The Minister of State for the Marine, Mr John Browne, has promised to complete a "root and branch" review of inland fisheries that will examine continued State involvement in managing the waterways.
The review may also recommend merging the regional fisheries boards as part of an examination of the current management role.
Speaking to The Irish Times yesterday, Mr Browne said there was a "question mark" about overlapping functions of some of the regional boards which are financed from a €17 million to €20 million annual allocation to the Central Fisheries Board.
"One has to ask if eight of these boards - seven regional and the Central Fisheries Board - are required in one small country, but the consultants have been given a wide brief to look at all the options," Mr Browne said.Expressions of interest were submitted by nine consultancy firms, and the final commission would be decided next month, he said.
The deadline for the review is expected to be April 2004, and the recommendations will have to be decided upon before the current board's term expires next year, Mr Browne said. "In other words, we are talking about implementation in 2005."
The review will examine the involvement of other State agencies in inland fisheries governance, including the Marine Institute, Bord Iascaigh Mhara, the Environmental Protection Agency and Bord Fáilte.
Meanwhile, three fishing organisations have called on the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources, Mr Ahern, not to allow responsibility for promotion and marketing of fish to be transferred from BIM to Bord Bia.
The Irish Fish Producers' Organisation, the Killybegs Fishermen's Organisation and the Irish South and West Fish Producers' Organisation said it would send a signal that an industry which was recording over half a billion euro in exports annually was being further marginalised.