John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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Question 320: To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the basis for his decision to allow 4,800 salmon to be caught and/or killed on the River Nore in 2012; the persons that advised him in this decision; the stakeholders that were consulted in the process; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36271/11]

Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)
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Regulations are made annually following statutory public consultation, for the management of the wild salmon and sea trout fishery, based on the scientific and management advice provided by Inland Fisheries Ireland (IFI). IFI in turn relies on input from its own staff and a variety of academic and scientific institutions and State agencies including the Marine Institute, the Environmental protection Agency and the National Parks and Wildlife Services.

Every year salmon river stocks are reassessed and any new scientific information is included to ensure that the most up-to-date information is utilised in the formulation of the advice. If a river stock is determined to have surplus fish that are over and above the conservation limit for that river, a total allowable catch (TAC) is declared.

As the Deputy may be aware, I recently announced a 30-day public consultation process on the Wild Salmon and Sea Trout Tagging Scheme (No 2) Regulations 2011 and associated conservation measures, which will inform the management of the wild salmon and sea trout fishery for 2012, based on the scientific and management advice provided by IFI. The draft regulations provide a total allowable catch for the Nore River of 4,816. This represents a considerable and sustained improvement on an annual basis in salmon stocks since 2008 when the river was last under its conservation limit. Full details are available on my Department's website at: (http://www.dcenr.gov.ie/Natural/Inland+Fisheries/ ).