The Minister for the Marine, Mr Fahey, has introduced a prohibition on the sale of rod-caught salmon, but has deferred a decision on a State buyout of salmon driftnetters.
The ban on the sale of wild salmon caught by anglers from August 1st was recommended by the National Salmon Commission and approved by the Minister at a meeting of the commission.
However, he has ruled out any immediate moves on a national buyout and compensation scheme for commercial salmon fishermen, in spite of pressure from anglers' groups and conservation bodies.
Mr Fahey said he remained unconvinced that a buyout scheme was the best answer to conserving salmon stocks. Earlier this month, he rejected a proposal by a group of salmon driftnetters to surrender their licences at £120,000 a head as a totally unrealistic sum. The total cost, at 1,500 licences, would amount to £180 million.
However, he was prepared to consider the issue further in the context of a range of options for encouraging reductions in the commercial catch, including a set-aside scheme. A 1996 task force on salmon had advised against buyouts and had recommended set-aside with local agreement as the best option, as part of a series of measures designed to protect the wild salmon.
The Federation of Irish Sea Trout and Salmon Anglers said yesterday that the "lobbying resources of the commercial sector" had succeeded in delaying decisions on the imposition of any restrictions on driftnetting.
It described as its "number one priority" the cessation of driftnetting, describing this as a real conservation measure. It called on the Minister to reconsider his policy of "indecision".
Irish salmon and sea trout anglers had made "another major concession" in proposing a ban on sale of rod-caught fish, Mr Noel Carr, chairman of the federation, said in a statement. It now awaited a national buyout of driftnets by the Minister, he said.
Mr Fahey has endorsed a new award scheme for conserving the wild Atlantic salmon, initiated by the National Salmon Commission under the chairmanship of Mr Joey Murrin. The Irish Atlantic Salmon Conservation Awards will be the first such scheme designed to promote and encourage conservation of the salmon.
The awards fall into three categories, with an overall prize of £3,000 and a trophy. They are sponsored by the Central and Regional fisheries boards, the Loughs Agency (Foyle and Carling ford), Bord Iascaigh Mhara and the Marine Institute.
