“Irish South and West Fishermens Organisation disappointed with meeting with Independent Group on Salmon”

The Irish South and West Fishermens Organisation, representing commercial Salmon fishermen in the South West, have expressed their disappointment at the outcome of a meeting with the three man independent group on Salmon which was appointed by Minister John Browne.

Mike Fitzpatrick, of the IS&WFO, said after the meeting "While I appreciate that the members of the Review Group have been asked to conduct a specific task, we were hoping that, at the very least, issues relating to the scientific advice could be discussed. However, the extremely narrow terms of reference outlined for the group by Minister John Browne, do not permit issues such as this to be considered. As a result, we feel that this process is of little or no use to the commercial fisherman as it merely rubber-stamps the recommendations of the Standing Scientific Committee. We have very serious concerns with the way the scientific advice is generated. Even the Scientists themselves, in their R-eport for 2006, acknowledge the fact that the data gathering process is compromised due to lack of resources. It is based on a series of inappropriate assumptions and generalisations. How can a commercial fisherman be expected to accept the overnight wiping out of his livelihood on the basis of such advice? There is still time for Minister Browne to redraft the Terms of Reference of the Independent Group so that our legitimate and well-founded concerns can be taken into account."

30th May 2006