A state management policy on salmon is in danger of collapsing because of lack of consultation and Government commitment, the Irish Fishermen's Organisation has warned.
All the goodwill generated by the Salmon Management Task Force, a "milestone" in Irish fishery management, will be lost if the Minister for the Marine and Natural Resources, Dr Woods, does not give it his full support, the IFO said.
The Salmon Management Task Force was initiated by the previous government, and represented the first serious attempt in a decade to meet the interests of both commercial salmon fishermen and anglers. Its report recommended changes in inshore limits and season length, while acknowledging the rights of coastal communities involved in the seasonal fishery. Its main point was that a ban on driftnets for salmon would be unworkable.
The report recommended introduction of a quota and tagging system, and this was addressed by a technical implementation group established by the Marine Institute. However, the IFO complains that the institute never consulted the "largest harvest sector", drift and draft net fishermen, who it had conceded should receive more than 80 per cent of the total allowable catch.
The IFO believes a tagging system should be introduced for two years before any quota is set on salmon. This would enable accurate catch data to be analysed. , The IFO also complains that commercial fishermen still have an insufficient voice on regional fisheries boards and none on the Central Fisheries Board.
