The Government's €30 million compensation package for driftnet salmon fishermen may be topped up by an additional €5 million for affected coastal communities.
Minister of State for the Marine John Browne said he hoped the extra money would be allocated by the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, Éamon Ó Cuív.
At the opening of the Irish Skipper Expo in Galway yesterday, Mr Browne said €25 million would go directly to bona fide driftnet licence holders, and some €10 million would be administered to communities. This latter sum would be administered by Mr Ó Cuív through existing Clár, Leader and Rapid initiatives.
The hardship fund was a key recommendation of the report by the Independent Working Group on Salmon, adopted by the Government late last year. The driftnet ban has been signed into law following pressure from the European Commission and angling and environmental groups. Some 1,500 salmon catchers had hoped the Government would support a voluntary buyout and warned of the impact on other inshore stocks if compensation was inadequate.
Under the scheme, €25 million would be administered on Mr Browne's department's behalf by Bord Iascaigh Mhara. Details and application forms would be posted to all those who held commercial salmon fishing licences in 2006, Mr Browne said. The fund would also be widely advertised in the media, with a closing date of March 30th. Offers would be issued "shortly thereafter" and successful applicants had until the end of the year to accept it.
Under the scheme, each fisherman will receive a payment equal to six times their average annual catch over the period 2001-2005, multiplied by the average price for a salmon over the period (€23). Each fisherman will also receive a payment equal to six times the 2006 licence fee.
The €10 million community support scheme was designed to aid the development of those communities where "the impact of the cessation of driftnetting will be hardest felt".
Mr Browne said he was disappointed that promises by Icelandic businessman Orri Vigfusson, of the North Atlantic Salmon Fund, to give financial support to the buyout had not materialised.
He also rejected claims made by Mr Vigfusson and anglers' groups last month that the Government was "backtracking" by allowing driftnet licence holders to fish under draft net licences.
"Driftnet licence holders do not have to accept this buyout," Mr Browne said. "However, if sufficient draft net licence holders do apply for compensation, and there are new applicants for these licences in areas where the stock recovers, there is no reason why these cannot be former driftnet catchers."