John Perry (Sligo-Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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Question 865: To ask the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources if his attention has been drawn to the fact that there are reports of salmon being netted by commercial netsmen in recent weeks, despite the fact that commercial netting has been illegal since 31 July 2006; if he has been directly informed of such incidents; the way in which the ban is being enforced; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29023/06]

John Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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It is not necessary that I be directly informed of every incident of illegal fishing as, under the Fisheries Acts, responsibility for enforcement of inland fisheries legislation rests primarily with the Central and regional fisheries boards. I was informed of the seizure of a significant quantity of untagged salmon in Kerry recently, which is being pursued by the South Western Regional Fisheries Board but I cannot comment further at this stage. I am advised that the fisheries boards have in place sophisticated monitoring and enforcement programmes to identify out of season illegal fishing. I am reluctant to provide any greater detail at the risk of compromising the enforcement effort. The Wild Salmon and Sea Trout Tagging scheme and associated regulations and bye-laws are in place to, inter alia, identify illegally caught salmon, eliminate sales outlets for such illegal fish and to improve traceability in the distribution chain. The current mandatory application of carcass tags and logbooks assists in identifying illegally caught salmon. It is important that all alleged incidents of illegal fishing are reported to the relevant regional fisheries board so that they can be properly investigated and prosecuted.