Salmon stocks have been in crisis for many years now and if nothing continues to be done then extinction of the species and our heritage is certain. The drift and draft netsmen who make their living for two months of the year will be among the first causalities and their dropping incomes tell them that already this is a reality. But if the plan by Icelandic Orri Vigfusson succeeds then Irish netsmen could be the highest paid fishermen in Europe under his North Atlantic Salmon Fund scheme.
The angling and tourism industry also depend heavily on the salmon and seatrout to bring in visitors and spend their hard earned holiday money in areas all along our rivers and lakes in this country. This kind of business does not need much of the national salmonid stock to keep the angling market returning every year. Just around 3% (rod) of the national salmon catch has done in the past, while 93% is taken by drift nets (88%) and draft nets (5%) every season. Last week something happened in Dublin that will have very significant effect on all of us who value the salmon and seatrout in this country.

The Minister for the Marine and Natural Resources Mr Frank Fahey T.D. appointed Joey Murrin as the new Chairman of the National Salmon Commission - a 21-member group to decide on the future direction of salmon conservation. Like a lot of ministerial appointments, many cynics would see this appointment at first glance as a post for some past reward. If this is the case, then Joey Murrin must have done something awful to deserve what many in Donegal fisheries called this weekend 'this poisoned chalice'. I agree the appointment is no easy backwater for his introduction to retirement as it is fraught with the dangers of sectoral interests from commercial netsmen to anglers to hotel and guesthouses who all depend on the salmon and seatrout as means of their survival.

For those of you who may not know, Joey Murrin is former fisherman and Chief Executive of the Killybegs Fisherman's Organisation - a commercial fishing lobby he built up and led into the 21st century so successfully that it is used as the definitive case study by many developing nations now as their model. Without praising him too much, it is sufficient to say that his fellow KFO members all along the West Coast owe Mr Murrin a huge debt of gratitude for his tireless work in enhancing their livelihoods in the fishing industry whether at sea or on land.

However, many in the angling sector fear the worst and regard the appointment to a salmon body of the most successful leader of Irish commercial fishermen a bit hard to take. FISSTA - The Federation of Irish Salmon and Seatrout Anglers, is the main angling body, which represents over 15,000 rod anglers see the appointment of Murrin as an opportunity for the Government to grasp the nettle and make some tough decisions for the sake of the salmon. The reason is simple. His record , when examined in detail proves through bad times and good, that he embraced conservation. He never fought the conservation of stocks, instead he used his energies to campaign for a better deal to diversify into more rewarding fishing opportunities .Throughout Joey Murrins's career he has succeeded in identifying these scarce opportunities (amid pelagic quotas and restrictions) and encouraged his fishermen to exploit them before any one else did. The results are there to see in Killybegs and other ports along the coast today, and while many challenges have yet to be faced there is no doubt that the trust placed in Murrin has yielded enormous success to the livelihoods of his members. He might have to put retirement on the back burner for a while and do it again for the salmon netsmen.

FISSTA have for many years campaigned for the cessation of drift nets while the salmon stocks decrease, but to no avail. We have never objected to a compensation scheme for netsmen, indeed we suggested as much when we advised the Government three years ago to give their £2m. to the netsmen to buy out the nets instead of spending it on futile counting and tagging system that would not put one extra fish back in the river to spawn. Driftnets take almost 90% of the national catch every season and yet their average income falls way below what it is worth to make the effort. Sure, we all know a few exceptions who did well for a few seasons, but when you sit on a pier you rarely remember hearing of the bad day only the good day's catch.

The future of the salmon is now in the hands of Joey Murrin and he has two choices on how to proceed. He can follow the failed strategies of the past and delay the quotas and buyout of nets by pandering to the greedy few or he can make up his own mind by embracing the conservation issue head on and implementing the plan to return the salmon to Irish and European waters. Yes, not just Ireland, but the people of France, Spain, Germany, and UK are waiting to see if we are going to stop netting the salmon, some of which are destined for their countries as well. Since November 2000, the UK and Northern Ireland went down the conservation road and engaged with Orri Vigfusson. Ireland are the last driftnet fishery left in Europe that has no policy of ceasing driftnetting. It can be done in one season, by putting the North Atlantic Salmon Fund mechanism in place so that the netsmen are guaranteed a fair return for diversifying into other more rewarding ventures for their livelihoods. In Iceland, the fishermen are the highest paid in the western world despite the closure of salmon netting. In 1990, their average income of a fisherman was US$90,000 compared to the UK fisherman earning US$33,000 and it has improved annually since then. It is a fact that Iceland's marine resources are capable of generating annual income on par with oil revenues of some other countries and Ireland should not be too far behind with comparable marine resources. The difference, however, is that Iceland and Ireland's marine resources are renewable, (if managed) and are capable of producing this valuable revenue in perpetuity ensuring a lucrative livelihood for future generations who fish off our coast. Therefore, it is possible to have driftnetting replaced by a far better paid fishing that does not endanger the stocks, and we would all be failing in our duties if we did not explore every possibility to achieve the prize of abundant stocks of salmon and seatrout.

Anglers will not be found wanting when even more is called for than what they already do in conservation, enforcing protection and enhancing the habitat. We welcome the appointment of Joey Murrin to the Chair of the National Salmon Commission in the hope that he will continue to enhance his long established reputation in conserving stocks - this time the salmon, the king of all fish!