Jim Higgins
Ceist:11 Mr. J. Higgins asked the Minister for the Marine if he will make an order banning the use of shrimps and prawns by salmon anglers on the River Moy, and if he will make a statement on the matter.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Development of River Moy.
Jim Higgins
Ceist:24 Mr. J. Higgins asked the Minister for the Marine when it is anticipated that the development plan will be completed for the River Moy, and if he will make a statement on the matter.
I propose to take Questions Nos. 11 and 24 together.
I am happy to be able to inform the Deputy that on the occasion of my recent visit to Ballina I received the report of the Moy Development Group which was set up in my Department last year to examine the options for the future management and development of the Moy Fishery and the Moy system as a whole. The main recommendations in the report in regard to the State-owned fishery in and around Ballina town are that its angling potential should be developed to its maximum potential while the feasibility of operating a commercial eel fishery here should be explored. The report also recommended that an integrated, comprehensive programme for the management and development of fisheries throughout the entire Moy system should be drawn up and that a planned programme of research should be instituted immediately. As I indicated on that occasion, I expect to have detailed development proposals from the fisheries boards by the end of the summer.
The report also recommended that a by-law to ban shrimp and prawn fishing on the Moy should be introduced in September in the event that voluntary agreement on regulation of the methods used and numbers of fish taken by commercial rod angling cannot be reached.
I was delighted to read in the Western People that the Minister was sampling the splendours of the River Moy during his recent visit to Mayo. I put it to the Minister that the Moy has been recognised as a huge natural resource, one of the premier salmon fishing rivers in the world, and a major component of any development plan for the region, and that it is being destroyed by the use of shrimps and prawns which are an almost irresistible bait, and by the Moy Fishery Company, a state owned company. The Minister will recall that his predecessor, Deputy Paddy O'Toole nationalised the waters of the Moy for the State in 1987. Last year the State fishery company took 13,100 salmon in nets and traps while only 627 salmon were taken by rod. This is doing irreparable damage to the reputation of the river. This year in the short period so far, 1,000 salmon have been taken in nets and traps while only seven have been taken from the ridge pool which we advertise as a major attraction as a salmon angling pool.
It was very difficult to fish in the ridge pool this year because the waters were very strong and unsuitable for fishing. Leaving that aspect aside, the Deputy will know that the traps were left open during February. The thing to do is allow more fish up, but the difficulty is that if we extend further, the jobs of the people involved in that operation will be at stake because the income from it will not be adequate to maintain the fishery there. I want to see a full package for the river. We must get the people living alongside the river to agree a plan for the whole river. In that context we can consider changing the existing pattern. We might not get the desired result if we were to make changes now. The approach we are adopting is the best one. We will look at the river system and, in that context, see where cost-benefit comes in. Obviously, if a salmon is caught up the river by a visiting angler one could put a value of perhaps £600 on that as against £10 or £12 if it was taken from the traps.
The Minister made the point that we are sacrificing a bonanza. The ESRI recently did a further study, updating a previous one, showing that a salmon caught on the rod is worth £700 to the area, whereas the total value of the salmon caught in the traps and the nets by our own fishery company last year was a mere £150,000. We are raping the river and destroying a huge bonanza. The traps and the nets cannot be removed overnight but it could be done on a phased basis, monitoring the ongoing ability of the river to cater for the salmon coming up.
It is an urgent matter and it is being treated urgently. The income in total last year was £197,000. Up to £170,000 was accounted for by the sale of salmon and in addition there was some sale of permits.