Vol. 529 No. 1
180 Mr. Stagg asked the Minister for the Marine and Natural Resources if, in view of the recently adopted positions of the British and Northern Ireland authorities in the matter of buying out the operators of salmon drift nets, he will consider adopting a similar policy for Irish salmon drift net operators; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30477/00]
I refer the Deputy to my reply to Question No. 2 of 23 November 2000 in which I indicated that I have requested the National Salmon Commission to formulate analysis and advice to me on a number of key priorities. One of these priorities relates to the option for incentivising the reduction of the commercial salmon fishing effort. In considering this very complex issue, the commission will be informed by experience elsewhere as well as the specific factors which apply in the Irish context.
I also indicated in my reply that my Department is providing co-funding in respect of two pilot schemes for "set-aside". Both of these schemes are at catchment level and I have requested the regional fisheries boards to encourage the various players in their regions and catchments to develop further similar pilot projects based on consensus and local contribution.
