[Article]Salmon to run free in €30m offer to driftmen

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[Article]Salmon to run free in €30m offer to driftmen

Postby jd » Wed Oct 25, 2006 8:08 am

http://www.unison.ie/irish_independent/ ... e_id=14799

ALMOST 800 fishermen are to be offered a €30m buy-out compensation package for an end to drift net fishing of salmon at sea from the start of next year.
Salmon angling will also be off limits in many of the country's best known rivers from January 1.
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The complete ban on catching salmon at sea has been recommended in a report handed to Marine Minister Noel Dempsey.
Hardship
In exchange for a €30m hardship fund, 778 drift-net fishermen will hand back their licences to catch salmon at sea, mainly off the west and south coasts.
Salmon fishing will only be allowed in rivers that have an identifiable surplus, and will be banned from January 1 in all other salmon rivers where stocks are endangered from the start of January.
The ban follows scientific concerns that most of Ireland's salmon rivers would soon have no stocks without one. Tourist bodies, hoteliers and anglers here and in the UK and EU, affected by the wholesale hoovering up of salmon off the west coast of Ireland, have been demanding action for a considerable time.
Key provisions in the report:
* There will be no fishing permitted at sea from 2007 in a "a complete cessation of drift-net fishing or any other form of harvesting outside rivers and estuaries."
* All fishing will be prohibited on rivers that are currently not meeting their conservation limits.
* A total fund of €30m to address hardship will be available to all those subject to a compulsory closure of their current fishery, namely the holders of drift-net licences.
* The fund is available, on a voluntary basis, to all those engaged in draft-net, loop-net, bag-net, snap-net, and head-weir fishing.
* The offer will be be open up to the end of 2007.
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Postby petekd » Wed Oct 25, 2006 8:30 am

Loving the way these lads get handed the guts of, on average, a years wages.. which I presume will be untaxable, to go out and find another means to make a living. Still, 30 million is a small price to pay if it saves our salmon fisheries.

I grew up on the banks of the Crana river in Donegal where going back 20 years, catches of 4 or 5 fish a day in good conditions were frequent. I gave up the river fishing a few years ago as the standard had declined to the extent that you were scratching around trying to pull in fish of a pound and a half to 2 pounds or so and few and far between they were, down to a couple a season.

I really hope it works and has the desired effect of improving stocks, salmon fishing is a magical experience.
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Postby x » Wed Oct 25, 2006 9:38 am

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Postby MAC » Wed Oct 25, 2006 9:55 am

It is a little bit tough on us PAYE worker seeing these guys get this much cash when most have just been sctatching a few quid out of the rivers for a quite some time. Like Pete mentioned, a small price to pay to save our Salmon...... if it's not too late. It will take years for the Salmon run to recover.

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Postby Bradan » Wed Oct 25, 2006 10:26 am

€30 million sounds like a lot lads, but look at the money farmers get for not farming, the single farm payment scheme, REPS, set-aside, etc.
Its not the farmers or fishermens fault that they grew too much or caught too many fish, government policy (or lack of) encouraged this. Witness the massive grants to farmers over the last 30 years, the CAP encouraging more production, grants to fishermen to improve boats and gear, Dept of MArine ignoring quota advice from scientists. If anyone is to blame for declining stocks it is government policy. I wouldn't blame fishermen for going out and catching as many fish as they were allowed to, thats their job

I have a feeling the anglers and fishery owners will be the ones contributing most to this fund, not the ordinary taxpayer. Probably increased licence fees or one-off additional payment, or we may see a system where we have to pay for each tag. Personally, I'd rather pay a bit more for my salmon fishing and know that any salmon coming back to the coast are getting into the river...
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Postby x » Wed Oct 25, 2006 11:04 am

I think that in general salmon anglers will welcome this report. I do have concerns that the increase in salmon that a cessation of netting should bring about will be open to increased poaching activity, as the report notes, briefly.

To be effective as a recovery measure, a cessation of netting will have to be accompanied by increased policing in which anglers can assist but must also be supplemented by other measures to improve habitat etc.

What is interesting is that it appears that salmon anglers appear to have brought about significant change for their sport. I see similar opportunities for recreational sea anglers to bring about similar changes, such as the introduction of a 'golden mile' - but only through becoming highly organised and relentless in campaigning for same.

From the results to date of the SACN online survey, I detect a willingness by a good number of sea anglers to try to unite and speak with a common voice. (Given that it is only 'open' to the online angler, results have been quite good)

I know some anglers are deterred from speaking up by a certain unwillingness to 'stick their head over the top of the trench' lest they bring about a rod licence or other restrictions. Some do not 'like' organisations such as SACN or believe that they are inneffective. Others are happy to ignore the issue - while they can still get a reasonable return on 'their' patch.

Indeed, a lot of anglers shun even joining a club - they simply want to fish with as little fuss as possible. While I can identify wholeheartedly with that position, I wish the situation were such that I felt I had that luxury.

The report mentions the number of anglers involved in the salmon fishery and how it is hoped by the tourist board to grow these numbers significantly based on better angling opportunities. While the terms of reference of the report restrict it to the salmon issue, I couldn't help wondering if anyone in the departments of tourism or elsewhere even considered that the recreational angling world is in no way limited to salmon anglers, or if there might be a greater number of sea anglers with a greater revenue-generating potential. Perhaps not, but then historically we sea anglers have not tried very hard to provide a united front and thrust ourselves into their faces.

Again, I can see how any number of sea anglers might not want a pile of tourists pointed to 'their' marks by the tourist board to compete for an ever dwindling stock of fish.

I know that last Sunday, as I fished my local beach, being approached by a photographer for the tourist board to photograph us as an advert for angling in the area really got up my nose - considering how few fish were caught and the fact that the beach was carved up with quad tracks, plagued by unleashed dogs, we had some idiot in a pleasure craft trying to anchor 100m off the beach in front of where we were angling - oblivious to 6oz grippers flying all around him and so on. Typically, on the day when I wanted a disinterested third party to photograph the blue trawler that consistently scrapes the beach clean, it was conspicuous by it's absence.

What I'd like for all anglers to take away from this is that change is possible, patience is a virtue, unity of purpose is a must and that it's long past time we got a fair crack of the whip.
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Postby corbyeire » Wed Oct 25, 2006 12:24 pm

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Postby x » Thu Oct 26, 2006 7:39 pm

http://www.fishupdate.com/news/fullstor ... t_ban.html

Now we know who our friends are.....
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Postby corbyeire » Thu Oct 26, 2006 10:39 pm

Sandman wrote:http://www.fishupdate.com/news/fullstory.php/aid/5670/_Irish_opposition_to_proposed_drift_net_ban.html

Now we know who our friends are.....


but the problem is them other boys have too many other friends - but it is kinda obvious who is going to maintain max economic growth - at the destruction of the country environmentally
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Postby x » Thu Oct 26, 2006 10:51 pm

I think it's time we told these fools that we're not going to keep voting for them - by the simple act of not voting for them.

Try and convince as many people as you can that these people are truly evil. It sounds mad - but not as mad as hiring a bunch of people to do a study and make recommendations - then argue with their findings and recommendations.

The simple fact is that this pathetically failed government no longer has the balls to make a single decision - they'd appoint a tinker's dog to a commision just so that **if** they are forced to do anything remotely unpopular with the electorate that they can turn around and blame the messenger.

What the hell are they doing wasting millions in taxpayers money with all the commisions if they are going to over-rule them anyway? National Salmon Commision, Independent Salmon Commision, I Can't Belive It's Not A Commision. For pity's sake....

There has to be a better government out there wating for the electorate in this country to wake up. Find whatever fits your personal definition of 'better' and vote for it next time.
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Postby teacher » Fri Oct 27, 2006 7:27 am

This was featured on Prime Time last night:

http://dynamic.rte.ie/quickaxs/primetime.smil
"Pier fishing was, indeed, an eccentric, unproductive and extremely dull occupation, and even if we'd posessed the necessary heavy plant we decided not to attempt it." Chris Yates, Out of the Blue.
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Postby x » Fri Oct 27, 2006 9:43 am

For a quick skim over the issues, I think it was a fairly balanced programme.

I do take the point that the small man is, as usual, going to get the shaft. Hoever, these same lads have propped up a succesion of administrations which have consistently failed both them and the irish fishing industry as a whole and continue to do so.

I think a complete ban on salmon now is the reward for electing politicians who over-rule science and common sense, for that matter. It's sad, but true.
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Postby corbyeire » Fri Oct 27, 2006 9:55 am

lets hope it still goes through in the origional form!!!!
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