Salmon may disappear under FF plan - Greens

Salmon stocks may soon disappear from some Irish rivers if the Government presses ahead with its proposed commercial catch quotas, the Green Party has warned.

Speaking at the launch of the "Help Save Our Salmon" today, the Green Party marine spokesman Eamon Ryan described Fianna Fáil as the greatest threat to the salmon population.

Minister for the Marine, Pat the Cope Gallagher, is proposing that the wild salmon commercial catch be set at 139,900. However, the Green Party wants the catch set at 97,000, claiming that allowing the extra 42,000 fish to be caught may clear the wild salmon out of some Irish rivers.

The party has accused the Government of ignoring advice from the scientific committee of the National Salmon Commission, to manage the catches on an individual "river catchement" basis.

"Only some 900 salmon came back to the Liffey last year, which is less than a fifth of the numbers needed for the river to be properly restocked," said Mr Ryan.

"We see no problem with the local netting of fish where one knows that stocks levels of the local river can take it, but it makes no sense to continue the indiscriminate drift-netting of salmon at sea where it is impossible to know what river the fish are destined for."