Management of salmon stocks in Ireland for compliance with the EU habitats Directive and principles of the North Atlantic Salmon Conservation Organisation (NASCO) is undertaken by Inland Fisheries Ireland (IFI) supported by the Technical Expert Group on Salmon (TEGOS), which includes scientists from a range of organisations. Scientific and management assessments are carried out annually.
The primary index for evaluation by TEGOS of likely returning numbers is the recorded rod (harvest or catch and release) and commercial catch (if any) averaged out over the previous 5 years.
Rivers are only open to harvest where it has been confirmed that the individual river is sufficiently exceeding its conservation limit so that there is harvestable surplus available. The conservation limit for each river is the number of adult spawning fish required to maintain a healthy population and ensure its stock does not drop below safe biological limits.
The TEGOS 2020 recommendation for the rivers Owenea and Owentocker is that they are meeting but not sufficiently exceeding the conservation limit.
The current catch and release designation still facilitates angling and the situation on the rivers will be reviewed again this year. If, in future years, a sufficient surplus is predicted it may be possible to open the fishery to catch and retain for both the commercial and rod and line fisheries.
I am advised that electrofishing surveys on both rivers produced an average salmon fry density level to support the current catch and release angling status as also supported by the primary index data used in annual assessments. However, such indicative abundances are not used to support a designation of catch and retain status.
