Regulatory challenges to economic growth in aquaculture: The case of licensing in the Irish oyster industry

Like a number of countries, Ireland has set ambitious growth targets for its aquaculture sector. Economic analysis highlights that such growth has the potential to provide significant gains to the Irish economy in general, but also to peripheral rural areas in particular. However, through interviews with producers representing a significant proportion of Irish oyster production, this paper highlights the challenges faced and argues that for these growth ambitions to be realised there is a need to overcome significant regulatory, biological and financial constraints on the sector. In particular dysfunctional licensing arrangements are a major constraint on the development of the sector. It is argued that licensing reform is a necessary but not sufficient condition for a thriving oyster industry and that a more holistic view of the industry needs to be taken.