Seán Kyne (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Cathaoirleach's office for choosing this Commencement matter. In 2006, the conservation and prohibition on sale of coarse fish bye-law No. 806 of 2006 was signed by the then Minister of State, John Browne. The bye-law states a person shall not take and kill by any means more than four coarse fish on any one day in all waters. It states a person shall not take and kill by any means any coarse fish greater than 25 cm in length measured in a straight line from the tip of the snout to the fork of the tail. Bye-law No. 809 of 2006, which is the conservation of pike bye-law, states it is prohibited for a person to take or kill any pike greater than 50 cm in length measured in a straight line from the tip of the snout to the fork of the tail.

Both of these bye-laws were signed in 2006 and it is my view and that of many anglers in the west of Ireland and elsewhere that bye-laws Nos. 806 and 809 of 2006 are not compatible with the habitats directive and should never have been applied to special area of conservation, SAC, lakes. No appropriate assessment was done for these by-laws to see what effect pike, perch, roach and bream and the protection thereof would have on SACs, particularly with respect to native species of trout and salmon in SAC lakes. Anglers in the west and particularly on the western lakes would like to see the spirit of the habitat directives implemented in full, leading to a return of these waters to as close as reasonably possible to their original state.

The failure to have an appropriate assessment done for these two bye-laws can be compared to the process for bye-law No. 964 of 2018, which I initiated and was signed by the then Minister, Deputy Richard Bruton, in October 2018. It was the designated salmonid waters by-law for the waters of Lough Corrib, Lough Mask, Lough Carra, Lough Conn, Lough Cullin, Lough Arrow and Lough Sheelin. The bye-law specified that the waters were designated as wild salmonid waters for the purposes of the regulations and the designated waters shall be managed primarily for the benefits of wild salmonid species. It stated that notwithstanding the prohibitions in the conservation of pike bye-law No. 809, a person shall take by rod and line from the designated waters more than four pike of any size on any day in any year during the period of the year in which fishing is permitted.

That bye-law was challenged and fell because of the lack of appropriate environmental assessments. There is a clear contradiction in how the by-laws were approached and initiated by the Department. The Department failed to defend the challenge to bye-law No. 964 of 2018 yet both bye-laws Nos. 806 and 809 of 2006 stand, despite not having an appropriate assessment done on the impact of protecting pike and coarse fish on trout and salmon species in the seven lakes I have mentioned.There are hundreds of lakes in this country but the seven western lakes have a specific role as strong salmon and trout lakes. They deserve protection. As I have said, I did my best to provide that protection through a bye-law, which was challenged. I now want the Department to look at bye-laws Nos. 806 and 809 again to see whether they should now stand in the absence of an appropriate assessment or any assessment of the impact the protection of pike and coarse fish is having on other species, particularly native species of salmon and trout, in the western lakes.