Seán Kyne (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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Inland Fisheries Ireland (IFI) is the State Agency responsible for the conservation, protection, promotion and development of Ireland's inland fisheries. IFI manages salmon stocks on an individual river basis as each of Ireland’s 147 salmon rivers (including river sections and estuaries) has its own genetically unique stock of salmon which migrates to sea as juveniles and returns to the same river as mature salmon to spawn and propagate the next generation of salmon distinctive to that river.

In 2006, the Government affirmed its commitment to manage the wild salmon fishery in line with the scientific advice in the interests of conservation of stocks. Since 2007, the harvest of salmon, by commercial fishing and recreational angling, has been restricted to those rivers that are meeting their individual conservation limits for wild salmon. Each river has an individual conservation limit (CL) which is essentially the number of salmon required to spawn to maintain a healthy population.

IFI is supported in its management role by an independent Standing Scientific Committee (SSC), comprising scientists from a range of organisations. Assessing the status of stock involves the challenges of counting live aquatic animals in a dynamic fluvial environment. Scientific and management assessments of stocks are carried out every year with IFI engaged in an extensive stock monitoring programme which feeds into the scientific committee's annual reviews. In this way, fluctuations in individual stocks are discernible on an annual basis.

In assessing the status of salmon stocks for any particular river, the scientific committee draws on a number of data sets. The primary index for evaluation of likely returning numbers is the recorded rod (harvest or catch and release) and commercial catch (if any). Data from fish counters and the results from catchment wide electro-fishing are also used.

Robust annual estimates are based on an average of the data over the most recent five years. The use of a five year average ensures that a "good" or "bad" year in terms of salmon returns does not disproportionately impact assessments. 

If the estimate of returning salmon is above the individual conservation limit then salmon from that individually genetic river population may be harvested commercially or by rod and line. Recommendations as to the status of each river are published and, following a 30 day public consultation, the future catch options associated with each individual river/estuary for the following fishing season is set.

The salmon assessment and management methodologies used in Ireland are considered best practice internationally and within the North Atlantic Salmon Conservation Organisation (NASCO), with many other countries moving towards the development of similar models for salmon stock conservation.