Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 25 September 2012
266. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Communications; Energy and Natural Resources with regard to the River Maine, which closes now for salmon fishing on 30 September, if he will consider granting an extension until 12 October as it is open for trout on those days; and if he will consider keeping it open for salmon because of the bad year. [40637/12]
View answerI can inform the Deputy that, as each River has a genetically unique stock, Ireland’s salmon rivers are managed on an individual basis by Inland Fisheries Ireland (IFI). Available surpluses (if any) of salmon are calculated for each individual river annually.
The annual surplus of salmon available on the River Maine is divided between the commercial and recreational anglers. I am advised by IFI that any extension to the recreational angling season would need to be based on scientific analysis of available surplus, catch returns, counter information, run timing, exploitation rates etc. With the majority of these parameters the time series of available data is considered by IFI to be too short to draw any meaningful scientific conclusions and therefore, in line with the conservation Imperative based on the precautionary principle, no recommendation can be made for an extension to the salmon angling season at this time.
The independent Standing Scientific Committee (SSC) for salmon provide advice on the criteria that should be evaluated when considering a proposal for an extension to the angling season in any salmon catchment. These criteria include the advice that, where an extension is being considered, there should be a reasonably sized quota and a reasonable proportion of the surplus remaining after the original season has ended to ensure essential recruitment and to avoid over fishing. A further criterion is that an angling season in a river should only be extended if the salmon stock in that river has been meeting the Conservation Limit (CL) and is likely to continue to meet the CL if an extension is given i.e. provided no more than the harvestable surplus is taken. 2012 is only the third year where a full assessment of the salmon run on the river Maine is available. A higher salmon surplus and a longer time period of fish counter data would be required before the SSC criteria can be adequately assessed.
