Drift-netting ban: analysis The drift-net ban was politically difficult for Noel Dempsey to achieve, but it is only the first step to save the salmon, writes Mark Hennessy, Political Correspondent
In the end, Noel Dempsey won hands down. Some Fianna Fáil TDs had objected to his decision to go ahead with a plan to ban drift-netting, but far too few of them to force him into retreat.
The memory of the furious controversy that erupted back in the late 1980s over rod licences scarred many politicians, leaving them anxious to avoid anything to do with fishing if possible.
However, the times have changed. The scale of the crisis facing salmon, as outlined by the scientific advice presented to the Independent Salmon Group, is extraordinary.
Few other Ministers, though, other than Dempsey, who can be brave, foolhardy and mule-headed simultaneously, would have attempted to force through such a change so close to an election.
Leaving yesterday's Oireachtas committee meeting, Fianna Fáil's Cork South West TD Denis O'Donovan was clearly dejected that his attempts to win concessions from Mr Dempsey had met with failure.
In truth, however, Sinn Féin's Martin Ferris was right to point out that the Government would have shied away from tackling any other group in society on so fundamental an issue just months before voters go to the polls.
Different rules apply to different people, depending on the political clout that can be wielded. If the drift-net ban has shown anything, it shows that fishermen no longer wield the power to frighten governments.
The Cabinet's environmentally-friendly decision to back Noel Dempsey is in stark contrast to that same Cabinet's refusal to accept major cuts in the use of nitrate fertilisers by farmers.
Fertilisers, natural and animal-made, have been responsible for much of the damage to rivers and spawning grounds that has caused some of the slump in salmon numbers since the early 1970s.
However, farmers would not tolerate fertiliser cuts, and Minister for the Environment Dick Roche is still trying to agree softer targets with the European Commission.
Mr Dempsey was helped not just by scientific advice, but also by a clearly impatient European Commission. Last July, it warned the Government in writing that its failure to protect salmon had to stop.
Perhaps seeking to drive the point home, the commission's Dublin office chose at 10.41am, while Ministers met, to publish a statement, pointedly making it clear it was "very important that compliance is achieved in 2007 and beyond".
Drift-net fishermen, however, are not the only ones to share responsibility for reducing stocks to dangerous levels; but they are a significant part of the problem, despite their denials.
Without the removal from the scene of the 800 licence holders, few other measures would make any difference.
However, far more than just banning drift-netting needs to be done.
Silting in rivers has damaged spawning grounds, while local authorities are still some of the biggest polluters in the State.
Farmers, particularly those dealing in pigs, bear their share of the blame, as does the State's forestry company, Coillte, for failing to control fertiliser run-offs from its tens of thousands of hectares.
The world, however, has moved on for fishermen. Most people accept that the environment is being damaged and accept that action is necessary - as long as somebody else bears the pain.