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Feirm Farraige Oilean
Chliara Teoranta trading as Clare Island Seafarm,
Cloughmore,
Achill Island,
Westport,
County Mayo.
Phone 098 45375 Fax 098 45378
Since establishment
in 1986, Clare Island Seafarm has developed the premium quality market
niche for its farmed salmon and is now recognised as the world-leading
producer of organically farmed salmon. The Swiss, German, and French
organic markets have grown each year through close commercial relationships
with our customers, with sales in 2001 of €7.5M. Every year our customers
travel to our farm sites in Clew Bay to see for themselves the pristine
and high wave energy conditions where we farm our salmon. Last May
our main Swiss
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customer who is the biggest supermarket chain in Switzerland made
a 5 minute promotional film of our farms in Clew Bay which was shown
on prime time television at 7.55pm just before the main evening news.
This will have spin-off benefits to local tourism. |
With a total workforce of 31, 12 from Clare Island and 15 from Achill
Island, Clare Island Seafarm is one of the largest employers on both
islands and so plays a vital role in the local economies and island
community life. |
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The farm work involves daily husbandry of the salmon in strong flexible
cages moored off Clare Island in outer Clew Bay. The salmon are hand
fed special organic feed made from fish meal and fish oil with 20
to 30 % organic wheat and soya. The fish meal and fish oil is from
the off-cuts of fish caught for human consumption in the Atlantic
and landed in Killybegs. We operate a fully audited traceability system
for organic standards assurance. The cage nets are regularly checked
to avoid escapes and changed out for washing-off marine growth and
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6 or 7 times a year.The young salmon smolts are lifted in large bins
out to the cages from the delivery trucks by helicopter every February
and March, to start the next production cycle. After 15 to 24 months
at sea the salmon reach market size of 4.5 kg and are harvested and
brought ashore for processing, packing and distribution to Europe
in chill trucks. Because of the offshore high wave energy conditions
the work is difficult and challenging, especially during the long
winter months, but rewarding in the end when these beautiful salmon
are harvested. |
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