EU warn Ireland on salmon fishing

Ireland faces legal action unless it fully protects wild salmon from over-fishing, the European Commission warned today.

Brussels says the Irish wild salmon fishery must respect a key EU nature conservation law by the start of next year.

At the moment, Ireland allows the use of drift nets at sea which catch large numbers of salmon bound for spawning rivers where stocks are low.

Under the EU Habitats Directive, the drift net fishery, assessed annually, should only be authorised if a scientific study decrees that there are no “negative effects” on salmon migration and spawning.

A Commission statement said: “The 2006 assessment showed negative effects, but drift-netting was nevertheless authorised by the Irish authorities.

“The Commission is asking Ireland to fully apply the Habitats Directive when authorising drift net fishery on an annual basis.”

EU Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas said: “The Commission and the Irish authorities fully agree that wild salmon is an important resource. Following constructive discussions with Ireland in 2005 and earlier this year, we are asking the authorities to take additional steps to protect salmon stocks in 2007 and beyond.”

Today’s request to Dublin took the form of a “final warning” – the last step before legal action.

However, two other threatened legal cases against Ireland for alleged environmental breaches have been dropped, the Commission confirmed.

They concerned EU laws on protecting the ozone layer and the disposal of scrapped vehicles: “The infringement cases against Ireland have been closed following the provision of new information by the Irish authorities” said the Commission statement.