Brian Hayes (Fine Gael)

Among such illustrious company and people with considerable expertise on all sides of the House, I feel like a small salmon because I am not as expert or as knowledgeable as my colleagues. I welcome the Minister of State to the House. I read with interest his contribution to the House last week and I congratulate the sub-committee on its report. Senators Kenneally, Dardis and Finucane were part of that committee. I congratulate them on their work to date on this issue. This has become a controversial issue of late. However, many people realise the issue has been live for the past 30 or 40 years.

The time for action is now. Salmon stocks is the serious issue in this matter. The Minister of State will send the report to the National Salmon Commission. I understand a decision might not be made until 2007 or 2008. At some time the bullet must be bitten on this issue and a decision must be made sooner rather than later.

The salmon fish is part of Irish culture. It is part of our mythology, literature, our story. If people think of a fish that is synonymous with Ireland, it is the salmon. We must frame policies to maximise the stocks throughout Ireland; this will ensure that the species continues to flourish and that tourism in coastal communities and throughout the country is nurtured and developed. No other fish goes to sea and returns to its birthplace to spawn. Given that marvellous story, which children particularly enjoy, we have a responsibility to ensure that the fish of Ireland remains strong in this country.

In many parts of the country, angling tourism is underdeveloped. People who come to fish in Ireland come to catch. I sometimes spend part of the summer in Senator Daly's county, and given that he is a former Minister with direct responsibility for this matter he would be more expert than I. Fish stock is an issue in many parts of County Clare and anglers no longer come to some parts of rural Ireland. If we are serious about developing fishing tourism and ignore the regional imbalances, we must be serious about protecting this and all fish species. Anglers who visit Ireland expect to catch fish. Recent reports on the quantity of species and volume of fish have been discouraging.

I thank Senator Kenneally for his expert advice on an issue relevant to this debate. A supermarket near my home recently claimed to sell wild salmon in the month of October. I am not sure how this could happen. Wild salmon is generally for sale in late spring and early summer. Unless these salmon showed particularly strong gill movement over September and October, getting into the River Liffey and beyond, which I doubt, there is a labelling issue here. I do not know how supermarkets and shops can continue to get away with labelling a product "wild" when it cannot be wild, because it is sold in October.