Pat Deering (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)
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To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the funding that was allocated to Inland Fisheries Ireland since 2010, on a national and regional basis. [45718/12]

Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael)
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Inland Fisheries Ireland (IFI) is a National Body formed in July 2010 from an amalgamation of the former Central Fisheries Board and the 7 Regional Fisheries Boards. The establishment of IFI facilitates more efficient and effective management of the inland fisheries resource along with an improved national perspective in the formulation of inland fisheries policy which is more streamlined, coherent and integrated. There is a single allocation of funding to the organisation on a national basis. Outturn on spending on a regional basis is a day to day operational matter for IFI and its Board.

IFI’s outturn figure in 2010 was €13.714 million for the period July to December. The outturn figure for the Central Fisheries Board and the 7 Regional Fisheries Boards was €12.764 million for the period January to June. IFI’s outturn figure in 2011 was €25.718 million. IFI has been allocated €28.462 million for the current year.

Direct Exchequer funding for IFI was reduced by €2.582 million in 2010 compared to 2009 and there was a further €0.749 million reduction in 2011, which are mainly though not exclusively, attributable to savings arising from the restructuring of the inland fisheries sector. The increase in allocation for 2012 can be attributed to the additional €3m capital funding towards the rationalisation of IFI’s Dublin accommodation with the principal aim of achieving major cost efficiencies over the medium to long term while preserving critical functional capability.

Pat Deering (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)
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To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the criteria used to decide the season closing date for inland fishing and the reason some rivers are shut down two weeks earlier than others. [45719/12]

Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael)
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The open season for salmon fishing in Ireland is set by regulation, on the advice of the Standing Scientific Committee, and generally closes on 30 September. I am advised by Inland Fisheries Ireland (IFI) that in light of requests for extension of the season, it requested the Standing Scientific Committee (SSC) to devise criteria that could be used to extend the angling season.

The following guidance was provided by the Standing Scientific Committee for Salmon (SSC) on the criteria that should be evaluated when considering a proposal for an extension to the angling season in a salmon catchment from a scientific perspective.

An angling season should only be extended if the salmon stock has been meeting Conservation Limit (CL) and is likely to continue to meet its CL if an extension is given i.e. provided no more than the harvestable surplus is taken.


Where an extension is being considered, there should be a reasonable sized quota and a reasonable proportion of the surplus remaining after the original season has ended to avoid recruitment over fishing.


An extension could be facilitated on a river with a smaller remaining quota if catch and release was only allowed during the extension period.


Avoiding recruitment over fishing would also be facilitated by having good information on run timing such that the likely proportion of the stock which will return prior to and within the extension period can be evaluated.


It is recommended that the presence of fresh fish prior to or during the extension period can be confirmed by local IFI Inspectors or that this is likely from previous year’s experience.

Pat Deering (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)
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To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the location at which Inland Fisheries are counting salmon stocks in the River Barrow; and the way these locations were selected. [45720/12]

Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael)
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Catchment-wide electric fishing (CWEF) is the semi-quantitative technique used to assess salmon fry (0+) abundance on rivers like the River Barrow which are closed to angling and do not have any other means to assess salmon status. The data collected using this standard approach is comparable with similar data from other rivers nationally.

Sampling is generally undertaken at sites throughout each catchment to report on likely salmon bearing habitat. Sites are selected in riffle/gravel areas, suitable for wading, where there is good access to the river. Sites are generally selected at more than 1 km distances from each other and an effort is made to include all the tributaries in the catchment.

No sites are sampled in the Barrow main channel (navigable section) as it is unsuitable for salmon production and is too deep to sample. The sampling programme for the Barrow (and all other catchments) is designed to ensure coverage of as many sites as is feasible across the extent of the catchment, within the time frame allocated, based on the methodology outlined.

The catchment wide survey on the Barrow catchment (85 sites) was carried out in August and September 2012. This was the fifth CWEF survey of this catchment. With the exception of 2008, the Barrow survey has been carried out annually since 2007.