Seaweed storm leads to legal threat

Seaweed storm leads to legal threat


Áine Ryan

THE storm over the bid by a bio-technology company to take over seaweed harvesting in the Clew Bay area has taken a new twist which has culminated in the residents on tiny Inishlyre threatening a possible legal action.
In a letter, seen by The Mayo News yesterday, Ms Rhoda Twombly has accused Bio-Atlantis of erroneously claiming, in a photograph in its amended application, to show ‘improperly cut seaweed’ on the tiny island.
“This surprised us,” Ms Twombly writes, “as seaweed has never been harvested on Inishlyre, not even historically. Yet you have pictures that allege to show ‘improperly cut seaweed’. Additionally, the type of seaweed the application specifies doesn’t grow here in any quantity and only in a small area.”
Speaking to The Mayo News, Ms Twombly, suggested that perhaps the Bio-Atlantis personnel didn’t know ‘that cattle eat seaweed’ as ‘that is the only explanation we can think of for the pictures’.
She continued in her letter to the Kerry-based company: “As far as the residents of Inishlyre are concerned, the public allegations of improperly harvesting of Ascophyllum nodosum are insulting and libelous, inferring that we do not caretake our island environment properly. We will be seeking legal advice on this matter.”  

Objection lodged
It has also emerged that CómdhΡil OileΡin na hÉireann has lodged an objection to the company’s licensing application. It cites the cross-generational harvesting tradition  of many coastal and island communities and the law about monopoly.
BioAtlantis Teo had made an application to seek a ten-year exclusive license to harvest Clew Bay seaweed, which, reportedly, has the second largest such reserve around the coast. The company says the enterprise would create 20 full-time jobs, provide training for harvesters in the best methods to avoid damage to the environment and that if it was granted a license it would not ‘affect existing private foreshore rights’.  
A further meeting on the matter will be held in Holmes’s Pub, Doohoma, on Thursday, January 29, at 8pm.