Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Wednesday, 13 Feb 2002

Vol. 548 No. 3

Adjournment Debate. - Game Fishing Season Postponement.

Mr. Dukes:

I am grateful for the opportunity to raise this issue. I have a very simple request to make of the Minister and I hope he will find it possible to accede to it.

In 1998, the then Minister for the Marine and Natural Resources, Deputy Woods, made an order deferring the normal opening of the fishing season on the River Barrow from 1 March to 17 March to take account of the presence of spring salmon in the river in that early part of the season.

We have experienced four seasons of that deferral of the opening of the fishing season and I have been informed that in those four years no salmon have been found on the upper reaches of the River Barrow, that is, upstream of Athy. I am sure the Minister will appreciate that anglers on the upper reaches of the River Barrow now find that their fishing season is being artificially restricted because of the fear of interference with the spring run of salmon. Since no salmon have been found over the past four years on the upper reaches of the River Barrow, upstream of Athy, they ask now that an order be made opening the fishery on that part of the river on the normal date, 1 March, so they can regain the period of almost three weeks which has been lost to them each season for the past four seasons in their fisheries.

I am sure it will be possible for the Minister to verify the accuracy of what I am saying. As I understand it, the order was made in 1998 at the request of the Southern Regional Fisheries Board. I am not entirely sure whether all of the angler groups on the river were in entire agreement at that stage. My impression is that they went along with the proposal because of their concern with conservation but, as I have said, the experience of the past four years is that salmon do not penetrate to the upper reaches of the river. For that reason it seems to me entirely appropriate, and not at all out of keeping with the conservation and management policies which I know the Minister is anxious to promote, to recognise the factual situation on the upper reaches of the river and to make an order or take whatever steps are appropriate to allow the fishing to open upstream of Athy as and from 1 March.

Minister for the Marine and Natural Resources (Mr. Fahey):

The opening of the salmon and trout angling season in the Waterford fishery district, which includes the River Barrow, was postponed from 1 March to 17 March, as the Deputy stated, by my predecessor, Deputy Woods, in 1998 at the request of the Southern Regional Fisheries Board in the interest of conserving spring salmon which had declined dramatically in that district in recent years.

The board also recommended that the trout angling season should be postponed along with the salmon season because persons fishing for trout could also take salmon. Even if salmon inadvertently taken were released they may die later from injuries, thus adversely affecting stocks. There are no proposals at this time to alter the angling season in that district. The Marine Institute's advice to me remains that salmon stocks in the Waterford fishery district, and in particular the very vulnerable spring salmon, are in a critical situation.

The conservation measures in place in this district must also be viewed in the context of the national effort to conserve and enhance salmon stocks. On 10 January last, I announced additional conservation measures on top of those already in place to strengthen the ongoing effort to arrest the decline in salmon stocks nationally. In particular, I announced the introduction of quotas for commercial fishing on a district basis for the forthcoming season. I also announced that I would review the case for standardising the length of offshore nets and that I would consider changes to the Control of Fishing for Salmon Orders to deliver a significant rationalisation of categories and the number of commercial licences held. In addition, I indicated that I would examine the case of increasing the current licence fees for 2003.

These new measures are absolutely necessary to address the current difficult stock situation. While they represent a significant challenge to the commercial sector I want to re-emphasise my commitment to a sustainable commercial salmon fishery based on value rather than volume.

I was not aware of the situation as outlined by the Deputy, that there have been no salmon found in the past four years north of Athy. In view of the points he has made, I am certainly prepared to look at the situation again and I will then revert to the Deputy.