Post by easky on Feb 28, 2012 20:48:24 GMT
Hi All
I will keep this section updated as things happen with the No Salmon Nets campaign ... in the meantime I have pasted in some background info
Who are we?
• ‘No Salmon Nets’ (NSN) is a cross community pressure group formed in response to the dire/critical state of our migratory fish stocks, principally the iconic Atlantic salmon
• The group has no political, religious or other affiliations and is made up of a broad collation of concerned anglers, individuals, representatives of angling clubs and organisations
• What unites this group is a collective desire and commitment to work together to protect and conserve our remaining salmon stocks for present and future generations
What is our aim?
• We have one simple, overriding aim and that is to see a return to abundance of our salmon stocks for the benefit of the whole community
What are we calling for?At the moment we believe the single biggest obstacle in the conservation of our salmon stocks is the continued operation of licensed salmon nets on the north Antrim coast, we are therefore calling for:
• The immediate removal of the remaining 6 salmon nets which are licenced annually by the Department of Culture Arts and Leisure (DCAL)
Why are we calling for this – the state of salmon stocks today?
• Salmon numbers all over Ireland are under pressure like never before, the situation has reached critical levels in many areas, with many rivers in the south now closed, while others have severe restrictions in force
• The situation in the north in the DCAL jurisdiction is particularly precarious – here most if not all rivers are not meeting their conservation limits – put simply this means they are not getting enough salmon returning to the rivers each year to sustain the population in the long term
What is being done?
• Anglers are only too aware of the state of our salmon stocks and are taking action to reverse this trend
• Many clubs are very proactive, carrying out a range of conservation measures such as voluntary catch and release, habitat restoration and enhancement, voluntary bailiffing to safeguard stocks, and running local hatcheries
What impact are the remaining commercial salmon nets having?
1. These nets cancel out conservation work
• These measures can and are making a difference to the salmon stocks in our rivers but they need to be part of a bigger joined up management approach - at the moment this is not the case
• Hatcheries and other conservation work helps to repopulate rivers with more young fish, these go to sea and then return to the rivers to spawn and begin the cycle again
• However many of these salmon are intercepted by salmon nets before they enter the rivers – this effectively cancels out any positive gains in terms of more fish returning to repopulate the rivers
2. These nets are in breach of the EU habitats Directive
• The majority of these nets are ‘mixed stock’ – this is the most destructive type of netting as it is non-discriminatory ie. they catch salmon destined for rivers on both the east and west coasts (Foyle and even Donegal) rather than a single river
• This is a big problem as everyone is ‘working blind’ as you simply do not know where the salmon are from or destined - this means it is impossible in practice to manage or protect stocks from rivers where numbers are critical
• These nets are in breach of the directive as it has been scientifically proven that some of the fish are destined for Special Areas of Conservation (SACs) – these areas are strictly protected sites designated under the EC Habitats Directive
• By contravening the EU Habitats directive the UK Government is liable for hefty fines – in practice these will be deducted from the NI block grant so will effect each and every one of us in NI
• The Ulster Angling Federation have lodged an official complaint with the EU on this – this is scheduled to be heard at the end of this month (January 2012)
3. Restricting social and economic benefits of angling in rural communities
• These nets bring in approx £61,000 per year to the public purse – angling tourism has been calculated at over £25million annually
• This is the tip of the iceberg – there is huge potential for salmon angling tourism in NI – however this can not be developed at present as the pre-requisite is to have a healthy population of salmon in our rivers
What benefits will the removal of the nets bring?
• Very simply the removal of the nets will be more salmon returning to our rivers every year
• More salmon coupled with conservation measures already in place will help to restore our rivers to abundance
• Increasing numbers of returning salmon will unlock the potential of angling tourism which will benefit entire local communities rather than a very small number of individuals
I will keep this section updated as things happen with the No Salmon Nets campaign ... in the meantime I have pasted in some background info
Who are we?
• ‘No Salmon Nets’ (NSN) is a cross community pressure group formed in response to the dire/critical state of our migratory fish stocks, principally the iconic Atlantic salmon
• The group has no political, religious or other affiliations and is made up of a broad collation of concerned anglers, individuals, representatives of angling clubs and organisations
• What unites this group is a collective desire and commitment to work together to protect and conserve our remaining salmon stocks for present and future generations
What is our aim?
• We have one simple, overriding aim and that is to see a return to abundance of our salmon stocks for the benefit of the whole community
What are we calling for?At the moment we believe the single biggest obstacle in the conservation of our salmon stocks is the continued operation of licensed salmon nets on the north Antrim coast, we are therefore calling for:
• The immediate removal of the remaining 6 salmon nets which are licenced annually by the Department of Culture Arts and Leisure (DCAL)
Why are we calling for this – the state of salmon stocks today?
• Salmon numbers all over Ireland are under pressure like never before, the situation has reached critical levels in many areas, with many rivers in the south now closed, while others have severe restrictions in force
• The situation in the north in the DCAL jurisdiction is particularly precarious – here most if not all rivers are not meeting their conservation limits – put simply this means they are not getting enough salmon returning to the rivers each year to sustain the population in the long term
What is being done?
• Anglers are only too aware of the state of our salmon stocks and are taking action to reverse this trend
• Many clubs are very proactive, carrying out a range of conservation measures such as voluntary catch and release, habitat restoration and enhancement, voluntary bailiffing to safeguard stocks, and running local hatcheries
What impact are the remaining commercial salmon nets having?
1. These nets cancel out conservation work
• These measures can and are making a difference to the salmon stocks in our rivers but they need to be part of a bigger joined up management approach - at the moment this is not the case
• Hatcheries and other conservation work helps to repopulate rivers with more young fish, these go to sea and then return to the rivers to spawn and begin the cycle again
• However many of these salmon are intercepted by salmon nets before they enter the rivers – this effectively cancels out any positive gains in terms of more fish returning to repopulate the rivers
2. These nets are in breach of the EU habitats Directive
• The majority of these nets are ‘mixed stock’ – this is the most destructive type of netting as it is non-discriminatory ie. they catch salmon destined for rivers on both the east and west coasts (Foyle and even Donegal) rather than a single river
• This is a big problem as everyone is ‘working blind’ as you simply do not know where the salmon are from or destined - this means it is impossible in practice to manage or protect stocks from rivers where numbers are critical
• These nets are in breach of the directive as it has been scientifically proven that some of the fish are destined for Special Areas of Conservation (SACs) – these areas are strictly protected sites designated under the EC Habitats Directive
• By contravening the EU Habitats directive the UK Government is liable for hefty fines – in practice these will be deducted from the NI block grant so will effect each and every one of us in NI
• The Ulster Angling Federation have lodged an official complaint with the EU on this – this is scheduled to be heard at the end of this month (January 2012)
3. Restricting social and economic benefits of angling in rural communities
• These nets bring in approx £61,000 per year to the public purse – angling tourism has been calculated at over £25million annually
• This is the tip of the iceberg – there is huge potential for salmon angling tourism in NI – however this can not be developed at present as the pre-requisite is to have a healthy population of salmon in our rivers
What benefits will the removal of the nets bring?
• Very simply the removal of the nets will be more salmon returning to our rivers every year
• More salmon coupled with conservation measures already in place will help to restore our rivers to abundance
• Increasing numbers of returning salmon will unlock the potential of angling tourism which will benefit entire local communities rather than a very small number of individuals
