about them by officials, they cause me concern. There have been far too many times when officials have informed me of fish kills in Northern Ireland. So far this year, Loughs Agency fishery officers have investigated 128 pollution incidents. In 2025 to date, fishery officers in the Foyle and Carlingford areas have carried out 937 proactive watercourse inspections. The Loughs Agency has instigated a number of prosecution cases from its enforcement actions and has worked with the Police Service of Northern Ireland, an Garda Síochána, the Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA) and other enforcement agencies to secure convictions. The Loughs Agency plays a vital role in preventing future pollution events from occurring by adopting a holistic approach that is in keeping with the four pillars of education, incentivisation, regulation and enforcement and is laid out in the Lough Neagh action plan. That approach is key to meeting the strategic environmental outcomes as set out in the environmental improvement plan.

Belfast lough did not come up, but I am happy to answer your question. The focus is often on Lough Neagh, and we understand why. For the first time in history, the brown eel fishing season has been terminated. If that is not a message about the need for action, I do not know what is. We see the scenes on our TV screens every summer. Belfast lough is on course to become the next Lough Neagh. We are allowing sewage to be pumped into Belfast lough daily. That therefore requires me to step forward with proposals for stronger regulation and enforcement. It also requires brave political decisions to be taken on how we manage our waste water infrastructure. It is for the Infrastructure Minister to come forward in that regard, and I will not be found wanting in supporting any measures that do come forward.

The Loughs Agency has developed a climate action plan that maps organisational-level climate risks and impacts, supports a shift away from high-carbon energy, addresses climate adaptation for the organisation and supports climate-resilient solutions for the catchments of Lough Foyle and Carlingford lough. Through the delivery of the climate action plan, the Loughs Agency will implement an agile, risk-based approach to climate adaptation across the Foyle and Carlingford catchment areas. The climate action plan allows the agency to be responsive to direct and indirect climate impacts, thus allowing it to prioritise and plan work programmes.

A number of areas were covered in the presentation. I am happy for it to be shared with you, if you would find it useful. Carlingford lough is a special place for the communities around it. There are also transboundary issues on which we need to cooperate. That was the focus, and the fact that the Loughs Agency has new premises there is a welcome commitment in that regard. I am happy to share that with you and to discuss any issues that you have.

We have been off for the summer recess and are now back, and one thing that I have been looking forward to is my engagement with Justin, because you always get something a bit different. I can answer your question about salmon, but I will have to write to you about the other elements. The Loughs Agency has made significant investments in fish counters and telemetry river gauges to facilitate the monitoring of salmon populations in its area. The River Finn failed to meet its conservation limit in 2024, as it has done since 2007. As a result, the commercial fishery remains closed in 2025, and the River Finn is catch and release only. Data from the fish counters indicates that the River Faughan, the River Roe and the River Mourne are meeting conservation limits with enough regularity to permit the retention of a small number of fish per licence in 2025. To help address the challenges facing salmon stocks, the agency has recently developed the first marine salmon management plan for Lough Foyle. The agency is also delivering a number of fisheries improvement projects, including the creation of new spawning habitats; fishery and habitat improvement and enhancement schemes to introduce and improve holding, spawning and nursery areas for Atlantic salmon; and riparian tree planting to create refuge and shading for salmon stocks and to lower water temperatures. In addition, the North Atlantic Salmon Conservation Organization (NASCO) has agreed a new reporting format for parties to complete, which will provide details on the management of salmon stocks and outline what transformative conservation commitments will be undertaken over the next 10 years to address the decline in stocks in the jurisdiction. DAERA officials are liaising with the Loughs Agency on completing the first draft of the UK/Northern Ireland report, which is required to be submitted to NASCO by February 2026.

You rightly outline the impact that the environmental catastrophe at Lough Neagh is having more broadly on our rivers and marine environments. You talked about the closure of Benone beach, and that highlights why we need to take action on this together. We can turn the course when it comes to water quality, not just in our rivers but in Lough Neagh and elsewhere, but that requires us to come together collectively. We will talk a bit more about the issues this afternoon during the debate on the motion on Lough Neagh, but I am not focused on any blame game. I am focused on working with people, and my Department is writing, on my behalf, to all the party leaders to ask for meetings to discuss concerns and how we can collectively move forward on this. I have proposals and will be looking for support for them, and I want to work with everyone on that. I look forward to meeting your party as well.

I thank the Member for his question. The fact that Lough Neagh does not have a navigational body was, to me, an oversight at the time of negotiating the Good Friday Agreement. The good people negotiated a great agreement, but it is not perfect, and that was overlooked. I think that there would be merit in having a navigational body for Lough Neagh, whether it is Waterways Ireland, the Loughs Agency or another organisation.

The immediate focus is on water quality and what is going into the lough, but you have, rightly, highlighted that issue, and I am happy to work with people on it.

That question was also raised by Tom. I am happy to write to you and say more about that, because I want to be able to set it out accurately. I turn to the hatchery and your engagement with it. I have had quite a lot of letters about the hatchery, including one from my colleague Sian Mulholland, who is a Member for North Antrim. We are considering that matter. I had a really good engagement with the club representatives on site, and I am committed to working with people on conservation, whether that relates to fisheries or our environment. I was very impressed by what they outlined to me. Collectively, we can learn an awful lot more if we work together.

2,269 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Assessment

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Assessed 21 October 2026 at 12:57 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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