Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 16 June 2015
120. Deputy Michael Colreavy asked the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources if there has been any further development in restocking Irish rivers with eels, or if compensation will be made available to eel fishermen. [23142/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe latest advice from the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) in 2014 states that while the annual recruitment of juvenile eels (glass eels - elvers) to Europe has increased over the last 3 years from 5% to 12% of historic levels, recruitment is still well below the reference levels of 1960-1979, there is no change in the status of the eel as being critically endangered and the overall requirement and objective remains to provide, with high probability, a long-term 40% escapement to the sea of the biomass of silver eel, relative to pristine conditions (i.e. if the stock had been completely free of man-made influences including commercial fishing). This points to a situation where the recruitment of glass eels and elvers remains perilously low and sustainable availability of juveniles presents a significant challenge. Stocking of elvers is a long term conservation measure with no short or even medium term benefit as regards eel fisheries. In Ireland, on average it takes up to two decades for eels to reach maturity. To stock home rivers with eels would mean obtaining elvers from some other European source and re-introducing these eels to rivers in Ireland. There are very considerable challenges to this:
- the potential for the transmission of disease and parasites when introducing eels from other catchments;
- the stock decline is a pan-european issue and any estuaries where elvers are in adequate numbers will be targeted in the first instance by the nation in whose waters the elvers are to ensure that their rivers are adequately populated;
- elvers are extremely costly and it would be expensive to source these elvers competing with both the host nation and any other countries for the opportunity to obtain wild elvers, with no benefit to the fishery for many years.
Stocking is not included as a management action in Ireland’s Eel Management Plan (EMP) and surplus elver recruits were not identified for the 2012-2015 period to facilitate a stocking programme. Ireland’s EMP is currently being reviewed and a public consultation process is underway. All elements, of the EMP are being considered based on an additional three years of scientific and management advice .
While I recognise fully the difficulty facing eel fishermen, there is no property right attaching to public eel licences and currently there are no plans to introduce a hardship scheme as outlined by the Deputy.
