The Government has "not yet decided" whether commercial salmon catchers will be compensated if a proposed ban on their activity is introduced at the end of this season, according to Minister of State for the Marine John Browne.
"I am only two weeks in the job," the Junior Minister said yesterday when he met protesting commercial fishermen in Galway before opening the 2006 Irish Skipper Expo.
Some of the protesters from the Irish Traditional Drift and Draft Netsmen's Association had left Donegal's Arranmore island by boat at 4am, risking fog and then icy roads. Bearing banners in English and Irish, the group, from Kerry, Cork, Limerick, Galway and Donegal urged Mr Browne to ensure that a voluntary buyout scheme for commercial salmon licence holders is implemented if they are put off the water.
Earlier this week, the National Salmon Commission, the Government's advisory body on wild salmon management, voted narrowly in favour of an end to the "indiscriminate exploitation of mixed salmon stocks" by the end of this season and the introduction of a compensation scheme next year. This advice has been forwarded to Minister for the Marine Noel Dempsey and his junior partner, and a decision will be made very shortly, Mr Browne said.
However, the commercial salmon catchers believe there will be no guarantee that any compensation package or voluntary buyout is provided for. Connacht-Ulster MEP Seán Ó Neachtain said that while Ireland was "under pressure from Europe" over salmon management, compensation must be paid.
The Minister of State held two meetings with the netsmen's association yesterday and afterwards one of the fishermen's representatives, Frank Flanagan of Galway, said he felt they got a fair hearing. While many licence-holders would support a voluntary buyout, there were island fishermen who depended on salmon for two months a year who should be allowed to continue to fish, he added.
Ironically, the decision may have a negative impact on a Bord Iascaigh Mhara inshore stock-management scheme that the Minister of State was keen to highlight at Irish Skipper Expo. Protesting fishermen said a cessation of salmon fishing would put huge pressure on other inshore stocks and this would have serious implications for the scheme.
