Countryside Alliance Ireland - love the countryside

A RESPONSE BY Countryside Alliance Ireland

19 Jan. 2004

Dear Mr. Wall,

I write following your press notice of 3 December 2003, announcing that you are undertaking a review of the inland fisheries sector in Ireland.

Countryside Alliance Ireland is an expert and informed organisation, that campaigns for rural livelihood throughout Ireland. For us, livelihood is someone's job, the community of which they are a part and the way of life that they choose to adopt. We believe that the sustainable and productive use of our natural resources must be the defining characteristic in the management of Ireland's countryside. We strongly promote the concept of partnership and local community involvement and work closely with a broad range of partner organisations, including the Federation of Irish Salmon and Sea Trout Anglers (FISSTA) and the North Atlantic Salmon Fund (NASF), and fully support both organisations submissions to this review process.

We believe that the management of the wild salmon resource in Ireland needs radical reform. A recent INDECON report confirms that the economic value of a rod caught salmon is 20 times that of one caught in a net, yet commercial fishing continues to take place at unsustainable levels. A rebalancing of salmon harvesting methods in favour of angling would provide a economic boost for isolated rural areas whilst at the same time removing pressure from wild salmon stocks and facilitating their recovery. Throughout most of the range of the North Atlantic Salmon, including Northern Ireland governments have helped fund a voluntary drift net buy-out scheme and such a voluntary scheme should be available in the Republic of Ireland also.

International conservation agreements, such as the Biodiversity Action Plan emanating from the 1992 Rio Earth Summit are built on the assumption that the long term conservation of any wild animal is heavily dependent upon local community involvement. It is universally recognised that populations of wild animals often flourish where they are important to people, and where local people have a vested interest in their well-being. In Ireland, there is a very high degree of statutory involvement in too many aspects of fisheries management, restricting any sense of ownership felt by local communities and therefore minimising their potential contribution to the management of wild salmon stocks. Local angling organisations, who are part of wider communities should have long term leases, or ideally own the fisheries that they manage.

Statutory involvement should be confined to monitoring the management of the resource, against clear management objectives and to marketing angling tourism. There has, in the past been a number of state agencies, committees and advisory bodies, whose remits often overlapped, and whose expertise has been questioned. There is a need for a fundamental reform of government involvement in this sector and more professionalism needs to be added to the relevant government bodies.

We believe that the government's attempts to promote angling tourism against the backdrop of a declining angling resource are miscalculated. We strongly believe that the government should put all its energy and expertise into the conservation of wild salmon, and to increasing returning wild salmon stocks. The private sector has the ability and flexibility to respond to market trends and if salmon stocks can be increased then angling tourism in Ireland will expand naturally.

In summary, wild salmon stocks have been badly neglected for decades. There has been a long term serious decline in their numbers and urgent action must be taken to address this, in particular drift net fishing must be significantly reduced. Government must also stop trying to manage every aspect of the angling resource, it should devolve ownership of angling facilities and responsibility for delivering conservation action to local angling interests and local communities. Non statutory interests will expand tourism opportunities at a realistic pace as the expansion of angling opportunities allows.

We are pleased to have had the opportunity to comment on this review, should you require any further information, or wish to discuss any point raised more fully please feel free to contact us at the address below.

Ronan Gorman.
Chief Executive