Marcella Corcoran Kennedy (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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Question 103: To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the projects he has received to reopen salmon fishery at Meelick, County Offaly; the progress that has been made; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10786/11]

Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)
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As the Deputy may be aware, the primary motivation in aligning the management of the wild salmon fishery with the scientific advice is the conservation of the declining salmon stocks. It is vital to afford every protection to the at-risk salmon stocks and to clearly prioritise conservation over catch. Ireland must fulfil its obligations under the Habitats Directive, namely to maintain or restore fish stocks, protected by the Directive, to favourable conservation status.

The river Shannon, including the salmon fishery at Meelick, has been closed to salmon angling since 2007 under the current wild salmon management regime due to poor stock levels. The estimated number of fish required upstream of Parteen Weir is in excess of 40,000 salmon and according to estimates there are less than 1,000 wild salmon spawning in the catchment. In order to address this deficit, in 2008 the Shannon Regional Fisheries Board, now Inland Fisheries Ireland (IFI), initiated the Shannon Salmon Restoration Project. This project, which draws on existing resources, sets about taking a fresh look at the issues facing the survival of wild salmon in the Shannon and its tributaries upstream of Parteen weir. Led by IFI the steering group draws together the expertise of scientists of the Marine Institute and University College Cork, together with management of ESB Fisheries and IFI. The broad objectives of the project, which were developed following a recent consultative process with anglers and local interest groups, are to address fish passage and habitat degradation on a long-term sustainable basis. I welcome the efforts of the group towards the restoration of the salmon stocks sufficient to enable the reopening of the fishery in the future.