The Minister for the Marine must work with traditional seaweed harvesters in Conamara to ensure that their rights \u2013 and the ecology of the coastline \u2013 are protected, according to the Social Democrats\u2019 Galway West by-election candidate M\u00edde Nic Fhionnlaoich.<\/p>\n
M\u00edde made her comments as she welcomed Jennifer Whitmore TD \u2013 the party\u2019s spokesperson on agriculture, food and the marine \u2013 to Leitir M\u00f3ir in Ceantar na nOile\u00e1n today to hear the concerns of local seaweed harvesters.<\/p>\n
M\u00edde said:<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a huge issue for our local communities, with almost 21,000 people signing an online petition to stop large corporations from harvesting vast swathes of seaweed on the west coast.<\/p>\n
\u201cSeaweed has been harvested along the coast of Conamara for centuries. Traditional harvesters cut it by hand, and it is used as a fertiliser and in a variety of products. Some local harvesters have their rights registered on their folios, but many do not.<\/p>\n
\u201cAn application from Canadian-owned Arramara led to major concerns about overharvesting; the denial of the rights of traditional harvesters, particularly those with unregistered rights; and the licencing system giving an unfair advantage to large corporations when most harvesters don’t make enough money from harvesting to justify the cost of the licence.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are genuine fears that granting licences to big companies undermines traditional rights, and that larger scale harvesting presents a risk to the ecosystem along our coast. The Minister for the Marine must listen to the concerns of traditional harvesters when it comes to the licencing system.”<\/p>\n
Jennifer Whitmore TD, who has a background in ecology, marine science and environmental law, said:<\/p>\n
\u201cThe importance of maintaining traditional harvesting rights for west of Ireland communities cannot be overstated. The ecology of our shoreline depends on the local knowledge of these harvesters, who are rightly concerned about seaweed resources being depleted on a massive scale by big commercial entities.<\/p>\n
\u201cThose engaged in traditional seaweed harvesting along Galway\u2019s coastline have me and M\u00edde\u2019s full support. It is vital that the voices of local harvesters are heard \u2013 and fully taken on board \u2013 when they address the Oireachtas Fisheries Committee on April 28.\u201d<\/p>\n
April 20, 2026<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Minister for the Marine must work with traditional seaweed harvesters in Conamara to ensure that their rights \u2013 and the ecology of the coastline \u2013 are protected, according to the Social Democrats\u2019 Galway West by-election candidate M\u00edde Nic Fhionnlaoich. M\u00edde made her comments as she welcomed Jennifer Whitmore TD \u2013 the party\u2019s spokesperson on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":17332,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[730,806,802,268,720,803,479],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17331","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gaeltacht","category-galway-west","category-galway-west-by-election","category-jennifer-whitmore","category-marine","category-mide-nic-fhionnlaoich","category-unlisted"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n