An chéad rud a bhí le réiteach nuair a bhíothas ag iarraidh tuille airgid a sholáthar i gcóir caomhantas an bhradáin cé an chaoi ar chóir é a thóraíocht. Tá trí bhealach ann ó thús i. rátaí a gearrtar ar chearta leithleasacha iascaigh, ceadúnais líontóireachta sna hinbhir agus sa bhfairrge agus ceadúnais iascach slaite. Faoi láthair, agus le tamall anuas, tá, an ceathrú bealach ann, ' sé sin deontais a dhéanamh as Vóta An Iascaigh do na Boird siúd nach rabh i ndon fáltas agus caiteachas a chothromú. hÁrdaíodh na rátaí go minic go dtí go bhfuila dhá oiread le fáil uathu is a gheibhtí i mbliain a naoi déag tríocha naoi. Sé laghdú luach an airgid idir an dá linn faoi ndear ganntan theacht-isteach na mBord Caomhnóirí. Nuair nach rabh mórán de chabhair mar dheontas ag teastáil ní rabh sé thar réasún é a bhaint de Vóta an Iascaigh. Le blianta beaga anuas, áfach, tá na héilimh ar an gcabhair seo ag éirigh chomh líonmhar sin agus chomh trom sa méid a hiarrtar go mbéigean socrú faoi leith a dhéanamh.
Tá méadú i líon na gceadúnaithe ó chuaigh praghas an bhradáin suas go mór de bharr dí-rialaithe thall; agus do réir chuile chúntais, tá, méadú níos, mó ar an bpóitseáil san am chéanna. Is cruthúnas do-shéanta é seo go bhfuil brabach thar a gcoitian le baint as an mbradán agus go bhfuil sé dá bhaint. San iomlán, tá timpeall seacht míle fostaithe sa tionscal agus bordáil sé mhíle duine a bhaineas spórt as an iascach seo. Tá chuile dhuine acu seo go tréan ar thaobh tuille chaomhantais a sholáthar ins na haibhneacha, agus níl sé thar réasún go n-íocfaidís féin an costas.
Sé mo thuairim go bhfuil ualach an chostais sin scaipithe go cothrom orra siúd go bhfuil spéis faoi leith acu sa mbradán.
The proposals contained in this Bill have been framed with the object of creating a fund fed annually by levies on exports of salmon and on salmon rod licences, the produce of which can be applied for the conservation of the stocks of salmon on which the salmon fishing industry depends for its prosperity. It is hardly necessary for me to say that this industry is an extremely valuable one inasmuch as it produces an exportable surplus valued at close on £750,000 yearly, and also offers highly enjoyable sport both to our native anglers and to a growing body of visitors to this country.
The duty of protecting and conserving stocks of salmon is placed by statute on boards of fishery conservators who are provided by law with two main sources of income, namely fishery rates and licence duties. Proprietary fisheries are already bearing a very considerable burden of rates in contributing a total of some £26,000 annually to conservancy funds, and the licence duties on rods and on the various fishing engines used for commercial capture of salmon bring in another £15,000. In the past few years, with salmon commanding unprecedentedly high prices, there has been added incentive to the capture of fish in season and out of season and whether by fair means or foul.
The conservators have done all that is possible within the resources at their command to strengthen their protection services and to meet the growing demand for better pay on the part of their hardworking protection staff. The majority of boards find themselves committed to spending in excess of their statutory revenues in order to maintain a minimum protection service, and steadily increasing provision has had to be made in the Vote for Fisheries for the payment of grants to boards which find themselves in this position. A sum of £8,000 which was provided for this purpose in the present financial year did not, in fact, suffice to meet all the calls for financial assistance which, on the information available to me, as to deficiencies in staffing of protection services, I should have felt fully justified in meeting had the necessary funds been at my disposal.
It might appear that this shortage of funds could readily be met by increasing the statutory revenues of the conservators but as I have already said, fishery ratepayers are already bearing a very heavy burden, with the rate in many cases standing at a higher rate per pound than that for local authority purposes. If an increase in licence duties were to be relied upon, nothing less than 100 per cent. increase all round would be worth while and this I am satisfied, would not result in an equitable distribution of the additional burden particularly for the working fisherman who would have to find double his present licence duty before the season opens, irrespective of whether the season should prove to be a good one or whether the particular fishery in which he plies his trade enables him to sell on the early market or only in the late summer when prices have fallen on arrival of the grilse run in our waters. To meet such a variety of conditions, it is obvious that the contributions by the fishermen using the commercial methods is best secured on a pay-as-you-earn system.
The provisions of the Bill providing for the imposition of the two forms of levy call for little elaboration. Section 2 provides for the making of Orders requiring the payment of levy on all salmon proposed to be exported. and Section 3 provides for the fixing of the rate of levy from time to time. By sub-section (3) the rate is subject to a ceilling of 2d. per lb., which may be lifted only if an Order is made prescribing a higher rate and is confirmed by resolution of each House of the Oireachtas, in accordance with sub-section (4). On the basis of exports of the volume experienced in recent years, it is expected that adequate revenue will be brought in by levy at the rate of 2d. a lb. on exports up to the end of May in each year, and 1d. per lb. from 1st June onwards when fish of the grilse type form the major portion of the catch and market prices are correspondingly lower.
Section 4 provides for the payment of levy on salmon rod licences at a rate which is not to exceed one-half of the licence duty. This provision will apply to the present £2 rod licence for a whole season in any fishery district and to the short-term licences issued at £1 each by certain boards for 14 days or for a period after 1st July in any year. As provided in sub-section (4), no levy will be chargeable on the 10/- endorsement fee payable by a rod fisherman to the board of conservators for each additional district after the first in which he proposes to fish. As at present advised, I consider that a levy on salmon rods at the rate of one-fourth of the licence duty will correspond in a rough and ready way with the rates of levy on exported salmon. I may say, however, that this is based on a very conservative estimate of anglers' catch for which we must rely on statistical returns furnished by the rod fishermen themselves. We have allowed for an average annual catch of only five fish per rod and, in these days when there are so many professional anglers and when even the sportsmen are becoming increasingly interested in the commercial value of their catch, these ideas may have to be radically revised.
The only other matter of principle to which it seems necessary to refer is the fact that Section 7 provides for the making of grants or repayable advances into the Salmon Conservancy Fund out of voted moneys. This is purely a precautionary measure as I see no reason to apprehend that at any time in the foreseeable future the revenues coming into the fund should be insufficient for the purpose intended save, perhaps, in the event of exceptional circumstances when advances might be required to make good some temporary deficiency due to a poor salmon-fishing season.
I may say that the principle underlying this Bill, namely that the funds required for the better protection of salmon should be found from within the salmon-fishing industry itself, is one that has been discussed fairly widely, and I know of no reasoned case which has been made against it. If any additional information is required to enable the House to appreciate the necessity for this measure, I shall be very happy to afford it.
