US embassy cable - 05DUBLIN568

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