Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 6 May 2014
116. Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív asked the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the work done by his Department and by Inland Fisheries Ireland to preserve wild salmon; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19948/14]
View answerIreland manages salmon stocks on an individual river basis. This management is carried out by Inland Fisheries Ireland (IFI), the State Agency with statutory responsibility for inland fisheries under the 2010 Inland Fisheries Act. The individual river management strategy is based on the fact that each of Ireland’s 143 salmon rivers has its own unique stock of salmon which migrates to sea as juveniles and returns to the same river in adulthood to spawn and create the next generation of fish exclusive to that river.
IFI is supported in its management of salmon stocks by a statutorily based Standing Scientific Committee on Salmon (SSCS) comprising scientists from IFI, an Bord Iascaigh Mhara (BIM), the Loughs Agency, the National Parks and Wildlife Service, the Marine Institute, the Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute (AFBI- Northern Ireland) other State bodies and third level institutions. This independent scientific committee assesses and offers advice on the predicted stocks status in all 143 Irish salmon rivers each year against that river's Conservation Limit using the most recent five years of available data from the catchment. The Conservation Limit is the number of adult salmon required on each river to maintain a healthy population, the stock level that maximizes the long-term average surplus.
IFI also undertakes an extensive programme of patrol and protection of the fisheries resource, in gathering data on stock status and in seeking to improve angling potential and develop angling tourism. In 2013, IFI is currently involved in projects funded to the value of over €9M in research on and enhancement and development of the inland fisheries resources and habitats with many projects active in the area of wild salmonids. IFI also administered projects under the Salmon Development Fund to the value of almost €400,000 primarily through supports to angling clubs and federations.
The Atlantic salmon is a protected species under the EU Habitats Directive and Ireland’s current salmon management regime complies with the requirements of this legislation. The conservation imperative means that exploitation of salmon from each river is only permitted where the independent scientific committee determines that the stock in that river is above its conservation limit. The annual advice of the SCCS is available on the website of IFI. For 2014, based on the scientific advice, of the 143 rivers assessed, 57 rivers are open to exploitation of a harvestable surplus, 30 are open to catch and release angling only and 56 are closed to all activity. Each of these rivers will be reviewed again as part of the annual scientific assessment later this year in contemplation of management measures for 2015.
Commercial harvest fisheries are only allowed on individual river stocks which are shown to have a surplus of fish over the Conservation Limit. Fisheries in estuaries may also be permitted where the stocks from individual rivers entering the estuaries are each meeting their individual conservation limits. District Committees comprising commercial and angling stakeholders as well as IFI and BIM have been established to discuss the sharing of any surplus available for exploitation.
