Dr. Stephen Hynes:

In response to Senator Ó Domhnaill's question as to whether we have any idea of the value of lifting a salmon ban or of changes to the management regime of the inshore fleet, I do not have figures and cannot say what the impact would be. One would expect a positive economic impact on the local community. Some of my colleagues have studied the multiplier effect of that kind of activity. Fishing or any marine-related activity tends on average to have a higher multiplier effect on economic activity than other sectors broken out by the CSO. For every €1 generated through fishing there is a knock-on effect of 57 cent, which is above average for a multiplier. There is further work going on there. There would be a positive impact but Inland Fisheries Ireland would argue for the value of salmon stock on the recreational side, which is a multiple of the value of commercial salmon fishing. We do not know, if we were to lift the ban in certain island communities, whether it would have a major impact on stock going up the rivers. I cannot answer that question.

The Senator and others asked how we analyse the impact of policies. It is a data issue. Economists build models through looking at the data on individuals in whatever sector. It is difficult to get information on inland fisheries or on small boats. In a previous life I worked for Teagasc and we were able to do fantastic stuff on policy analysis, as it still does, using the national farm survey with individual-level data for the farmers. The farm representative bodies are well able to use that type of analysis. It would be of major benefit to the fishery representative bodies if we had that data and could use it for policy analysis. That is a recommendation. I have had constructive talks with the Sea-Fisheries Protection Authority and BIM on that data but there seems to be a mismatch. BIM is collecting data on the cost side of the fleet and the Sea Fisheries Protection Authority has the log book data on what is being landed and the sales note data but there is a mismatch between the inland fleets and the boats above 10 metres. That data issue could be examined.

Some of those points are relevant to Deputy Ferris's comments about equity and distribution. He is right about some of the coastal economy statistics.

According to the census results, the age dependency ratio is higher in coastal rural communities.

I agree with the Deputy on the importance of the marketing of potential marine-related tourism activities. Yesterday, I attended a meeting of the Commission for the Economic Development of Rural Areas, CEDRA. Some of the talks were interesting. Many of the issues discussed had relevance for Ireland. In rural tourism, for example, there is a tendency not to consider the marine. Deputy Ferris referred to a lack of marketing. In her work on rural tourism, Dr. Mary Cawley of NUI Galway states that initiatives must be relevant to an area's culture and geographical scale. This is also true in terms of marine-related tourism activity. There are a number of nice examples, including Coláiste UISCE in Belmullet, which incorporates marine activities with the Irish language. It is a thriving business. Geographically, it has a sheltered bay for windsurfing and dinghy sailing as well as a surf beach.

An audit of what we possess is necessary. Given the geographical information system, GIS, data on landscape and marine features, there is a great deal of information on what areas are suitable for which activities. We must also determine what consumers want in terms of product. Fáilte Ireland is considering some of these issues, but much needs to be done. If one gets off the boat on the Aran Islands, one can cycle about and look around. I have not visited them in the past year, but there are no opportunities to get out onto the water. People point to the weather, but modern wetsuits are good and there are activities such as paddle boarding and kayaking. People do not need to have significant skills in these activities to be able to partake. It is a way of generating extra economic activity in areas, yet it seems to be a blind spot. These new types of activity do not require a considerable amount of investment.

Other areas possess marine tourism infrastructure. For example, if simple slipways were added to existing quays in remote areas along the west coast, small quays that are not used for much anymore, providing that access to the water could add significant value. We must know the product and conduct an audit of what is possible.

Deputy Pringle asked about a means of examining the impact of changes in the Common Fisheries Policy, CFP, on coastal communities. This would be difficult. We would need to get our hands on the data to run the models to which I referred. I am involved in a project that is examining the reform of the CFP. A colleague was with parts of the herring fleet in the Celtic Sea and asked about their preferences in terms of the CFP's objectives. Their first priority was a strong, vibrant fishing community. Catch levels, profitability and so on followed this.

The incorporation of socioeconomic considerations in fisheries management seems to be lacking regardless of the stock in question. Under the move to the ecosystem approach, the impact on one species of fishing another species is examined. This is great, but consideration of the impact on local communities does not seem to be built into management assessments. Teagasc and the Marine Institute are key collaborators in much of our work. Dr. Áine Macken Walsh, a sociologist in Teagasc's Rural Economy Research Centre, RERC, examined rural development and barriers to change. She found that fishing culture can be a barrier to rural development. As Senator Ó Domhnaill stated, generations of families are involved and it is almost seen as a failure if they move into a non-fishing sector. How to get around this barrier is an important question.

Deputy Pringle was correct about the importance of distinguishing between urban and rural coastal communities. We can do this based on population density. It depends on one's definition of "rural". We are working on this matter to update some of our statistics.

Deputy Ferris mentioned the significant decline in the populations of coastal communities. From what we have seen of the census at electoral district, ED, level along the shoreline, the decline in rural coastal populations has been no more dramatic than the average nationally. However, they have a higher rate of male unemployment than the national average or even urban coastal areas. They also have a higher age dependency ratio.