Tom Neville (Limerick County, Fine Gael)
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539. To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources if he will consider lifting the draft net fishing ban for two weeks in the year in order that children and teenagers can be taught about fishing to ensure that the culture and tradition will not be lost; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29663/16]

Seán Kyne (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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Inland Fisheries Ireland (IFI) is the State agency responsible for salmon management in Ireland. The current management system for salmon, including draft netting, arose in the context of the Government decision in 2006 to ban salmon fishing in the sea, to offer a hardship payment for fishermen to permanently cease fishing and to adhere to the scientific review and advice undertaken each year in setting out the annual management regime.

Since then, the primary driver of the management regime in any year is the annual scientific advice for each of the 147 salmon rivers. The management of wild salmon in Ireland must also reflect the genetically unique stock in each of Ireland’s 147 salmon rivers.

Where an individual river is assessed, by the independent Standing Scientific Committee, as not meeting its individual conservation limit, and therefore having no harvestable surplus, harvesting of salmon by any means is not permitted.

The conservation imperative requires that draft netting is not permitted on rivers which are below their conservation limits as any additional pressure on the individual stock is inappropriate. Management advice in this regard is that it would be unsustainable for any netting to take place, whether fish are killed or not.

On that basis, draft netting is only permitted where a river has an exploitable surplus of salmon above its established conservation limit.  I am advised by IFI that a number of salmon rivers in the West of Ireland were open to draft netting during the commercial salmon season in 2016.

While draft netting takes place often in a challenging work environment, I would be happy to arrange a briefing for the Deputy with IFI to explore what educational opportunities exist when the fishery is open in 2017, provided that a harvestable surplus exists on these rivers next year.