Finian McGrath
Question:370 Mr. F. McGrath asked the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources his views on concerns regarding the deteriorating condition of salmon rivers throughout the country (details supplied). [11380/03]
Written Answers. - Fisheries Protection.
Seán Haughey
Question:371 Mr. Haughey asked the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources his views on the decline in Atlantic salmon stocks, which is causing great distress to anglers; if stocks can be conserved by restricting the use of commercial drift nets; if the European Habitats Directive can offer a solution in this regard; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11543/03]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 370 and 371 together.
The Deputies' principal concern seems to be the impact of the commercial drift net sector on the salmon resource. The Government has, over the past number of years, introduced a range of measures which have seen considerable advances made in salmon policy and the management of drift net salmon fisheries. As part of these measures, the season is now confined to a two-month period in June and July on a four-day week basis. Fishing is only allowed during daylight hours and is confined to the area within the six-mile limit. The Government also introduced the wild salmon and sea trout tagging scheme, which limited the total allowable commercial catch of salmon for the first time in 2002.
The aim of these measures, which are implemented through the central and regional fisheries boards, is to first and foremost allow adequate spawning stock into our rivers through the establishment and adherence to conservation limits or escapement goals. This ensures that our rivers and lakes can produce juvenile salmon to the maximum of their productive potential, which in turn provides for the maximum return in the future of adult fish to our coastal waters in subsequent years. These conservation limits or escapement goals are set on the advice of the National Salmon Commission's standing scientific committee, which is made up of the most eminent Irish scientists working in the field.
The fisheries boards are ensuring the attainment of these escapement goals by regulating exploitation through a system of tags and quotas introduced by the wild salmon and sea trout regulations. Both the scientific advice and the implementation of the tagging scheme are kept under review to ensure their optimum effectiveness. In this regard, my colleague and Minister of State, Deputy John Browne, following the advice of the National Salmon Commission and the consideration of submissions made by interested stakeholders, has recently signed revised wild salmon and sea trout regulations, which set a total allowable catch of 182,000 fish in respect of all commercial salmon fishing in 2003. This represents a 12% cut on the commercial catch in 2002.
The salmon commission has further recommended that a three-year strategy should be put in place to ensure, through further progressive reductions, that the conservation limits specified by its standing scientific committee should be reached by 2005. Both I and the Minister of State have already indicated publicly our concurrence with this approach.
While the implementation of the EU Habitats Directive is primarily a matter for Dúchas, which is a statutory body under the aegis of the Department of the Environment and Local Government, this directive has a contribution to make to salmon conservation in that it lists salmon as a species whose conservation requires the designation of special areas of conservation and whose taking in the wild and exploitation may be subject to management measures, but only in fresh water. However, as regards special areas of conservation, my Department has repeatedly emphasised that SACs are not an all-encompassing conservation measure for the species and should only be seen as one additional tool to add to the existing range of measures available for conservation of salmon which are administered by my Department. Since the taking of salmon in the wild and its exploitation is already subject to management measures in Ireland, the Habitats Directive does not appear to offer any new solution to salmon conservation as suggested by the Deputy.