Noel Grealish (Galway West, Independent)
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63. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment if he is satisfied with the current perverse salmon angling regulations that compel anglers to return alive rod caught escaped farmed salmon in designated ‘catch and release’ fisheries, considering the huge escape of farmed salmon during August 2024 in Killary Harbour, County Galway, with escaped farmed salmon being detrimental to the integrity of special areas of conservation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39239/24]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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Since becoming aware of the escape of farmed salmon in Killary Harbour, Inland Fisheries Ireland (IFI) has been monitoring for escaped farmed salmon and has alerted anglers and fishery owners throughout the region to be vigilant for the potential presence of farmed fish in rivers. IFI has also requested that all encounters with potential farmed salmon be reported.

In catch-and-release designated fisheries where suspected farmed fish have been reported to be present, IFI allocated authorised officers to patrol and liaise with anglers to enable any samples to be retained. However, verification of farmed salmon based only on visual inspection of the exterior of the fish can in some instances prove very difficult and full verification of the farm origin of a fish is only possible through more detailed investigation (scale reading, internal dissection, genetic analyses of tissue samples). This is due in large part to farmed salmon not having any clear visual external markers that distinguish them from wild salmon with a high degree of certainty.

If the harvest and retention of “suspected” farm salmon in catch-and-release fisheries was permitted, it would increase the likelihood that wild salmon may be culled in error and potentially undermines the protection and conservation of wild salmon, particularly on those catch-and-release fisheries which are not currently exceeding their conservation limits.

Noel Grealish (Galway West, Independent)
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64. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment if he plans to introduce a national fishing rod licence in the near future with a penalty points-based system akin to the national driving licence for wild brown trout and other native species excluding Atlantic salmon; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39240/24]

Noel Grealish (Galway West, Independent)
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62. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment if he plans to create a freshwater fisheries reserve under an updated Fisheries (Consolidation) Act 1959 as highlighted by his officials in 2013; if this reserve will be surreptitiously used to validate the presence of invasive/non-native fish such as pike, roach, carp and tench in special areas of conservation such as Lough Corrib, County Galway; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39238/24]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 64 and 62 together.

The matters raised by the Deputy are relevant to the work underway in my Department to modernise and consolidate the policy and legislative frameworks that underpin and protect our national inland fisheries resource. The inland fisheries policy statement and future legislation will encompass a wide range of issues, including, inter alia, a greater focus on conservation, sustainable funding model for the sector and a review of existing licensing provisions for both recreational and commercial fishing