Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 14 May 2013
395. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources if he will develop a coherent and viable policy that will allow for the phased reopening of traditional salmon drift netting in a controlled and structured way; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22213/13]
View answerIn 2006 following a Government decision to align with the scientific advice, indiscriminate mixed stock salmon fishing at sea was ceased. Expert scientific advice available showed that the marine survival of salmon in the North Atlantic has decreased significantly in the previous decades. It was in this context and to afford every protection to the remaining stocks that the decision to cease indiscriminate mixed stock fishing was taken.
In 2007, I understand that a Salmon Hardship Scheme of €25m was established to address any hardship experienced by affected commercial salmon licence holders. In addition, I also understand that a further €5m was allocated to a Community Support Scheme which was directed primarily at those communities where commercial salmon fishing had been a well-established activity and where its withdrawal demonstrably impacted on the economic and social fabric.
On foot of the decision to prioritise conservation the harvest of salmon by any means is restricted to those individual stocks of rivers that are judged by the scientific advice as meeting their conservation limits. Commercial fishing and recreational angling can continue only where there is a scientifically identified exploitable surplus within the genetically discrete stock in each individual river. Overall the estimate of total Irish spawning salmon over the past decade is only 52% of that in the 1970’s.
In this regard, and in the mixed stock context pertaining as stocks migrate during the at sea phase of their life-cycle, it is not possible to identify the discrete stocks of salmon emanating from individual rivers which are above their conservation limit. Such mixed stock fishing activity would be irresponsible in that the possibility of disaggregating those genetically individual river stocks (including stocks from other countries) within a large mixed migratory body of fish is impossible. To permit targeting of such mixed stocks would expose vulnerable individual river stocks, which are not meeting conservation limits, to indiscriminate and unsustainable harvesting. Consequently the question of reopening drift net salmon fishing does not arise.
