Seaweed harvesters encouraged to apply for licence

Seaweed harvesters encouraged to apply for licence  

Anton McNulty

SEAWEED cutters have been encouraged to make applications for a licence to harvest seaweed in order to protect their traditional rights or face a potential ‘landlord-tenant’ situation in the future.
The future for traditional seaweed cutters in coastal areas was discussed in a public information evening hosted by local Sinn Féin councillor Rose Conway-Walsh in Hotel Newport on Friday night.
The matter has become a big issue in coastal areas following the sale of Connemara seaweed company Arramara Teo by Údaras na Gaeltachta to Canadian company Acadian Seaplants Ltd.
Speaking at the meeting, Senator Trevor Ó Clochartaigh said he expected the new owners of Arramara Teo to apply to the Department of Environment for exclusive rights to the harvesting of seaweed from Belmullet to Loop Head in Co Clare. Senator Ó Clochartaigh sits on the Oireachtas Joint Committee of Environment, which has been debating the impact of licensing seaweed harvesting.
“This is the privatisation of the industry, and we will see the big multinationals muscling in on an area [in order to] take over and control most of the industry. The smaller players are very concerned they will get squeezed out of the market.
“They [Acadian] have a deal from the Canadian government in Nova Scotia where they control the management of the harvesting of seaweed. They say when to cut, how much to cut and at what price. Some say it is a good model, but others say they monopolise the market.
“I think you have to stand up for your rights, because if you don’t you will end up working as an employee and back to the landlord-tenant situation again … You will cut for them and they will state how much you cut and what they will pay you for it,” he warned.
He advised seaweed cutters to apply for a licence, as individuals or as groups.
“I would suggest a fair-trade scenario where seaweed cutters come together to make an application for a licence for one area and get control of that area. This will give you more leverage … It is a much healthier situation to be in rather than hand over your rights to a company … You definitely should not be asleep on this one, because the big companies know exactly what they are doing.”
One member of the public described the idea of one company applying for a licence to have exclusive rights to all of Clew Bay as ‘outrageous’, and said any application must be objected to ‘most strenuously by everyone’.