Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will ensure he gets a transcript of it.

The management of wild salmon in Ireland falls within the remit statutory remit of the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources and its State agency, Inland Fisheries Ireland. Salmon is of great economic importance to Ireland as a commercially caught species but more particularly for recreational and tourism angling. The comprehensive national strategy for angling development is currently out to public consultation. It is intended that this strategy will provide for the development of fisheries and fish habitats for the betterment of recreational angling. Salmon stocks in Ireland and other countries are constantly under threat from numerous different sources both in rivers and in the ocean. Salmon spend half of their lives in fresh water and their growing phase at sea, only returning to the river where they were born to spawn after some 15 to 25 months at sea.

Salmon is listed in annex 11 of the habitats directive and as such is afforded special protection not only in special areas of conversation, SACs, but also throughout Ireland. As a consequence a huge amount of scientific and management effort is invested by Inland Fisheries Ireland in protecting and conversing the species in Ireland. Ireland's management of wild salmon, carried out by IFI, is considered exemplary in Europe and fisheries managers from many European countries have visited IFI to study Ireland's management regime. Ireland manages its salmon stocks in each of our 143 salmon rivers on an individual basis as each of these rivers contains a genetically individual stock and annual assessment of stock is carried out on each individual river throughout the year.This assessment process employs a suite of 29 fish counters on rivers nationwide where data on returning salmon are gathered daily and utilised in the management of the resource. In addition, all salmon fishermen and commercial draft-net and snap-net fishermen are obliged to take out salmon licences and must return completed logs of their catches, which are used in an analysis of salmon catch data annually. A large-scale programme of electro-fishing and other scientific assessments also is undertaken. These components contribute to the recognition of Ireland's robust salmon management and scientific assessment system as being world-class. However, despite all the work that is undertaken in the freshwater environment, the key challenge in respect of wild salmon is the failure of fish to survive in adequate numbers in the sea and thereafter return to home rivers. At present, the survival of smolts going to sea returning as grilse and salmon to their natal river to spawn is only 5%, having been as high as 25% only a few decades ago. I acknowledge the Senator raised some concerns regarding this shortage today but I am advised the principal challenges are tied in with much bigger questions, such as changes in ocean currents and temperatures affecting food distributions associated with climate change. There also is significant scientific evidence of major detrimental effects on the survival of wild salmon arising from the impact of sea lice emanating from marine salmon farming.

It is also important to note that after 2006, the mixed-stock commercial salmon fishery in the sea was closed following a decision of the Government. Harvesting of salmon commercially is now only permitted in the estuarine and freshwater portions of rivers that have an estimated surplus above the individual river's established conservation limit or in the case of estuaries, all contributing rivers are meeting their individual conservation limits.

Scientific assessments of salmon stocks are carried out by the statutorily independent standing scientific committee on salmon, SSCS, comprising scientists from a range of bodies both North and South. The most recent advice of the aforementioned committee has concluded for 2016, that of Ireland's 143 salmon rivers, 55 rivers are estimated to be meeting biologically-based conservation limits, while 27 more rivers in all probability will be open for catch-and-release angling as assessments indicate either relatively high juvenile densities or the stocks are meeting more than 65% of their conservation limit. A comprehensive public consultation process on the management proposals for 2016 in respect of each river concluded yesterday. I am afraid I do not have the results to hand. The fish counters provide the most direct assessment of salmon stocks status in rivers. The number of counters installed and used in the SSCS stock assessments have increased from nine to 29 since 2009. There has been natural fluctuation in the mean salmon count since 2002, with the highest numbers recorded in 2007, coinciding with the closure of offshore drift-net fisheries, to which I already have referred. However, there has been a marked decline in subsequent salmon counts, with 2014 being the lowest in the time series. These counter data are considered as an index for other rivers nationally and are likely to reflect a general national trend. In the past five years, marine survival of salmon is among the lowest recorded since coded tagging of fish commenced in 1980 and probably since the 1970s, based on a longer time series of information available for the Burrishoole salmon census index site.

Changes in oceanic conditions leading to poor recruitment of salmon have been implicated by the North Atlantic Salmon Conservation Organisation, NASCO, following international investigations into the decline of salmon stocks. Recent stock forecasts from the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea, ICES, for stocks in the southern range of the north-east Atlantic, indicate this low stock situation is likely to persist. Given the current levels of poor survival, ICES recommends that priority should be given to conservation objectives rather than catch increases until there is a noticeable improvement in stock abundance. In this regard, the ongoing management policy of adopting the scientific advice to only allow exploitation on stocks above conservation limit is central to aid the recovery of salmon stocks nationally and with this policy in place, any improvement in marine survival would be reflected in greater numbers of rivers achieving conservation limit. This will contribute to meeting the ICES advice and the NASCO requirements of providing for the diversity and abundance of salmon stocks.

I understand the issues raised by Senator Norris relate specifically to views and observations formed as regards the current situation in the Munster Blackwater where, for the last two years in particular, returns of salmon have decreased. I am advised the suggestion that the current decrease in the wild salmon stocks is significantly as a consequence of overgrowth on river banks and the tunnelling effect on these rivers inhibiting the spawning and development of salmonids does not appear to be supported by the scientific evidence on the ground. I understand the Environmental Protection Agency undertakes an assessment of biological river quality of rivers nationally, including the Munster Blackwater, usually every three years. This assessment is based on the abundance and species composition of insects present at sites both at tributaries and along the main channel of all channels, including the Munster Blackwater. A Q-value of 4 indicates good ecological status, that is, unpolluted and in satisfactory condition. This is derived from a standard survey protocol, which examines the abundance and diversity of the insects and other organisms living in the riverbed. I am advised this constitutes the backbone of the food chain for the juvenile wild salmon and if a figure of 4 is achieved, it indicates, as I stated already, a good ecological status, unpolluted and in satisfactory condition and with a habitat perfectly suitable for wild juvenile salmon production. A total of 26 tributaries of the Munster Blackwater recorded a Q-value of 4 or higher in the most recent assessment of all the sites.