Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 22 May 2018
475. Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the steps being taken to control the predation of salmon stocks around the coast by seals, the population of which is increasing rapidly on the west coast; if an estimate has been made of the amount of salmon they consume each year; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22406/18]
Amharc ar fhreagraGrey and harbour seals are protected species under the EU Habitats Directive, under which Special Areas of Conservation have been established. The National Parks and Wildlife Service of the Department of Culture Heritage and the Gaeltacht is the statutory authority for the EU Habitats Directive. My Department and its Agency, Inland Fisheries Ireland (IFI), have no remit in relation to the management of seal species.
In view of IFI's statutory remit for the conservation and protection of wild Atlantic salmon, IFI funded research entitled "A Pilot Study of Seal Predation on Salmon Stocks in Selected Irish Rivers and Estuaries". IFI funding facilitated the 2 year study carried out by the Coastal and Marine Research Centre (CMRC), University College Cork (UCC), in conjunction with partners in the School of Biology, Ecology and Environmental Science (BEES, UCC) and the Marine Institute (MI). The study included the Moy estuary on the West coast.
The study is available on the IFI website, www.fisheriesireland.ie.
