The chairman of the National Salmon Commission, Mr Joey Murrin, has said that the Government will not rise to anglers' demands to buy out commercial salmon drift-net licences.
Any such buyout, estimated to cost between €75 and €80 million, would have to be funded by anglers, fishery owners and tourism interests, Mr Murrin told The Irish Times.
"If the Government has €80 million to spare, hospital beds and the health service represent a much greater priority for such expenditure," Mr Murrin said. Angling groups have been involved in sustained lobbying to ban drift-netting for salmon and/or buy out the 1,500 licenses held by drift, draft, snap and loop net fishermen around the coastline.
Competition from farmed salmon has made commercial fishing less economically viable, and it is estimated that only 25 per cent of licence holders actually engage in the activity - while taking about 75 per cent of the catch. Mr Murrin said he accepted that the wild salmon stock was under pressure, but this had been attributed to a range of factors, including inland pollution and climate change.
The National Salmon Commission, which advises Government on the management of wild salmon stocks, had a remit to ensure that stocks were sustained for both commercial fishermen and anglers. Mr Murrin welcomed a statement from the Minister of State for the Marine, Mr Pat 'the Cope' Gallagher, that there would be no buyout during the lifetime of this Government.
