Reaction: The Icelandic businessman who has campaigned for an end to drift-netting for salmon in Ireland has given a cautious response to the Government's decision to back a ban.
Orri Vigfusson, chairman of the North Atlantic Salmon Fund, warned yesterday that a ban would only work if the drift-netters were "happy".
"I would like to see a very generous compensation package, because this will work if netsmen are happy, and if they are not it may not," Mr Vigfusson told The Irish Times.
He said his organisation would "consider" raising private funds to support such a package, and also expressed concern about adequate protection staff to police a new management regime offshore and inland.
Mr Vigfusson said his organisation had brokered compensation for up to 3,000 commercial catchers in various parts of the world, and had always tried to ensure that compensation was "fair and generous". He would like to see the "fine print", including a very generous financial deal, before giving a full endorsement.
Angling groups have welcomed yesterday's decision, while representatives of the commercial sector expressed disappointment and "devastation".
Martin Kerin, of the Irish Traditional Salmon Netsmen's Association, said the fact that the decision was taken before a meeting on the issue by the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Marine and Natural Resources showed a "total arrogance and contempt for people in coastal communities".
Mike Fitzpatrick, of the Irish South and West Fishermen's Organisation, said the position of commercial catchers had been "misrepresented", in that they had already agreed to a series of restrictions over the past decade, and had been willing to buy into a fair management structure for the fishery involving a voluntary buyout.
"This decision is going to have a very serious impact, and the system for working out compensation is going to discriminate severely against licence holders who were already limited by quotas," Mr Fitzpatrick said.
Organisations representing the commercial catchers would be meeting within the next week to "consider options", he added.
The Government's advisory body, the National Salmon Commission, meets today.
The Stop Now campaign, which was founded by private fishery owners, angling groups and tourism interests in 2004 to lobby for an end to salmon driftnetting, has welcomed the Government decision.
Niall Greene, chairman of Stop Now, paid tribute to Minister for the Marine Noel Dempsey, and said that the decision "presents everyone involved in the sector with an unprecedented opportunity to work in partnership to rebuild our salmon sectors".
Mr Greene said the review group's recommended environmental levy on anglers could generate some €1 million a year which would help towards compensation for commercial catchers. However, the Government had said it would finance the buyout, he noted.
The Irish Hotels Federation also welcomed the Cabinet decision. Chief executive John Power said it was a "very important development in terms of preserving Ireland's salmon stocks and rebuilding our regional tourism product which has been under some pressure in recent years".
Salmon angling tourism could contribute some €100 million to the economy annually when it returns to visitor levels of the late 1990s, Mr Power said.
