The Salmon Management Task Force was established by the Minister of State for the Marine, Mr Eamon Gilmore, in October 1995 and was charged with examining and reviewing the management of wild salmon in Ireland, and recommending "realistic" policy options and an effective framework.
It is the first major Government initiative on the controversial stock since the 1987 Report of the Salmon Review Group, which identified management of the catch, rather than the method of catching, as the key concern.
The task force was chaired by Prof Noel P. Wilkins, associate professor of zoology at University College Galway. Its members were: Mr John Browne, inspector, Marine Institute's Fisheries Research Centre; Mr Niall McCutcheon, principal, Department of the Marine; Mr Harry Lloyd, manager, Northern Regional Fisheries Board; Mr Patrick Byrne, National Anglers Representative Association; Mr T.P. O Conchuir, Ballydavid Fishermen's Association, Dingle, Co Kerry; and its secretary, Ms Mary Kinsella, Department of the Marine.
It considered 232 written submissions and heard oral submissions at six centres throughout the State. It also met managers of the seven regional fisheries boards and staff of the North Atlantic Salmon Conservation (NASCO) in Edinburgh; and discussed salmon management regimes with the appropriate authorities in Canada and Iceland.