Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 11 July 2017
616. Deputy Mick Wallace asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the conservation limits for each wild Atlantic salmon for each river in the south east river basin, as of January 2017; the rivers which have an identifiable surplus of wild Atlantic salmon over the conservation limit; the rivers which are not meeting the conservation limit; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32391/17]
View answer617. Deputy Mick Wallace asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the rivers in the south east river basin which are open for salmon and sea trout fishing by means of draft and snap net harvesting as of January 2017; the rivers in the south east river basin which are open for salmon fishing by means of angling harvest; the rivers in the south east river basin which are open for salmon fishing by means of angling, catch and release; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32392/17]
View answer620. Deputy Mick Wallace asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the methodology employed to measure the conservation limits for wild Atlantic salmon on each river in the south east river basin; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32396/17]
View answer621. Deputy Mick Wallace asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the types of fish counters for wild Atlantic salmon on each river in the south east river basin; the accuracy of each fish counter; the locations in which fish counters are present; if they are fully operational; the way in which salmon are counted on rivers that may have no operational fish counter; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32397/17]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 616, 617, 620 and 621 together.
Following the advice of the Standing Scientific Committee for Salmon and the recommendation of management in IFI, the rivers in the South East can be divided into three distinct categories.
The first category is rivers that are open with a surplus of salmon that can be harvested. There are no salmon Rivers in the Wexford or Waterford Fishery Districts that fall into this category. In the Lismore District the Blackwater, Glenshelane and Finisk are the only open rivers with a quota for harvest. The Blackwater is the only river with a commercial quota which is shared with the rod and line quota the full surplus that is available is 5,670 salmon. There was a 5% reserve established which was not allocated. Of the remainder 29%, or 1,562, was allocated to the commercial sector and 71%, or 3,824, to the rod and line - (angling sector).
The second category is rivers that are open on a catch and release basis where no harvest of fish is permitted. There are no such rivers in the Wexford Fishery District. In the Waterford District there is the Barrow, Nore, Suir and Pollmounty. There is the River Bride in the Lismore District. As a consequence of these rivers being catch and release no commercial quota exists.
The third category is rivers that have poor salmon runs and are closed to salmon fishing. These are, in the Wexford District, the Avoca, the Owenavorragh and the Slaney, in the Waterford District, the Owenduff, the Mahon; the Tay, the Colligan and the Corrack and in the Lismore District the Lickey, the Tourig and the Womanagh.
The conservation limit can be defined as the spawning stock level that produces long term average maximum sustainable yield as derived from the adult to adult stock and recruitment relationship. This is generally termed a biological reference point and establishes the specific abundance of fish required to maintain a healthy and sustainable salmon population in a particular river system. The conservation limit is calculated similarly for all of Ireland's 147 salmon rivers and estuaries based on the wetted area, latitude and other river-specific factors such as the relative proportion of one sea winter grilse salmon (1SW) and multi-sea winter (MSW) salmon in the population, the average weight of these salmon, proportions of male and female salmon and average numbers of eggs per female fish. Comprehensive and extensive step-by-step information on how conservation limits are calculated are contained in the annual Standing Scientific Committee on Salmon (SSCS) report which is attached.
IFI’s fish counter programme operates forty one counters at thirty six counting sites throughout the country. Two types of counters are used to record fish numbers, Vaki counters and Logie counters. All Logie counter sites incorporate video verification in addition to the standard counter device.
In the South East River Basin District, there is one counter operating on the River Slaney. The counter on the Slaney is a Logie fish counter which is a tube fish pass configuration with video recording for verification. The location of the counter at Clohamon weir is approximately 30 miles from where the Slaney enters the sea through Wexford Harbour. The counter provides only a partial count of fish passing up the river as fish can traverse the weir in flood conditions.
The counter is both efficient and accurate in terms of the fish that actually move upstream or downstream through the tube, but a significant proportion of the run by-passes the counter at other points on the weir. To enable an accurate estimate of the number of fish that pass up the river a scientific method of tagging fish and assessing the proportion of these fish that are detected through the counter was undertaken. This enabled IFI to estimate the percentage of fish that (a) travel over the weir and (b) go through the counter and enables the scientists gauge the fish run in the river.
The in-stream structure housing the counter was severely damaged in flooding in January 2016 and IFI assessed all options for relocating the counter. However, an alternative site would require planning so in the interim the existing tube counter was repaired in November 2016 to ensure no further data was lost. The counter has been operational since.
