Thomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent)
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106. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment when the consultation on the wild salmon and sea trout tagging scheme regulations for 2023 will commence; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [54345/22]

Thomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent)
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107. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the reason that the fishing season was reduced to a three-week period in 2022 rather than eleven weeks on every other river; if it is likely to be repeated in 2022; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [54346/22]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 106 and 107 together.

In line with normal practice, the management regime for salmon (and sea trout over 40cms) for 2023 will have regard for the annual management advice of Inland Fisheries Ireland (IFI) supported by the latest scientific advice and assessments of each salmon river from the independent Technical Expert Group on Salmon (TEGOS). This advice was received in my Department on 4 November. The annual public consultation on the draft legislation is expected to commence later this week for a period of 30 days. The draft legislation will provide for, inter alia, the proposed status (open, open to catch and release angling or closed to all exploitation) of, and the harvestable surplus (if any) available, on each of Ireland’s more than 140 salmon rivers.

A further suite of secondary legislation is set out in the first quarter of every year in advance of the commercial fishing season. This legislation, which principally sets the open and closing dates for commercial fishing on each fishery, is based on the individual circumstances of the fishery including the size of the surplus and the number of licences available. Therefore, while there is a general commercial season within which fishing is possible, opening and closing dates vary, based on these individual circumstances, to provide the optimum protection to each genetically individual stock and to guard against over-exploitation. Both sets of legislation are based on the conservation and biodiversity imperatives and on Ireland’s obligations under EU Directives and international agreements.