Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 21 July 2020
80. Deputy Matt Carthy asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment if he will provide figures as to the current eel population here; the number that are killed annually by county, in tabular form: if he will review the current outright ban on eel fishing; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17170/20]
Amharc ar fhreagra81. Deputy Matt Carthy asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the status of eel fishing here; if he will provide details of the eel management plan; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17171/20]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 80 and 81 together.
Following a comprehensive public consultation process, Ireland introduced its Eel Management Plan (EMP), which was approved by the European Commission under EU Regulation 1100/2007 in 2009. In setting out its EMP, Ireland followed the objective of the Regulation to ensure that escapement of eels to the sea should be at 40% relative to “pristine conditions” (those pertaining in the early 1980s).
The measures in the EMP include closure of the eel fishery and the internal market. In accordance with the EU Regulation, the plan and its measures have already been comprehensively reviewed in 2012, 2015 and 2018 when further public consultation was undertaken. All three reports are available on the website of Inland Fisheries Ireland (IFI) www.fisheriesireland.ie. Further reviews will be undertaken in accordance with the requirements of the Regulation.
Taken cumulatively over the period 2009-2018, the reports indicate a relatively positive impact on stocks of both silver and yellow eels in the early part of the period but a continued decline by the time of the 2018 report. However, given the very long maturation period of each generation of eels in Irish waters, the impact of the very low annual recruitment of juvenile eels for more than 25 years means that recovery of the stock will only be sustained over the long term by commitment to consistent and equally long term management measures. The European eel is a panmithic stock - a single stock across the entire continent - which spawns in the Sargasso Sea before arriving into European rivers and lakes. Its distribution, including into Ireland, is naturally random.
The species is on the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (ICUN) red list of endangered species. The very latest advice is that anthropogenic mortality should be kept at zero or as close to zero as possible. In line with international scientific advice the fishery in Ireland remains closed and there is a prohibition in legislation on issuing licences. No harvest of eels permitted and I have no plans to change this position.
