Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 1 Apr 2003

Vol. 564 No. 1

Atlantic Salmon Stocks.

Mr. Eamon Ryan

Possibly the greatest environmental failing in this country in the past 20 or 30 years has been the inability to retain our water quality. We had some of the best lakes, rivers and water courses in the world. The loss of water quality in Irish waters is probably one of the greatest environmental failings.

The loss of the Atlantic wild salmon will go beyond this in a symbolic way, which the Government does not appear to be able to comprehend. If we lose the salmon, which is the direction in which we are heading, in the next five to ten years, if we carry on as we are, my children will look at me in ten years' time and ask, "What in God's name were you doing? Why did you fail? Why did you not save the salmon when you knew we were losing it?" We are already the international pariah for our inability to take firm and decisive action in this area. Every other country in north-western Europe has introduced a ban on driftnetting. Ireland stands alone as the only country which goes against all other trends in this area and refuses so far to introduce a ban on driftnetting.

I recognise this is a complex issue. It does not require just one simple solution. It is such a complex issue that a whole range of issues, including water quality and management of our rivers, have an effect on salmon stocks. We must have a multifaceted response. There are certain steps we can take immediately, for which the Minister has responsibility. If he fails to take these steps, he will go down as the Minister who facilitated the loss of the north Atlantic salmon.

The current tagging system is not working. I have never witnessed a more confused, muddled, uncertain, inaccurate or disputed conservation system. While it is meant to provide a certain analysis, it appears that is providing no clarity whatsoever. Given that approximately 500,000 salmon are coming into our rivers, it is incredible that the Minister is proposing to take out 180,000 while the scientists are advocating a lower figure. I do not accept the argument that we can gradually reduce the figure over three or four years to reach the scientific level, nor do I accept there is a reduction on last year's figures. Last year's figures were bloated due to the election. The Minister has not yet signed the order and he will receive support in this House if he takes positive conservation measures. If he is going to operate a tagged quota system, he should immediately reduce the figures.

I do not know how the salmon commission works. There is a saying that a camel is similar to a horse designed by a committee. It appears that the recommendations of the salmon commission do not take into account the fundamental truth, which is the rapid loss in recent years of wild salmon from our rivers. That will continue if the current system is maintained. There might be a possibility of introducing clarity by way of a non-transferrable tagged quota. This would mean that we would at least know where the fish are being caught, which is not clear at present. I will be interested to hear the Minister's opinion in that regard.

I would be interested in getting the report to which the Minister referred on previous occasions. It refers to a moratorium or buy-out over a period of the driftnet system. If we do not do something in this regard, all the other systems will continue with this muddled process. A buy-out would give us a simple clear break to try to increase the salmon numbers. Other measures could come into play in terms of keeping our water clean and better management of our rivers. It will not be easy but the Minister cannot wait. We cannot continue for three or four years with a failed tagging system. He must have the political courage to publish the report, which I am sure has been sitting on his desk for some time. He should discuss the issue with the Opposition and with those in the industry. He must make a political decision for which he will have support in this House and throughout the world.

Ireland is increasingly seen as a country which has lost its environmental assets and does not care about protecting its green image. There is no clearer indication of that than in the way we have disregarded our important asset. The Minister must do something dramatic and quickly to save the species.

Mr. Browne

I thank Deputy Eamon Ryan for raising the issue. The overriding objective of the Government is to conserve the salmon resource in its own right and for the coastal and rural communities that it helps to support. The National Salmon Commission advises the Minister in relation to the conservation, management, protection and development of the national salmon and sea trout resource.

When I took up office in June last year, I asked the National Salmon Commission to review the effectiveness of the wild salmon and sea trout tagging scheme which was introduced by my Department in 2001 and limited the total allowable commercial catch of salmon for the first time in 2002. The standing scientific committee of the National Salmon Commission provides scientific advice on the rational management of salmon in Ireland.

The model for management of salmon stocks is based on achieving spawning escapement targets for each stock and maintaining stocks above conservation limits. In 1998 the North Atlantic Salmon Conservation Organisation adopted the precautionary approach to fisheries management. Central to this was the argument that management measures should be aimed at maintaining all salmon stocks above pre-agreed conservation limits which is the spawning stock level that produces maximum sustainable yield.

Fundamental to the provision of precautionary catch advice is the determination by the standing scientific committee of salmon conservation limits for each fishery district. To date, the calculation of salmon stock conservation limits for the fisheries districts has been based on historical catch data over a 30 year period. New data from ICES was incorporated into the model to establish stock and recruitment relationships at the end of 2002 to provide new salmon conservation limit for each district for 2003. The scientific committee presented this precautionary catch advice to the National Salmon Commission and to the National Fisheries Management Executive.

The NFME considered this advice and concluded, inter alia, that the scientific advice given should be accepted and that reductions in catch were required to meet conservation limits; it was not desirable to close the commercial fishery in any district, to try to achieve the conservation limit in one year but that a progressive reduction should take place in the commercial catch over a number of years; districts requiring the greatest reductions in current catch to meet these limits should be targeted with the greatest cuts; and as the current catch model is largely based on the mixed stock drift net fishery, some reduction should occur in catch level in all districts.

Arising out of these deliberations, the National Salmon Commission has recommended a total allowable catch of 182,000 fish for 2003. This represents a 17% cut on the total allowable catch for 2002 and a drop of 12% on the actual commercial catch in 2002. In tendering this advice, the commission recommended that a three year strategy should be put in place to ensure, through further progressive reductions, that the conservation limits specified by its standing scientific committee should be reached by 2005. The draft regulations which I have published for the 2003 season are in keeping with this approach.

The sub-committee set up to review the control of fishing for salmon order is examining the changes needed to deliver significant rationalisation of categories and the numbers of commercial licences. Subject to the emerging advice, changes will be put in place for 2004. It is intended that the question of allocating non-transferable quotas to individual licences will be considered when the outcome of this review is known. My predecessor firmly ruled out buy-out as an effective means of achieving the shared objective of restoration of salmon stocks and instead promoted the policy of quotas to achieve catch reductions as the best instrument available to achieve this objective.

The issues inherent in a complete voluntary buy-out of the Irish commercial salmon sector are very complex. The international experience is also mixed. We need to caution against excessive raising of expectation about large amounts of compensation. It is not the case that all active commercial salmon fishermen are willing to be bought out. Simplistic solutions will not work.

The Central Fisheries Board is currently examining a number of options, including possible models for a buy-out/set-aside scheme, aimed at reducing the level of commercial exploitation of the salmon resource. The board will be informed in this regard by an independent report it has commissioned, and expects to be finalised shortly, on the socio-economic value of the salmon resource. As soon as it is published it will be made available to the Opposition and whoever requires a copy. Pending the outcome of these reports, I remain to be convinced about buy-outs as a cost efficient workable instrument.

The Dáil adjourned at 10.35 p.m. until 10.30 a.m. on Wednesday, 2 April 2003.