Glens of Antrim Waterworld

Generations of fishermen have used that rope bridge,

but sadly, the salmon have largely deserted the rock in the road

and so too have the netsmen.

If you want a film the king of the fish these days,

you have to head south to Redbay

in the shadow of the Glens of Antrim.

'The pier hasn't been this busy in years.

'There's an enormous amount of gear to load

'and prepare for our short journey offshore.

'And there's one last important job to do.'

Wild salmon are pretty much in decline now worldwide,

but the farming of them is really big business,

and here in Redbay,

we're going to go out and do a wee bit of filming with them,

but we have to have the gear disinfected,

so that's my suit and all of this stuff here for the divers

and all the people who are taking part.

'The disinfectant stops us spreading any parasites or disease

'among the fish in Northern Ireland's only salmon farm.

'Doug has experience filming inside nets and will keep me right.'

Doug, you've done this before.

Is there anything I should know about, getting in there?

Hopefully, the tide's going to stay slack.

The main concern here is the tide,

because it just rips through this channel, so just now it's

looking slack, so we're just going to have to go for it.

'There are about 90,000 salmon waiting for us in these cages

'and after a few days of bad weather,

'it feels great to have the sun smiling on us.'

We've been bedevilled by difficult tides,

the wind being a bit strong

and it being overcast, and today it's absolutely spot-on.

There's some mistake, isn't there?

I think that wind being a bit strong

is a bit of an understatement, Darryl.

It was like a maelstrom yesterday.

'The farm is a familiar sight for the countless motorists

'who travel the coast road.

'But we're entering a world they can't see.'

I can't get over this!

There is just a living, breathing, seething wall of fish.

I'm never likely EVER to get the chance to do this again,

so I want to go and have a wee swim with them.

Come on, then, let's do it.

'These salmon are destined for tables all over Europe.

'They're silver fish fit for royalty.

'Even the Queen has dined on them.

'There are environmental issues associated with fish farming,

'but I came here with just one aim -

'to hang weightless in wonder surrounded by chrome fish.'

I'm told there are about 15,000 salmon in here.

That's outrageous, it really is!

They all go in when they're about that size

and some of these fish are just a-year-old.

Isn't that astounding, to think that they get so big so quickly?

'And why wouldn't they? They're hand-fed twice a day.'

OK, I'm happy to begin to feed the fish.

They look like piranha. It's extraordinary.

I have never seen so many fish in one place at one time.

They're very, very graceful.

That was awesome in there!

I never thought I'd get to do that, but this out here is why I came.

There are wild fish down here and if they play ball with us,

-it will be just outrageous! Let's go, Richard.

-OK, Darryl.

'Jim Delaney taught me to dive.

'And he keeps me safe underwater.

'We are both astonished at the sight of thousands of wild fish

'flocking around us like birds.'

This is just unbelievable!

I'm surrounded by fish!

They're coming right up to me!

Behind me are all of those salmon and in front of me

are pollack and coalfish.

It's wonderful to see the dark shapes

coming out of the green gorges

and the guys up on top are throwing in pellets for the salmon.

Standing by with food ready to be thrown in

if you wish to do that, over.

It's so interesting to see these live fish

patrolling on the outside of the cages.

They're here because they're getting a free meal,

but they're also getting shelter from the tide

and a little shelter from the sun up above.

Here they come again.

It's like they are on a treadmill.

They're going round and round the cages below me now.

Isn't that class, Jim?

Absolutely. But I tell you what.

See, when you're inside the cage looking out, there seems to be

more of the wildlife on the outside than there is on the inside.

I know. I've been around fish for 35 years.

-I never experienced anything close to that before!

-I know.

Absolutely amazing in there.

And you see whatever they were being fed, isn't that just crazy,

like, because they're actually bumping into the camera

and you can reach out and touch them.

They've got absolutely no fear. They must be used to the divers.

Yeah. I've been in the sea with many wild fish,

-but that there was fantastic.

-Just out of this world.

'One more memorable experience on an unforgettable adventure.'

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd