Seal cull to protect salmon stocks ruled out

Irish sea fishing bosses have ruled out a nationwide seal cull to tackle declining salmon stocks, it emerged today.

The Oireachtas Marine Sub-Committee heard this afternoon that two Bord Iascaigh Mhara (BIM) reports in 2001 claimed that seals were doing untold damage to the sea angling industry.

But the State agency’s fishery development officer Michael Keating told committee members he disagreed with a cull – suggested by angling groups like the Donegal Traditional Inshore Fishermans Organisation.

Mr Keating said: “To put it bluntly, seals certainly don’t eat hamburgers. Of course they have a major impact on fish stocks.

“I think to cull is one extreme. Certainly we would be in favour of seal management and there are ways of doing that which don’t necessitate killing animals.

“You can manage animals in more than one way.”

The committee is hearing day-long submissions from over 30 interest groups including regional fishery boards and local angling associations.

The all-party body is holding a public consultation process before Marine Minister Pat the Cope Gallagher makes a ruling on national salmon fishing quotas on April 13.

He is proposing a 139,900 limit advised by the National Salmon Commission, even though a 97,000 level has been recommended by scientific experts.

Brian Curran of Fishing Ireland West warned today that if the current stock management structure goes on, “in a few years, Ireland will be totally written off as a salmon angling country”.

He complained that there were currently too many licences and that they were given out “like confetti” in the mid to late 1960s.