THE GOI DISPUTES ITS POOR IMAGE ON SALMON

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 DUBLIN 000568

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/31/2015
TAGS: ECON PREL EFIS SENV
SUBJECT: THE GOI DISPUTES ITS POOR IMAGE ON SALMON
DRIFT-NET FISHING

REF: BALTON-YOUNG E-MAIL OF MARCH 2

Classified By: Political-Economic Counselor Mary E. Daly; Reasons 1.4 (
B) and (D).


1. (C) Summary: In April, the GOI announced a salmon
drift-net quota that exceeded local scientists,
recommendations, prompting protests from the media,
opposition parties, and the North Atlantic Salmon Fund (NASF,
an international NGO coalition). In discussing the GOI's
"side of the story" with Post, fishery officials noted that
the domestic salmon industry was tightly regulated and that
Irish drift nets were not harming other Member States,
salmon stocks. Moreover, Ireland would align salmon quotas
with scientific recommendations in 2007, as it could not do
so now because of the economic burden it would place on
fishermen. The officials added that the GOI was less focused
on NASF criticism than on the possibility of Commission
intervention in Member States' salmon industries. GOI delays
in aligning salmon quotas with scientific advice will give
commercial fishermen more time to reduce their salmon catch,
an approach that fits the governing party's efforts to court
labor in the run-up to the 2007 national elections. End
summary.

Background: Criticism on Drift-netting
--------------


2. (U) Every year, the GOI sets a Total Allowable Catch
(TAC) for salmon and typically allocates 70 percent of this
national quota to roughly 850 licensed commercial drift-net
operations, located mainly on the west coast. On April 22,
Minister of the Marine Pat Gallagher (a sub-Cabinet post)
announced that the 2005 TAC would be 139,900 salmon, or
42,000 above the number recommended by scientists in the
National Salmon Commission, a government body. Gallagher
acknowledged the discrepancy, but noted that the scientists'
recommended catch would have put economic burdens on
Ireland's 1,500 drift-net fishermen. He pledged to align the
TAC fully with scientific advice by 2007.


3. (U) Gallagher's statement prompted public criticism from
several quarters. Opposition parties and leading newspapers
described the TAC as irresponsible, while angler associations
and environmental groups expressed concerns about the
possible extinction of Ireland's wild salmon stocks. In an
Irish Times op-ed, Orri Vigfusson, Chairman of the North
Atlantic Salmon Fund (NASF, an international NGO coalition),
faulted the GOI for breaking earlier pledges to align the TAC
with scientific advice by 2005. He also claimed that
stakeholders in France, Spain, Germany, and the UK, were
"furious" at losing salmon stocks to Ireland's drift nets.

The GOI: "Criticism Is Unfair"
--------------


5. (C) Post sought GOI reaction to the criticism and its
general views on the salmon issue in a May 3 discussion with
Frank Sheridan and George O'Doherty, the Principal and Deputy
Principal, respectively, in the Fisheries Division of the
Department of Communications, the Marine and Natural
Resources. Both officials said that the criticism was
undeserved, since the GOI spent euro 30 million annually to
regulate the salmon industry on the basis of a scientific
monitoring system that "was unequaled in Europe." The system
included 22 infrared-technology fish counters in Ireland's
main salmon spawning rivers and a micro-chip tagging scheme
for 300,000 salmonids restocked annually. Based on
scientific advice, the GOI has taken steps to reduce
over-exploitation of salmon stocks, such as: decreasing the
TAC yearly since 2001; reducing the fishing area at sea from
12 to 6 nautical miles; and, restricting the drift-net season
to June and July. These efforts have yielded a 36-percent
cut in the salmon catch since 2001.


6. (C) Sheridan and O'Doherty objected to efforts by the
NASF and Vigfusson to portray Ireland as the principal
obstacle to international salmon conservation efforts. For
example, Vigfusson had described Ireland as the last European
country to use drift nets, though drift-net operations,
albeit on a smaller scale, continued in Norway, Spain,
Scotland, Northern Ireland, and other parts of the UK. The
GOI also disagreed with the NASF on several other fronts:

A) Scientific Advice. The GOI had not fulfilled its promise
to align the TAC with scientific advice by 2005, but the
reason centered on changes in calculation methods used by
National Salmon Commission scientists. This year, the
scientists recommended a TAC of 97,000 to achieve a 75
percent probability that salmon in Ireland would have
adequate spawning numbers to ensure conservation. If the
scientists had, as in past years, calculated on the basis of
reaching a 50 percent probability of adequate spawning, the
2005 TAC would already be in line with scientific advice.
B) Regional Impact. Scientific monitoring had yielded no
evidence that Irish drift-netting had appreciably harmed
salmon stocks in other EU Member States. To date, no EU
Member State had demarched the GOI to express concern about
Ireland's fishing practices. Sheridan ventured that the
adverse effects of industrialization on fresh water
conditions in France and Spain accounted principally for
diminished salmon stocks in those countries. Notably, the
seven Irish fishery regions identified by Vigfusson as having
dangerously low stocks were located on the east coast, where
industrialization was heaviest, but where drift-netting was
light. (Note: The French Embassy is planning a reception on
May 25 that would focus on salmon issues and include
participation from Post, the GOI, Vigfusson, and the Canadian
and Spanish embassies.)

C) Buy-outs. O'Doherty said that Vigfusson had targeted
Ireland for criticism because the GOI had refused to adopt
his preferred approach to salmon conservation: drift-net
buy-outs. After consultations with commercial fisherman, the
GOI had found that buy-outs were attractive only to
small-time drift-netters. The fishermen who accounted for
the lion's share of salmon hauls were uninterested. The GOI
thus preferred to pursue salmon conservation through strictly
enforced quotas.

Concern about Commission Intervention
--------------


7. (C) The GOI was less focused on NASF criticism than on
the possibility of Commission intervention in the salmon
industry, said the officials. In the past, the Commission
had taken the view that the management of wild salmon, as a
home-water fishery, was primarily a matter for Member
States, governments. Currently, however, the Commission was
preparing a report, with Irish cooperation, on the effects of
interceptory salmon fishing on Member States, which might
recommend options for intervention to ensure the conservation
of salmon stocks. The GOI was also awaiting the Commission's
reply to Irish submissions regarding a complaint by UK
parties that Irish drift-netting violated the EU Habitats
Directive.


8. (U) Emboff noted strong USG interest in international
efforts to restore wild salmon stocks and cited successful
cooperative initiatives with the NASF to increase the number
of salmon returning to New England streams. Emboff also
observed that the USG had assisted in funding the retirement
of commercial salmon hauls in the North Atlantic and would
encourage the GOI to support global conservation measures.

Comment: Courting Labor
--------------


9. (C) Post is not in a position to judge the scientific
merits of the Irish officials' observations; our aim was
mainly to pass along the GOI's "side of the story." We would
note, however, that the campaign for the 2007 national
elections is already underway, and it is probably no
coincidence that Minister Gallagher will wait two years
before aligning the TAC with scientific advice. The delay
appears to fit an emerging pattern in which major government
decisions affecting labor have been put off, such as with
privatization initiatives in the air transportation, health,
and energy sectors. Prime Minister Ahern, who half-jokingly
describes himself as a "socialist," is courting labor heavily
to shore up the support base for the governing Fianna Fail
party. Minister Gallagher's actions to provide a longer,
softer landing for western fishermen on salmon quotas would
seem to be in line with that approach.
KENNY