Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 5 October 2021
113. Deputy Pádraig Mac Lochlainn asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications if he will publish any data his Department obtained on numbers of salmon present in Irish waters over the past five years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47820/21]
View answerSalmon Management in Ireland is carried out by Inland Fisheries Ireland (IFI). Since 2007, Atlantic salmon in Ireland are managed on an individual catchment basis, and strictly in line with annual scientific advice, in more than 140 rivers each of which has a generically unique population.
IFI advise that independent scientific assessment is carried out every year based on fish counters, salmon rod and commercial catches to determine if rivers are meeting conservation limits, established for each river stock. These annual assessments support IFI’s annual management advice.
The status of Irish rivers stocks over the last five years is summarised in the following table.
|
Irish Salmon River Status |
2017 |
2018 |
2019 |
2020 |
2021 |
|
No. of Rivers Open |
44 |
41 |
40 |
39 |
48 |
|
No. of Rivers Catch and Release |
27 |
36 |
40 |
42 |
32 |
|
No. of Rivers Closed |
72 |
66 |
63 |
63 |
64 |
Salmon in its migratory stage at sea are a substantial mix of stocks from Irish and other European rivers, many of which are below safe biological limits. It is not possible to disaggregate these stocks during the marine stage of their life cycle and IFI’s focus is on assessment and protection of native river stocks.
Full details on the status of Irish salmon stocks for 2020 is available via the Report of the Technical Expert Group on Salmon to the North-South Standing Scientific Committee for Inland Fisheries which can be sourced at the Inland Fisheries Ireland Website – www.fisheriesireland.ie
IFI also publishes an annual Wild Salmon and Sea Trout Statistics report also available on its website.
