The National Salmon Commission has endorsed proposed quotas on wild salmon catches which have been introduced by the Minister for the Marine, Mr Fahey.
The quota system, which was signalled earlier this year by the Minister, will result in catch reductions of up to 15 per cent in 17 commercial fishery districts.
Waterford, Galway, Bangor in Mayo and Letterkenny in Co Donegal will be among the areas hardest hit, with reductions of 15 per cent, while catches in Ballyshannon, Co Donegal, Lismore, Co Waterford and Ballina, Co Mayo, will be reduced by 10 per cent.
The healthiest fishery districts - with no change to catches proposed - are Ballinakill, Connemara, Dundalk and Drogheda, Wexford, Kerry, Cork and Dublin, while Sligo and Shannon will have reductions of 5 per cent.
In another significant development, the Minister has amended the licensing scheme which he introduced earlier this year for inshore fishing vessels, following complaints from the sector about the financial burden involved.
The commercial salmon quotas are based on a combination of scientific data, fisheries management advice and socio-economic factors, and the baseline has been set on an average catch over the five-year inclusive period from 1997 to 2001.
The Minister said the proposals met the concerns of commercial fishermen. Combined with restrictions already agreed for anglers, they should "protect wild salmon stocks, which are a unique and valuable resource for the whole nation", Mr Fahey added.
Other significant proposals include the retention of existing maximum permissible net lengths in the north and north-west, while the National Salmon Commission will also be asked to consider the issue of "safety days".
The details were agreed at a meeting in Galway earlier this week and were rubber-stamped yesterday by the commission, which was set up as an advisory body to the Minister but has been effectively sidelined.
Data was presented by scientists to the Galway meeting, which was attended by representatives of the central and regional fisheries boards, Bord Iascaigh Mhara, the Marine Institute and the Minister's Department.
The commission's chairman, Mr Joey Murrin, said the Minister had displayed remarkable courage in pushing through the conservation measures, and he hoped Mr Fahey would "hold his nerve" in relation to their introduction.
