Brendan Daly (Fianna Fail)

I extend my deepest sympathy to Mrs. Hazel Lawlor and her family on the tragic death of Liam Lawlor at the weekend. I also extend my sympathies to his brother, Noel Lawlor, with whom I canvassed in a by-election in Dundalk many years ago.

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this issue and thank the committee for bringing the report before the House. I also thank Senator Dardis for preparing a very detailed and comprehensive report and compliment him on his speech here today. There have been so many reports on the salmon industry that it is almost impossible to keep track of them all. I recall receiving the report of the salmon review body when I was a Minister of State in 1987. This report set out what needed to be done in the area of conservation in a very comprehensive fashion. The report included a very detailed assessment of the measures taken in various countries, including the Faroe Islands and Canada, to deal with declining salmon stocks and I would recommend it to those interested in how these two countries dealt with the problem.

Declining stocks of Atlantic salmon are a problem for many countries, not just Ireland. It is significant that there were very clear indications that netting in general and drift netting, in particular, did their fair share of damage to salmon stocks in all the countries with which discussions were held in the late 1980s. I agree with Senator O'Toole's remark at the outset of the debate that anyone here or abroad who feels that the complete abolition of salmon drift net fishing will save salmon stocks is mistaken. There are other issues that are equally, if not more, relevant.

The Annageeragh River in west Clare, which flows from Doolough Lake and into the sea near Quilty, is a very important salmon and brown and white trout fishing river. The river was not affected by the decline in white trout stocks over the last number of years and has attracted many anglers in the summer. However, it is being almost totally annihilated by a water treatment plant at Doolough Lake and the fact that the model of the culvert which allows the fish to escape into the catchment has been broken down for approximately one year. A fault at the water treatment plant led to thousands of salmon and white and brown trout being wiped out in the Annageeragh River. Nobody wishes to accept any responsibility for the broken culvert. The Shannon Regional Fisheries Board does not have the money or legal power to deal with the problem, the Office of Public Works does have the statutory authority to deal with it but claims it cannot do so because it is not on the list of arterial drainage rivers and the county council does not have the money to deal with it. Drift netting is not a factor in this affair but due to the neglect of the outlets and model of the intake to allow the escape of salmon into the catchment, the river is being systematically wiped out and will be gone in approximately three to four years time.

My father, John Daly, was the chief clerk and secretary to the Limerick Fishery Board, which is now the Shannon Regional Fisheries Board, from around 1929 to 1965. I worked with the Shannon Regional Fisheries Board and was brought up in a fisheries office. I was also a member of the Shannon Board of Conservators for a considerable number of years and examined some of its records over the weekend. I learned of a major debate on the abolition of drift netting and the fact that there were approximately 300 boats fishing for salmon off the north west from the minutes of a meeting of the Shannon fishery board in 1919. Those who attended the 1919 meeting were exercised by the upcoming motorisation of the fishing boats. In other words, the boats were about to be fitted with engines. When I had ministerial responsibility for fisheries in 1982 and 1987-88, I endeavoured to talk to the drift net fishermen. I regret to say that the fishermen in question showed no interest in any form of buyout or sell-out at that time.

I have heard a representative of the Shannon netsmen on national and local radio in recent weeks, criticising the Minister and the Minister of State for their neglect of the salmon industry. He failed to tell the listeners that the 70 drift nets which have been on the River Shannon since the 1930s, when the Ardnacrusha project was completed, have been operating illegally for the last 30 or 40 years, including this year. The nets are not drift nets of the strict sense which are allowed, but fixed engines which are fixed by fishermen to take as much salmon as they possibly can. I appreciate that it is their business, but if they want to criticise our approach to the matter we are entitled to ask them where their responsibility lies. Given that they are operating what are described in the Fisheries Acts as "illegal fixed engines", rather than "drift nets", in the lower Shannon, from the mouth of the Shannon to Coonagh, it is no wonder that salmon stocks are in their current state.

I am conscious of the damage being done to salmon stocks by wildlife. It was proposed at the 1919 fisheries board meeting to which I referred to arm the approximately 1,000 people who were operating stake weirs on the River Shannon at that time, before the construction of Ardnacrusha, with guns so that they could control the river's seal population. At that time, the Shannon fishery board was also paying a bounty on otters, which can do irreparable and immeasurable damage to spawning beds in October and November. I have some sympathy for seals, which can damage catches when they get into nets, but I am not so sure about otters, which can annihilate spawning salmon when they get into spawning beds. I consider the activities of otters to be far more serious than the activities of seals.

It was also proposed at the important 1919 meeting of the fishery board to increase the bounty on mergansers to one shilling and 6 p and on cormorants to half a crown. The fishing industry on the River Shannon was thriving in 1919, when all our rivers had good salmon stocks. At the 1919 meeting, concerns were expressed about netting in the north west and the illegal activities of poachers, who are still rampant today. Those at the meeting spoke about the illegal activities of the operators of drift net fishermen who were fixing their nets to fixed engines, thereby doing immeasurable damage to stocks. Concerns were expressed about the effect on salmon stocks of the activities of otters, seals, mergansers, cormorants and other predators.

I am worried about the damage being done by the forestry sector to spawning areas in the upper tributaries of our smaller rivers. I understand that Coillte has taken steps to deal with such problems, for example by prohibiting the planting of trees within a certain distance of spawning streams. I believe that the most significant damage is being done to salmon stocks in areas where spawning is carried out. Salmon can encounter difficulties when they try to escape into catchments and to overcome various obstacles. The most important aspect of the salmon fishing sector that needs to be safeguarded is the spawning area. We need to deal with that aspect effectively by ensuring that salmon can escape into catchments and that they receive protection when they are spawning in catchments. In that way, we can reverse to a large extent the significant decline in salmon stocks over recent years.

I disagree with the comments of Senator Cummins about the proposal to initiate a voluntary buyout scheme in respect of drift nets and draft nets. If such a voluntary scheme is introduced, some fishermen will leave the sector but the remaining fishermen will fish the additional stocks which will come into the catchment area. If one removes 50 drift nets from the River Shannon, the remaining 25 drift nets will reap the benefit of that. If there is to be a buyout, I strongly suggest to the Minister of State that it should be compulsory, so that all the drift nets and draft nets will be removed from our waterways. I would be prepared to allow the compulsory process to continue for a certain length of time. I do not think three years would be long enough. One would have to allow the scheme to continue for a longer period of time so that one could examine whether it is working.

The drift net issue has to be dealt with. It would be unwise to think that salmon stocks can be miraculously saved by removing drift nets from the salmon fishing sector. A combination of issues needs to be dealt with. I am glad the Minister of State, Deputy Gallagher, has such great knowledge and experience of the fisheries sector. I gave him some training for a few years. I am confident that he will make the right decision when considering whether schemes should be put in place to remove drift and draft nets from the mouths of catchments. I suggest that all such nets should be removed, or none should be removed.