Martin Ferris
Question:180 Mr. Ferris asked the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources the basis on which recent cuts in quota and fishing time for salmon fishermen in Kerry have been made. [12561/04]
View answerTuesday, 4 May 2004
Questions (158)
Written answers
I rely on the advice of the National Salmon Commission and the managers of the regional fisheries boards to determine the terms of the wild salmon and sea-trout tagging scheme, which, inter alia, sets out the quotas for the commercial catch in each of the 17 fishery districts, including the Kerry district. The district quotas for 2004 have been set out in regulations which my colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Browne, signed on 7 April last, to revise the scheme for 2004. The district quotas were firmly recommended to me by the National Salmon Commission following its comprehensive review of the effectiveness of the 2003 tagging scheme.
When presenting its advice on the scheme in 2003, the National Salmon Commission recommended that a three-year strategy should be put in place to ensure, by means of progressive reductions, that the conservation limits specified by its standing scientific committee should be reached by 2005. In implementing the scheme in 2003, and to move towards the attainment of conservation limits in all districts, the managers of the fisheries boards advised that a pragmatic approach be followed, whereby the districts requiring the greatest reduction in their current catches to meet conservation limits should be targeted with the greatest cuts in quota.
As the current catch model is largely based on mixed stock drift net fishery, it was considered that some reduction should occur in catch levels in all districts. This rationale was based on the knowledge that the districts are reporting entities rather than discrete catchments and the belief that a reduction in the mixed stock fishery in all districts will further benefit the attainment of conservation limits in districts below the required limit. The total allowable commercial catch for 2004 is consistent with the National Salmon Commission's recommendation last year that a three-year strategy be put in place aimed at reaching the scientific advice on precautionary catch limits between 2003 and 2005. The Conservation of Salmon and Sea Trout By-Law No. 794 of 2004 prescribes, inter alia, the opening and closing dates and the weekly close times for commercial salmon fishing in 2004, including drift nets, draft nets and other fishing engines. These are unchanged, in effect, from last year.