Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 13 June 2023
789. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the steps he is taking in response to the significant decline in the salmon population; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28596/23]
Amharc ar fhreagraInland Fisheries Ireland (IFI), under the aegis of the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications, was established under the Inland Fisheries Act 2010 and is the agency responsible for the protection, management and conservation of Ireland's inland fisheries and sea angling resources.
The National Parks and Wildlife Service of my Department (NPWS) is the lead national authority on nature conservation. Under the Habitats Directive, each Member State is obliged to undertake surveillance of the conservation status of the natural habitats and species in the Annexes and report to the European Commission every six years on their status and on the implementation of the measures taken under the Directive. IFI undertakes monitoring on salmon rivers to assess the population status. The overall status of Atlantic salmon was assessed as Inadequate in 2019. The legal protections enacted by the Habitats Directive are focused on the freshwater phase of the salmon’s life cycle.
The survival of Atlantic salmon during the marine phase of its life cycle has been identified as the key determinant of trends in population size in natal rivers. Known pressures include exploitation at sea in commercial fisheries, interceptory fisheries in coastal waters, aquaculture and predation. In addition, the negative influence of climate change on food prey structure and abundance has increasingly been attributed to the declines observed in stocks at sea.
There are a number of activities undertaken by IFI to improve habitat for salmon, including habitat enhancement, barrier mitigation, stream maintenance and stock management.
