Denis Landy (Labour)
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I thank the Minister for coming to the House to respond to this matter, which concerns an area directly dealt with in his brief. The Minister will be very familiar with the River Suir because it rises in the Devil's Bit and flows down through many areas including Thurles, from where his own people originally come. It flows through Tipperary, Kilkenny and on into the Waterford estuary. It is one of the longest rivers in the country.
The Minister is au faitwith the issue I raise. He was with us in Carrick-on-Suir almost 12 months ago and travelled part of the river with us that day. He is very familiar with the river and the fishing situation. In preparing for this Adjournment Debate I want to acknowledge the help I got from staff of Inland Fisheries Ireland, particularly David McInerney in the Clonmel office, for providing me with some background information.

I have previously raised in the House the concern among snap net fishermen who fish out of small boats along the River Suir in places such as Carrick-on-Suir, Fiddown and Mooncoin into the estuary. They are licensed and each licence has 20 tags per year. In other words, a licence holder is permitted to take out 20 salmon. They have been prevented from fishing this year based on evidence provided by Inland Fisheries Ireland, IFI. The conservation limits are so low that IFI will not permit snap net fishing for salmon this year.
There are 148 salmon rivers in the country, 25 of which have fish counters on them, 40 are monitored by way of analysis of rod catches while the remaining 83 are subject to a more convoluted and complex system of measurement, which includes salmon red counts and juvenile salmon index counts. I will not go into detail on this but the clearest way to measure the salmon stock in a river is to use a fish counter. Before the Minister of State took up office, there was a botched effort to install a salmon counter on the River Suir west of Carrick-on-Suir. No planning permission was sought for the counter and the project was abandoned. A salmon counter is the only way to guarantee accuracy. For example, changes in the weather and so on can changed the basis of salmon redd counts and juvenile salmon index counts from one year to the next and, therefore, the only way to be accurate is to use salmon counters. However, it is on the basis of the other counts and information that snap net fishermen have been prevented from fishing this year.
I acknowledge that members of the independent standing scientific committee addressed members of the snap net group a number of times earlier this year and explained why they were taking them off the river but this was presented as a fait accompli and no arbitration was available. The fishermen had to accept the position and not fish this year. Such fishing is not a commercially viable enterprise anymore because of the limited numbers but it is a tradition that goes back more than 1,000 years, which has been passed on from family to family along the River Suir. The fishermen are disappointed that they have been prevented from fishing the river this year without proper mechanisms to analyse the fish stocks in place. Rod catches are used to measure stocks but it is forgotten that angling is only permitted for a number of months annually and, therefore, one can only measure the number of fish caught through the use of tags during those months. That system is incomplete and cannot be used as an accurate fish count.
I ask the Minister of State to re-examine this issue for all these reasons and to provide clarity for the fishermen affected in counties Tipperary, Waterford and Kilkenny.

Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Senator for raising the matter and it is important to set out the background. I visited the area with the former Minister of State at the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, Brian Hayes, and we had an enjoyable and useful interaction with the community.

Ireland manages salmon stocks on an individual river basis and this is carried out by IFI. The individual river management strategy is based on the fact that each of Ireland's 143 salmon rivers, including the River Suir, has its own unique stock of salmon, which migrates to sea as juveniles and returns to the same river in adulthood to spawn and create the next generation of fish exclusive to that river. Our wild salmon management regime is now viewed by North Atlantic Salmon Conservation Organisation, NASCO, parties and others as exemplary in the international context. The work of IFI ensures Ireland leads the way internationally in how it manages salmon rivers. This proactive approach to conservation and meeting international obligations is not without cost and, in this regard, significant resources are expended every year to ensure everything is up to date.

IFI is supported in its management of salmon stocks by a statutorily based scientific committee comprising scientists from IFI, Bord lascaigh Mhara, BIM, the Loughs Agency, the National Parks and Wildlife Service, the Marine Institute, the Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute, AFB, Northern Ireland other State bodies and third level institutions. This independent scientific committee assesses and offers advice on the predicted stocks status in all 143 salmon rivers each year against that their conservation limit using the most recent five years of available data. The conservation limit is the number of adult salmon required to maintain a healthy population - the stock level that maximises the long-term average surplus.

The Atlantic salmon is a protected species and Ireland's current salmon management regime complies with the EU habitats directive. The conservation imperative means that exploitation of salmon is only permitted where the independent scientific committee determines that the stock exceeds its conservation limit. The annual advice of the committee is available on our website.

For 2014, of the 143 rivers assessed, 57 are open to harvestable surplus, 30 are open to catch and release and 56 are closed. Each of the rivers will be reviewed again as part of the annual scientific assessment later this year. Commercial harvest fisheries, including snap netting, are only permitted on individual river stocks that are shown to have a surplus of fish in excess of the conservation limit. Fisheries in estuaries may also be permitted where the stocks from individual rivers entering the estuaries meet their individual conservation limits but if one of the rivers does not, one cannot fish in the estuary because one cannot be sure where the salmon came from.

District committees comprising commercial and angling stakeholders, as well as IFI and BIM, have been established to discuss the sharing of a surplus if there is one available. The conservation limit for a river is the number of spawning salmon required to produce the next generation. The conservation limit is calculated similarly for all of Ireland's 143 salmon rivers based on the wetted area, latitude and other river specific factors such as the proportion of one sea winter salmon and multi-sea winter salmon in the population, the average weight of these salmon, proportions of male and female salmon and average numbers of eggs per female fish. "Adult salmon returns" are determined on the basis of the counter figures where one is in operation or the rod catch figures from mandatory logbooks using the most recent five years of data. The data are used to determine whether the river has a surplus for exploitation or a deficit. Following the advice of the independent scientific committee, the proportion of a river's conservation limit being met enables IFI to make recommendations on the catch options.

These recommendations are submitted to me as Minister and, following a 30-day consultation period, usually in November, a decision is made in December on the future catch options associated with each river. I have been advised that the River Suir conservation limit is fixed at 14,408 salmon. The 2014 advice is the river is only achieving 11,959 adult returning salmon, some 2,449 below the established conservation limit. This indicates that the river is meeting 83% of its conservation limit. IFI management advised that the river should be closed to harvestable fishing - commercial and recreational - and that the precautionary approach should be used. I am advised by IFI that the independent scientific committee has emphasised the value of having reliable information to provide a population estimate to support the conservation and management of wild salmon on an individual river basis. Since 2007, to provide a population index on rivers where no harvest fishery is permitted, it has been recommended that catch and release angling may be permitted on catchments achieving in excess of 65% of the conservation limit. If it exceeds that, catch and release can be used.

Previous assessments of the River Suir indicated it did not meet its conservation limit for 2008 and was open for catch and release angling only, with no commercial fisheries. The river remained below the limit for 2009. In providing scientific advice for the following year, the scientific committee applied a low exploitation rate for rod catches made in 2008 and 2009.

For 2010, it was estimated that it was meeting 96% of its conservation limit. A low exploitation rate was also applied to the rod catch in 2010 for the 2011 period. A rod catch of 1,501 salmon was reported for the Suir in 2011 and a commercial salmon fishery was also in operation. The scientific committee reviewed the 2011 rod catches and applied a medium rod exploitation rate for 2012 advice on the River Suir given the increased angling effort with this river fully open for harvesting salmon by rod, and a medium rod exploitation rate has been used for subsequent assessments.

The 2013 estimate is only 35% of the 2009-12 average rod catch and 861 salmon fewer than the previous five-year time series used in the catch advice for the 2013 season. Therefore, applying the most recent data, a significantly reduced salmon stock level is in place for 2014. Any future decision on a harvesting a fishery, commercial or recreational, can only responsibly be taken in the context of the river being above its conservation limit.

While I am advised that the best scientific and management advice is being utilised to manage the salmon stocks in the River Suir, Ireland must be particularly careful to ensure that all national and international legislation and other obligations are met in any future management regime. In that regard, as the River Suir is below its established conservation limit, the conservation imperative and the application of the precautionary principal dictate that no harvest fishery can be permitted for 2014. As already mentioned, the River Suir was previously closed for a number of years and re-opened when stocks recovered, and exploitation could take place without damaging the long-term viability of the stocks. The status of the Suir, as with all 143 salmon rivers in Ireland, will be reviewed again later this year and will continue on an annual basis.

Denis Landy (Labour)
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I thank the Minister for a very comprehensive reply, which contained a lot of detail that I had tried not to go into in my contribution. However, I accept that in order to explain it, one has to go into that type of detail. I would ask that during the lead-up to the decision time, which is in November, and then the final decision in December, there is more engagement with local people involved in this aspect of fishing, but also all aspects of fishing, because there seems to be a vacuum of information and people find there is a fait accompli.
Will the Minister of State comment on the issue of there being no fish counter on the River Suir? As I said in my opening remarks, there are only 25 rivers with fish counters out of the 148, as I have it, or 143, as the Minister of State has it, salmon fishing rivers in the country. Has he any information as to whether the other rivers have fish counters? Where there are salmon fish counters, it is a clear black and white situation. The other methodologies such as the salmon red surveys and the juvenile salmon index survey are much less scientific, given the results depend on weather and many other factors, and, therefore, cannot be as accurate. The Minister of State might respond on the issue of salmon counters on the rivers that do not have them. Is any budget being provided for those and what is the current situation?

Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael)
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I am happy to assure the Senator that the question he raises in regard to fish counters is addressed in what I said, but I will get him the detail of how many there are and on how many rivers. I know that a significant number of rivers do not have them. What the Department relies on is the catch log book and, as it has done on other rivers, including the River Boyne, it will work with local fishermen and through other surveys during the year to find out what juniors are present. It undertakes as broad as possible an analysis and involves the local fishermen as much as possible. At the end of the day, however, if the fish are not there, or if there are not sufficient fish to make a catch, then there is no point. With regard to snap net fishermen in particular, who catch and release, this would not help them because that is not how catch and release operates. That location would then be at a disadvantage in terms of their activity.

I will ask IFI to contact the Senator directly following today's discussion. I thank him for putting this off until today so I could be here to give the issue the answer it deserves and to see if there is further progress we can make. As I said, the solution is to communicate with the fishermen, deal with them, listen to their point of view and see whether there is other analysis or extra work that can be done to analyse this and get a better figure than the counter would otherwise get.