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Fisheries Protection.

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 21 June 2005

Tuesday, 21 June 2005

Ceisteanna (321, 322)

John Perry

Ceist:

342 Mr. Perry asked the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources if he has received any communication regarding a review (details supplied) and the person who would participate from an Irish perspective in same; his views on whether such a review would put pressure on the Government to change its current policy towards drift-netting. [20586/05]

Amharc ar fhreagra

John Perry

Ceist:

343 Mr. Perry asked the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources his views on a report presented by the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea to a meeting of the North Atlantic Salmon Conservation Organisation which demonstrates that Irish drift nets are intercepting 10% to 12% of salmon from rivers in Wales and southern England; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20587/05]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Freagraí scríofa

I propose to take Questions Nos. 342 and 343 together.

In April 2004, the European Commission convened a meeting with Ireland and the United Kingdom to examine the management of the wild Atlantic salmon in Community waters and, in particular, to look at the situation with regard to their interceptory fisheries of mixed stocks of salmon inside the 12-mile limits.

The Department prepared a detailed submission on the Irish salmon management regime and presented it to the Commission at that meeting. I understand that the Commission fully acknowledged the management measures which the Irish Government has put in place in recent years for the protection and conservation of our wild salmon stocks. I also understand that the Commission confirmed, following this meeting, that member states have the right to regulate salmon fisheries within their own fishery zones up to 12 miles in the absence of any Community regulation.

Nevertheless, given the concerns that the Commission expressed about the nature of such mixed-stock fisheries, the Government agreed to work with the Commission and the United Kingdom authorities to achieve a proper Community regulation of the fisheries. To that end, the Commission was given permission by the Government to approach any experts within the relevant Irish State agencies with a view to helping it produce that report.

I am advised that in his opening remarks to this year's annual meeting of the North Atlantic Salmon Conservation Organisation, or NASCO, held recently in Vichy, France, the EU representative confirmed that the European Commission has now begun work on a report on interceptory fisheries on mixed stocks of wild Atlantic salmon in Community waters, which he stated is expected to be completed later this year. I understand that the representative further clarified that any measures proposed for those fisheries as a result of the report would require a thorough debate within the European Union.

I am also advised that, at the same NASCO meeting, a representative from the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea, ICES, in his general presentation on wild Atlantic salmon stocks, confirmed that, while tagging studies have demonstrated that salmon from all parts of England and Wales are exploited in the Irish coastal fishery, the levels of exploitation have, however, varied between stocks from different regions and from year to year.

According to the ICES report, it therefore appears that exploitation of salmon from north-east England in the Irish fishery is negligible, that exploitation on stocks from north-west England and north Wales is currently low, but that levels increase as one moves further south in Wales and for rivers in south-west and southern England. Significantly, the representative also confirmed that such exploitation has declined in all areas by almost 60% following the introduction of new management measures in the Irish fishery since 1997.

Thus, for example, before the introduction of those management measures, exploitation rates in the Irish fishery were estimated at about 28% for the River Test in southern England. According to the ICES representative, however, since the introduction of the regulatory changes, exploitation rates have fallen to 12% for that river and could reasonably be expected to fall further as those management measures are maintained in future years.

The Deputy should note that all of this information has been made available to ICES through the preliminary findings from a joint Irish-UK scientific working group of scientists from our Marine Institute and the UK Centre for Environment, Fisheries, and Aquaculture Science, with contributions from the Environment Agency, which has been assessing the recent patterns and levels of exploitation on certain UK salmon stocks in the Irish coastal fishery. That report has yet to be finalised, and I expect it in its completed form later this year.

As that study, with the report being compiled by the European Commission, is expected to provide the first accurate analysis of the impact of interceptory fisheries on mixed stocks of wild salmon in Community waters, I believe we should await the outcome before any further conclusions are drawn in the matter. In the meantime, the Government has no proposals to review its policy on drift-net salmon fishing in Irish waters.

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