Mary Wallace (Meath, Fianna Fail)
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Question 182: To ask the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources the progress that has been made in his Department on the report from the eel review group (details supplied); the progress which has been made in implementing the recommendations of the report over the past nine months; and the timeframe for future progress on the recommendations. [24009/04]

Noel Dempsey (Meath, Fianna Fail)
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There is increasing scientific evidence presented at national and international levels of a serious and sustained decline in eel populations, not just in Ireland, but throughout Europe and that the European eel stock is outside safe biological limits. As a result, the consensus among European fishery scientists researching eel populations is that there is an urgent need to increase the numbers of potential spawning silver eel successfully migrating from European waters and that an overall management programme for the species must be achieved through implementation of various management measures at local and national levels.

In response to this advice, the European Commission has, since October 2003, been developing a Community action plan for the management of European eels. I understand that the Commission intends to bring forward formal proposals aimed at building up eel management from a set of local actions to be put in place by the member states according to an agreed standard. These actions should ensure the survival and the migration of the eel in all its habitats.

Earlier this year, my Department received the report of the Irish eel review group, established to examine the activities of the industry and to arrive at clear, realistic and costed proposals for the sustainable development and regulation of the eel resource in Ireland. This report is being examined by my Department within the context of the Commission's action plan for the management of the European eel resource. I expect to consider the recommendations of the review group more fully once the Commission's proposals under this action plan have been finalised and agreed by the member states.