Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 3 November 2020
242. Deputy Verona Murphy asked the Minister for Environment, Climate and Communications when historic salmon fishing angling licences will be restored to all fishing areas with particular reference to Ballyhack Estuary, County Wexford; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33932/20]
View answerManagement of salmon stocks is carried out by Inland Fisheries Ireland (IFI), with support from the Technical Expert Group on Salmon (TEGOS) which comprises of scientists from a range of organisations. Scientific and management assessments of each of the distinct stocks are carried out every year with IFI engaged in extensive stock monitoring which feeds into the scientific committee's annual reviews. Rivers are only open to harvest where it has been confirmed that the individual river is sufficiently exceeding its conservation limit so that there is a harvestable surplus available. The conservation limit for each river is the number of adult spawning fish required to maintain a healthy population and ensure its stock does not drop below safe biological limits.
Where rivers are meeting 50% of their conservation limit they may be open to catch and release angling. Rivers below this threshold are closed to all exploitation in line with the conservation imperative. In relation to estuaries all contributing rivers must sufficiently exceed their individual conservation limits to avoid indiscriminate exploitation of the mixed stock within the estuary.
Stocks from the rivers Suir, Nore and Barrow contribute to the Ballyhack estuary. All three rivers were open to catch and release angling only in 2020 as they were all below their conservation limit. All three rivers and the estuary were closed to harvest in 2020. A decision on their status for 2021 will be made following the provision of scientific advice from TEGOS and management advice from IFI
State licences for commercial fishing are not issued in relation to rivers or estuaries which are closed to harvest.
