Oireachtas hearing: Ireland's salmon population will fall to "catastrophic" levels if drift-net fishing is not banned immediately, an Oireachtas committee was told yesterday by one of the members of the Independent Salmon Group which recommended a ban on such fishing.
"With the pressure on stocks, we are past the finish line. We are in extra time," declared Pádraic White, one of the three members of the group which produced its report last week.
The Cabinet accepted the report's recommendations, including a drift-net ban, yesterday morning before the meeting of the Oireachtas Committee on Communications, Marine and Natural Resources chaired by Fianna Fáil TD Noel O'Flynn began.
The drift-net ban was sharply opposed at the meeting by Fianna Fáil's Denis O'Donovan, Brendan Kenneally and Cecilia Keaveney, Fine Gael's John Perry, and Sinn Féin's Martin Ferris.
However, Mr White, former chief executive of the Industrial Development Authority, painted a bleak picture for salmon stocks.
"It was clear to us that anything other than a complete cessation would not be acceptable, and would not work. It would prolong the agony," he said.
Michael Keatinge, who acted as secretary to the Independent Salmon Group, said 68,000 more salmon should be able to return once drift-netting ends.
Though 870 drift-netters will lose their licences, 350 of these will remain fishing for other species using draft, loop and other form of nets, he said.
Cork South West TD Denis O'Donovan said the Government had given "a clear, concise message to coastal communities, a negative one. And I don't like it."
Waterford-based Fianna Fáil Senator Brendan Kenneally, who was extremely critical of the ban, said the scientific evidence produced so far is flawed.
Drift-net fishermen in the southeast will get inadequate compensation, he complained, because 60 per cent of fish bound for the Suir are captured off Kerry.
Sinn Féin Kerry South TD, Martin Ferris, said: " drives another nail in the coffin of the Irish fishing industry.
"Some people have said it was a brave decision. How can it be a brave decision to hit a community that is struggling?
"Would this brave decision be taken against a powerful lobby? It comes down to the size of the constituency.
"I find it hard to contain myself. I have met people who have spent their whole lives in this industry," Mr Ferris said.
One of the members of the Independent Salmon Group, former secretary of the Department of Agriculture and Food, John Malone, said the drift-net ban was "difficult and emotive".
Mr White said the expert group had not "started out against" the drift-net fishermen, and he acknowledged that they were "not the sole cause of the problem.
"The inescapable conclusion is that we have to do this," he said.
"And it was absolutely clear to us that we have to do all of it at once."
He added: "It would be indefensible and unsustainable to take out some drift-net fishermen, spend public money and not actually do the job.
"We have the greatest sympathy for the drift-net fishermen. I am not just saying that. They have had a bad press in this whole debate."
Green Party TD Eamon Ryan congratulated Minister for the Marine Noel Dempsey: "Today, for once, conservation wins," he said. Drift-netting, however, was "not the only issue", he said.
He was also keen to emphasise that river management, a coherent policy on pollution, and silting problems in rivers must also be tackled as quickly as possible.
Labour Party TD Tommy Broughan accepted the ban, though he complained that the Government's financial offer of some €5 million to coastal communities was too small to achieve anything worthwhile.
