The salmon is to be the subject of a North-South marine research project undertaken by the Loughs Agency. The Loughs Agency represents the work of the Foyle, Carlingford and Irish Lights Commission - one of the six North-South implementation bodies.
It proposes to undertake a genetic study of the salmon populations of the Lough Foyle area, and says it will involve the first examination of interaction between a rod fishery and the underlying salmon population structure.
The study will be carried out over two years, in association with the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, Queen's University Belfast, and the Marine Institute in Dublin.
It aims to provide "an essential genetic perspective" on rational management of the resource and one which will keep the Foyle "at the forefront of progressive and imaginative approaches to salmon management".
The agency hopes the study will also provide "the first ever view" on the fundamental unit of production in a complex river system feeding into the Foyle.
The project was approved at last Friday's North-South Ministerial Council in Bundoran, Co Donegal, attended by the Minister for the Marine and Natural Resources, Mr Fahey, and the North's Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Ms Br∅d Rodgers.
The council also approved spending £462,000 (€587,000) on a new interpretative centre for the Loughs Agency, on the banks of the Foyle near Derry city. The centre is due to be opened next year.
Statutory regulations to introduce coarse angling on the Foyle and Carlingford systems were approved. It is the first time that coarse angling has been licensed in the Foyle area. Licence fees will be harmonised across the Border.
The Central Fisheries Board has appealed to salmon and sea trout anglers to return their new logbooks and unused fish tags at the close of the angling season as part of new conservation measures.
Completed logbooks and unused fish tags must be returned to the issuing regional fishery board, or the board local to where anglers live, within 21 days of the expiry of a licence. In most cases, this date is November 2nd, according to the board.
"The completion of logbooks will greatly enhance our ability to assess the stock of salmon and sea trout returning to Irish waters," Mr John O'Connor, chief executive of the fisheries board, said.
