Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 28 March 2018
240. Deputy Willie O'Dea asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the reason Inland Fisheries Ireland has banned salmon fishing on the lower River Shannon for conservation reasons in view of the fact that the amount of salmon caught in recent years on the river was well above the number required to allow this activity to continue; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14357/18]
Amharc ar fhreagraInland Fisheries Ireland (IFI) is the state agency responsible for the protection, management and conservation of Ireland's inland fisheries and sea angling resources. IFI manages salmon stocks on an individual river basis as each of Ireland’s 147 salmon rivers (including river sections and estuaries) has its own genetically unique stock of salmon.
IFI is supported in its management role by the independent Standing Scientific Committee (SSC), comprising scientists from a range of organisations. Scientific and management assessments of each of the distinct stocks, including those on the River Shannon, are carried out every year with IFI engaged in an extensive stock monitoring which feeds into the scientific committee's annual reviews.
The SSC estimates the number of salmon likely to return to each river in the next fishing season based on estimates of salmon runs over the most recent five years. Each river has an individual conservation limit which is essentially the number of salmon required to spawn to maintain a healthy population. If the estimate of returning salmon is above this limit, then salmon from that genetically unique river population may be harvested commercially or by rod and line.
The lower Shannon region comprises not only the main river channel but also the other rivers, including the Fergus, Mulcair and Maigue for which assessments are carried out. No harvestable surplus of salmon is available in the Region as the catch and counter records indicate that wild salmon returns are very significantly below conservation limits. I will provide a detailed account of the scientific salmon stock assessment process and status for rivers in the Lower Shannon region for the Deputy.
The salmon assessment methodologies used in Ireland are considered internationally as best practice, with many other countries moving towards the development of similar scientific assessment models for salmon stock conservation.
