Conor McGuinness (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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232. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government the rationale for treating the three sisters of the rivers Suir, Nore and Barrow as three distinct salmon fisheries for regulatory purposes with three different conservation limits when the salmon in all three rivers have been proven to be genetically the same, and should be considered as one stock and not three different stocks and should have one conservation limit to cover all three rivers; if he will review this classification to ensure integrated management of the estuary and the three rivers flowing in to it. [39575/25]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal East, Fianna Fail)
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The Rivers Suir, Nore and Barrow are treated as three distinct salmon fisheries for regulatory purposes for the following reasons:

• It is considered appropriate to have each of these catchments defined as individual management units due to their relatively substantial size in the context of Irish salmon rivers in general.
• Experience has shown that each river may be subject to variable fisheries pressures in the same year which must be considered in the context of facilitating a more accurate assessment of their annual stock status and issuing of associated catch advice. This may include variable angling exploitation pressure (rates) and also variable commercial fisheries activity in their respective lower estuaries in a given year.