The Labour Party is putting on record the most radical policy on salmon conservation in the history of this State and that policy is certain to be welcome and supported by all the salmon and seatrout conservation community.

Labour in Government will:

* Ban all driftnetting fishing for wild salmon.

* Ban draft and snap net fishing.

* Compensate all Licence Holders, with the level of compensation to be set by
an independent body.

* Take all Salmon Traps into public ownership and transfer their operation to
Fishery Boards for research only.

* Increase the fines for pollution and illegal fishing.

* Re-locate Fish Farms which have been the main cause of the destruction of
sea trout and damage to wild salmon.

* Give a substantial increase in financial support to Angling Clubs.

In a speech delivered by Jackie Mc Nair of Donegal North East it was clear that the tide was turning against finfish farming in particular as there was not one objector to the motion which was passed unanimoulsy. Here is the full text of the speech.

LABOUR CONFERENCE SPEECH BY J.Mc NAIR

Successive Irish Governments have ignored the potential of our island status and our surrounding seas as a resource to be nurtured for the benefit of all our citizens.

Our membership of the EU has brought many benefits to all sectors of our industrial base except for the fishing industry, which has not been allowed to fulfil its potential due to FF failure to negotiate a better deal at EU level.

But instead of making a serious attempt to help the fishing industry, the present

Government is still actively promoting aquaculture as the saviour of our inshore

fishing industry and coastal communities. Aquaculture offers many benefits to coastal communities but is not the cure for all ills that FF would like us to believe. There are only a few locations around our coast that are suitable for aquaculture development and these are likely to be exhausted before long. Whilst there may be scope for certain limited development of aquaculture the damage that the uncontrolled development of aquaculture can cause to other local industries, particularly tourism and to the marine environment in general has not been fully considered by this Government.

The report on the Task Force on Training and Employment in the Irish Seafood Industry identified deficiencies in training, equipment and food safety practises which will require millions of pounds of investment. Once again, the taxpayer will have the to pay – and for what? Lice infested bays, extinction of the salmonid species and coastal community bodies such as the Save the Swilly up in arms because they are being ignored by Government.

The reality is we have created a monster that is killing our wildlife and damaging the heritage that we should be protecting for future generations.

Ireland still has a “green” image abroad and this image is as important to the conscientious fish farmer promoting healthy farmed salmon as it is to the hotelier promoting scenic views in tranquil surroundings. The unrestrained development of aquaculture has done severe damage to this image. The devastation caused to the angling industry by sea lice and escaped farmed salmon is of particular concern.

This conference calls for the formulation of a proper coastal zone management plan, where all aspects of coastal development and the impacts upon the environment and community are considered together, where the needs of all, are looked at cohesively and not in a way that pits neighbour against neighbour in a struggle for survival.

As part of the plan we need to look at the relocation of finfish farm cages to safer areas where their pollution can be managed professionally. Let us learn from Norway who have greater experience than us in this regard and put the same measures in place here.

The Norwegian government accepts that sea lice from its salmon farms are
responsible for killing wild sea trout and salmon. Norwegian wild salmon
stocks are near extinction in some fish farming areas and the Directorate
for Nature Management has estimated on the basis of work carried out by the
Norwegian Institute for Nature Research, that in some areas, 90% of the
outgoing wild salmon smolt run carries lethal lice levels. The Norwegian
government is now implementing protective measures advocated in the Report
of its Royal Commission on Wild Salmon. These include the relocation of 5
salmon farms in three regions and restrictions on salmon farming in 22
fjords.

This begs the question as to why the Irish government is currently hell
bent on a two to five fold expansion of Irish salmon farms, many of which
are in Norwegian ownership.
As we know to our cost, sea lice from salmon farms in the West of Ireland
have already decimated stocks of sea trout, the species most vulnerable to
lice infestation. Do we want to add the extinction of wild salmon to the
list?
We need the relocation of those salmon farm cages out of our loughs, estuaries and bays where they pollute and breed sealice that kill wild seatrout and salmon species to the point of extinction. We want to see Government agencies assistance going to those companies who are prepared to relocate to the seas instead of the rapid development taking place at present under the encouragement of Dept of Marine & Nat Resources while the Depts of Heritage, Environment, and especially Tourism and Leisure turn a blind eye at every turn. The dominance of aquaculture in a bay chokes any future sustainable and more environmentally friendly development such as tourism related businesses.