Drift-net ban - Government must save Irish salmon

NO sooner has an independent Government-appointed committee sought to outlaw drift-netting for salmon, an issue of international concern which has brought intense pressure on Ireland from tourism, environmental, and angling interests, than back-bench Fianna Fáil TDs have taken to the barricades.

Politically, this scenario is reminiscent of the concerted efforts of FF deputies to derail the Government’s smoking ban despite compelling arguments in its favour.

Seeking to dilute the impact of the landmark salmon report — one of many commissioned on the subject over the last decade — coastal deputies, with anxious eyes on next year’s election, are actively lobbying Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and Cabinet ministers.

In the teeth of volumes of scientific evidence that survival of the wild Irish salmon is in grave jeopardy, deputies from the main drift-net centres will today urge Communications Minister Noel Dempsey, whose portfolio includes marine affairs, to jettison the recommended compulsory buyout scheme, involving a €30 million compensation package, and replace it with a voluntary deal. Effectively, this rearguard action flies in the face of a flood of warnings that the country’s once rich salmon stocks will disappear for good unless drift-net fishing is banned outright.

Having produced an internal report highlighting the danger facing the Irish salmon, it is not surprising that the PDs, junior coalition partners, should be strongly supportive of the call for a ban. Ironically, despite the fragile harmony currently infusing the Coalition arrangement, that could be enough to galvanise Fianna Fáil opposition to a ban.

It is indisputable that salmon stocks are in crisis. Following a steady decline in recent decades, the species is now on the verge of irreversible collapse.

Drift-netting has put Ireland in breach of several international conventions. Not alone are fishermen on the south, west, and northwest coasts catching tens of thousands of migrating salmon on their way to spawning rivers in this country, they are also netting mixed stock destined for the rivers of England, Wales, and elsewhere in Europe.

For their part, however, commercial fishermen claim a ban would end a traditional way of life. A leading supporter of the fishermen’s cause, Cork South West TD Denis O’Donovan, wants any scheme to be voluntary, rather than a compulsory buyout.

Arguing that the proposed ban sent a “negative message” to fishermen, he points out that surveys show 70% of drift-net fishermen would opt for a buyout deal if offered a fair and reasonable package. While others would continue to fish, the difficulty is that they mainly involve bigger boats which are inflicting the most damage on stocks.

Disappointed at the findings of the report, the organisation representing commercial salmon fishermen in the south and west, has questioned the validity of scientific advice and the mixed stock argument. It also complained that unlike the Faroes and Greenland, where an annual set-aside deal pertains, no alternative to a compulsory buyout is being considered here.

From the home-based angler, who sees the demise of salmon in our rivers at first hand, to tourism interests, already losing millions as foreign anglers turn their backs on Ireland, and even among commercial fishermen, there is broad agreement that salmon stocks have been devastated.

Despite mounting pressure from backbenchers, the Government should have the courage to bite the bullet and outlaw drift-netting while there is still a chance stocks might recover.

It would be a travesty if cynical political expediency caused the final demise of this priceless species. Hundreds of millions were spent castrating Irish farming — surely we can pay tens of millions to save the Irish salmon.