NATIONAL and international measures are required urgently to protect salmon, particularly spring salmon, which are facing extinction in some traditional waters, according to a major report on the environment.
Published yesterday by the Environmental Protection Agency, it says the quality of the Republic's environment is generally good, but there are several areas of serious concern, including a "catastrophic collapse" in sea trout.
Although stopping short of blaming the salmon farming industry, it says this occurred "concomitant with the expansion of farmed salmon in cages at sea", particularly in Connemara and west Mayo, where brown trout had also declined.
Like afforestation, the EPA warns that aquaculture including salmon farming, which now has an annual production exceeding 12,000 tonnes - can be an agent of environmental degradation unless it is properly managed.
The report says there is only limited serious pollution in estuarine and coastal waters; notably the Lee estuary, which has higher than usual levels of heavy metals, Killybegs Harbour, Dungarvan Harbour and Rogerstown estuary.
Heavy metal pollution also affects Tralee Bay, Waterford Harbour, Mulroy Bay and the Boyne and Shannon estuaries. However, the EPA says that organochlorine contamination in Cork is "exceptionally low in the European context".
It estimates that the local authorities have issued 668 licences for discharges to waters, mostly estuaries, and 1,086 licences for discharges to sewers. But the report complains that the information on waste is, unreliable.
Some 38 million tonnes of waste is generated each year, mostly from agricultural sources. Industry produces about 4.7 million tonnes, households over 900,000 tonnes and commercial activities about 760,000 tonnes.
Hazardous waste amounts to just over 140,000 tonnes, but incinerators now require a licence from the EPA. In the health care sector, only a small number of incinerators have sought licences; the rest have ceased operating.
Despite the Government's 20 per cent recycling target, the report says most non hazardous waste will continue to be disposed of in landfills. However, many landfills are nearing maximum capacity and will close in the medium term.
Ironically, an EU funded programme to upgrade sewage treatment plants will result in a threefold increase in sewage sludge, now 44,000 tonnes. And with ocean dumping banned from 1998, landfill is likely to become its destination.
The report says many potential problems associated with landfill, such as the contamination of groundwater by leachate, can he greatly reduced if sites are designed, built and managed with the same skill as other engineered structures.
It identifies a number of "information gaps", particularly on contaminated sites, soil degradation caused by overgrazing, and exposure to excessive noise levels. Tourism pressure on sensitive sites also required close attention.
Excluding farming, it is estimated that 155,000 people are in direct employment that is significantly dependent on environmental quality, notably in the high growth food and tourism sectors.
Despite recent trends in urban renewal, the report cites a 1994 survey showing that there were still 690 derelict sites and 3,820 vacant or partially vacant buildings in Dublin's inner city, with large numbers in other urban areas.
It says priority should be given to three themes in particular: the pollution of rivers and lakes, urban traffic and its impact on air quality, and the problem of waste, which is increasing at an annual rate of 3 to 4 per cent.
Work is starting on developing an overall integrated environmental information system and on a co ordinated national environmental monitoring programme.
Welcoming publication of the report, the Minister for the Environment, Mr Howlin, said it had identified modern agricultural practices as a result of the CAP as "one of the chief threats to landscape and wildlife".
The publication of such a report every five years, as the EPA is required to do, would ensure "a continuous, comprehensive overview of national environmental quality, performance and trends," enabling the Government to set priorities.