I propose to take Questions Nos. 238 and 240 together.
The overall management of the national fish counter programme has been primarily the responsibility of the Marine Institute which has operated directly, or by sub-contracting where necessary, to maintain the objectives of the programme.
The cost of installing the counter at Mocollop on the River Blackwater came to under €89,000. This funding was provided under the final tranche of the national development plan tourism angling measure in 1999. According to the Marine Institute, both this and the counter on the River Suir are hydro-acoustic counters which use echo location. They were two of four purchased in the late 1990s, to use as the basis for an experimental programme on large rivers, which pose particular difficulties with regards to directly quantifying fish runs.
These counters functioned well during testing and received clear acoustic signals. However, this type of counter requires additional technical refinement to calibrate to ensure verifiable salmon counts and to differentiate between various species of fish. This work has not yet been completed and, as a result, both of these counters are being held in storage by the Marine Institute.
The resistivity counter at Clondulane weir on the River Blackwater is a partial counter, providing an index of fish ascending the fish pass at the weir. According to the Marine Institute, this counter was fully functional during the latter half of 2004 and provided a total count of 8,185 ascending and 756 descending fish. However, in November 2004, a non-critical fault within the counter was detected and, as a result, a replacement counter was installed. The original unit was returned to the manufacturers for repair. No data was lost from the counter as a result of this fault.
Since taking up office as Minister of State at the Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources, I have emphasised that I expect the regional fisheries boards and the Marine Institute to collaborate in managing the fish counter programme in the most effective and efficient way possible. In order to achieve this, I have directed the Department to review the arrangements in respect of the operational, data management and quality assurance issues for the national fish counter management programme. I expect this review to be completed so that an enhanced national management programme, including the calibration of the hydro-acoustic counters, will be established within the available resources. It will be carried out by the regional fisheries boards, in partnership with the Marine Institute, from 2005.