Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick, Fine Gael)
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22. To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources if he will provide details of the engagement that his Department has had with representatives of salmon and trout anglers on the concerns that they have on the sustainability and future stock levels in inland waterways; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24556/14]

Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael)
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Ireland manages salmon stocks generally on an individual river basis. Each river contains a genetically unique stock, which migrates to sea as juveniles and returns to the same river in adulthood to spawn. The conservation imperative means that exploitation of salmon of each river is only permitted where the independent Standing Scientific Committee for salmon determine that the stock in that river is above its conservation limit. This Committee comprises Scientists from the Marine Institute, Inland Fisheries Ireland, ESB, the Loughs Agency, the Agriculture, Fisheries and Bio-Sciences Institute (AFBI) Northern Ireland and Universities.

In accordance with the Inland Fisheries Act, 2010 and based on the independent advice of the Scientific Committee as regards the status of each individual river stock,and and management advice from IFI, a statutory 30 day public consultation process is conducted for the draft Wild Salmon and Sea Trout Tagging Scheme Regulations each year in advance of the forthcoming season.

This consultation process commences mid-November and ends in mid-December each year. The draft regulations are open for public inspection and are accessible on my Department’s website. Submissions and observations on proposals within the draft regulations may be made at any time during the consultation period to my Department. Each submission is examined and considered as part of the process. A comprehensive response is issued to each party when the public consultation period ends.

For those rivers deemed by the Independent Scientific Committee to be above their conservation limit and therefore to have an exploitable surplus of stock, consultation within District Committees, including representatives of the angling sector and commercial fishermen, inputs into how that surplus is to be divided among the various stakeholders.

In addition to the statutory public consultation, Inland Fisheries Ireland (IFI) conducts public consultations on a regular basis when proposing to implement bye-laws on a regional basis. These consultations are advertised on IFI’s website and submissions from all interested parties are invited.

IFI, my Department and I, as Minister, also frequently meet with stakeholders countrywide to discuss issues raised by representative stakeholders including matters of sustainability and conservation of fish stocks.