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Inland Fisheries Stocks

Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 26 April 2018

Thursday, 26 April 2018

Ceisteanna (199, 200, 201)

Bernard Durkan

Ceist:

199. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the extent to which studies are in hand to monitor salmon stocks with particular reference to the number of salmon returning to spawn in Irish rivers; the identification of reduction in this area; the measures taken or proposed to address this issue; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18497/18]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Bernard Durkan

Ceist:

200. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the number of salmon caught in rivers in each of the past five years and to date in 2018; the extent to which fluctuation corresponds with salmon returning to the spawning ground; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18498/18]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Bernard Durkan

Ceist:

201. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment if, in the context of EU fisheries conservation policies, reduction in the salmon catch has resulted from over-fishing, climate change or other reasons; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18499/18]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Freagraí scríofa

I propose to take Questions Nos. 199 to 201, inclusive, together.

Inland Fisheries Ireland (IFI) is the State Agency statutorily responsible for the management and conservation of Ireland's Inland fisheries resources including wild Atlantic salmon. 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 are carried out every year with IFI engaged in extensive stock monitoring which feeds into the SSC's annual reviews. The SSC uses catch returns to individual rivers (rod catch, catch and release and any commercial catch) over the previous five years to estimate the total salmon returns in each of the previous five years.  The use of a five year average ensures that a good or bad year does not have a disproportionate impact on the stock assessment in any single year.

Each river has an individual conservation limit which is the number of adult salmon required to maintain a healthy population.  Rivers which sufficiently exceed their conservation limit may be opened for harvest fisheries (recreational and/or commercial). Rivers which meet 50% of their conservation limit may be opened for catch and release (C&R) angling which permits enjoyment of angling while having a negligible impact on vulnerable fish stocks and encouraging the shared responsibility to contribute to conservation and the potential rebuilding of these stocks.  For 2018, 78 rivers in Ireland were open to harvest or catch and release fishing.

The decline in wild Atlantic Salmon is an international issue manifesting in rivers in all countries around the North Atlantic with scientific analysis from the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) estimating that marine survival of migrating salmon has been at or below 5% in the North Atlantic for more than a decade.

Marine survival is considered to have the biggest influence on return, from far North Atlantic feeding grounds, of salmon to all rivers on Atlantic coasts.  Climate change in the ocean is considered to be a major factor.  There is also evidence that heavy sea-lice infestation from salmon farming has resulted in additional mortality in respect of migratory North Atlantic salmon generally.  In freshwater, water quality and a range of pressures such as afforestation, drainage, effluent discharge, siltation and agricultural enrichment can all have an impact on juvenile salmon production.

The protection and conservation of salmon internationally is managed through the North Atlantic Salmon Conservation Organisation (NASCO) with which Ireland is aligned through the European Union. Concerted international co-operation has ensured that restrictions in feeding ground in Greenland and Faroese waters have been in place for a number of years via NASCO agreement. In June this year, my officials and those of IFI will join delegates from the EU, USA, Canada, Norway, the Russian Federation, Greenland and the Faroes in seeking to negotiate a continuation of restrictions in these waters.

Specifically in relation to Greenlandic waters, the majority component of the stock complex migrating to these waters originates from the North American Continent.  There is no commercial harvest in Faroese waters where the migratory stock complex comprises a majority component of European river stocks including those from Ireland.  

The Atlantic salmon is a protected species under the EU Habitats Directive with which Ireland’s current salmon management regime complies. In order to align fully with the Directive and the NASCO principles, Ireland closed mixed stock fisheries at sea since 2007. It is considered that river stocks in Ireland would be in a far more perilous state if the closure of mixed stock fisheries had not been implemented.  

A summary of Irish salmon catches from 2012 to 2016 is in the following table. The figures for 2017 are currently being compiled and verified for publication by IFI.

Year

Angling harvest (tonnes)

Angling catch and release(no’s of fish)

Commercial harvest (tonnes)

Total harvest (tonnes)

2012

60

11,891

28

88

2013

49

10,682

38

87

2014

31

6,537

26

57

2015

42

9,383

21

63

2016

39

10,280

19

58

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