Farms and Hatchery

Meitheal Eisc Teo is a company comprising five local organic family salmon farms that have come together under the Kilkieran Bay Irish Organic Salmon brand to supply our customers with the best quality Irish Organic Salmon.These companies have been farming salmon in Kilkieran Bay since the 1970’s and have been operating organically for three years.
“Ní neart go chur le chéile” (As the Irish saying goes: there is strength in co-operation).

The farm operates in its own organic hatchery in the pristine waters of beautiful Connemara, Co Galway, on Ireland's Western Atlantic coast. The hatchery is supplied by the pure mountain water of the Screebe river and we ensure full traceability from egg to plate.

• The lowest stocking densities (10kgs/m3)
• Long fallow periods (up to six months per annum)
• Unique growing method using three sites per generation over the life of the fish
• First salmon farm in the world to develop and utilise commercial electrical stunning with full animal welfare approval.
• Unique use of the trace elements from the local seaweed Ascophyllum in the salmon diet.

Kilkieran Bay and Connemara

The bays of Connemara are studded with small once inhabited islands with hundreds of unspoiled sandy beaches. The farms are close to the Aran Islands with nothing but 5,000km of Atlantic Ocean between them and America.

The Irish language and Gaelic tradition is in daily use in this area of Connemara known as Ceantar na n-Oilean - the Region of Islands. The whole bay is known as Kilkieran Bay (also Kilkerrin Bay) in honour of Saint Ciarán who had a holy cell in the area hundreds of years ago. Historically the people depended totally on the sea and the traditions and respect for the sea are still evident today. This background is apparent in the care and attention given to our Kilkerrin Bay Organic Salmon from the egg to the plate.

Kilkieran Bay (or Kilkerrin Bay) is well known for its unique Lithothamnium deposits (Mearl) and the extensive variety of shellfish beds (oysters, scallops), crab, lobster, shrimp etc. A seaweed processing plant exists in the bay using the sustainable hand-cut seaweeds in the bay principally Ascophyllum Nodosum (Bladder Wrack).

Organic Standards

The highest possible organic standards are maintained throughout the salmon's growing cycle - from egg to harvest. Animal welfare is at the core of the husbandry strategy and the fish experience life as close to the wild as possible. The salmon are fed with a diet made from sustainable organic fish meal - a by-product of the Irish fishing industry.

Standards attained (and maintained by annual audits):

Naturland (Germany)
BioSuisse (Switzerland)
Qualite France (France)
Irish Organic Farmers and Growers Association - IOFGA (Irish private standards)
IFQC/BIM (Irish National Standard)

  

Harvesting system approved for animal welfare by:

Humane Slaughter Association
RSPCA