The end is nigh for commercial fishing for salmon in Ireland!

The first statement from Eamon Ryan proving that commercial netting of the now endangered Wild Atlantic Salmon in Ireland is almost over. Eamon Ryan of the Green Party was answering a question from Brendan Griffin of Fine Gael about commercial Salmon fishing and this was his Reply!



 

Inland Fisheries Ireland (IFI) is the State Agency whose remit is provide scientific and management to advice to me, as Minister, on legislative measures to preserve each of the individual salmon stocks around the country. Annual legislation is enacted based on the conservation imperative that exploitation is only permitted, by the most appropriate method, where there is a sufficient surplus of fish above safe biological limits.

The use of monofilament nets was permitted in both Castlemaine and Cork Harbour following a detailed study carried out by IFI and at a time when salmon were more abundant in these areas. This study was submitted to the then Minister in the context of setting out secondary legislation for salmon management.

This method of fishing is currently under review by IFI in the light of the latest data and, for conservation reasons, there are no plans to extend its use to other areas.