The National Salmon Commission has now completed a comprehensive review of the effectiveness of the wild salmon and sea trout tagging scheme and as part of its considered advice, recently recommended that the total allowable commercial catch of salmon for the 2003 season should not exceed 182,000 fish. The salmon commission tendered its recommendation based on the advice of its own standing scientific committee and the management of the Central and Regional Fisheries Boards, which included recommendations for the allocation of this total catch on an individual district basis.
The National Salmon Commission has made a number of other recommendations aimed at improving the operation of the wild salmon and sea trout tagging scheme in 2003. My Department is currently finalising the draft regulations to give effect to these proposed adjustments, including the proposed district quotas for 2003. I intend to publish these shortly for a 30-day period in accordance with the requirements of the Fisheries Acts. During this time, interested parties will have an opportunity to submit any objections they may have which I will consider before I make a final decision on the scheme.
In its latest statistical report on the wild salmon and sea trout tagging scheme, the Central Fisheries Board reports that in the commercial salmon drift net fishery approximately 25% of the fishermen caught just over 70% of the fish. The board also reported that 53% of the commercial drift net fishermen caught 100 salmon or less in the 2002 season.
The chairman of the National Salmon Commission advises me that the sub-committee set up to review the Control of Fishing for Salmon Order will complete its work shortly. The sub-committee is examining the changes needed to deliver significant rationalisation of categories and the numbers of commercial licences. Subject to the emerging advice any changes will be put in place for 2004. It is intended that the question of allocating non-transferable quotas to individual licences will be considered when the outcome of this review is known.
