Salmon conservation

The culture minister said she would make a number of changes to the law to help protect wild Atlantic salmon, on 11 December 2012.

Caral Ni Chuilin told the assembly she was intending to bring in legislation to impose a mandatory cessation of all commercial wild salmon fisheries to take effect from the 2014 season.

She also said she hoped to introduce a ban on the sale of rod-caught salmon a year earlier.

In addition, the minister said she intended to make catch and release mandatory across the culture department's jurisdiction from 2014.

The minister said the changes would be necessary as wild salmon were dying in significant numbers and some stocks were being threatened with extinction.

Ms Ni Chuilin said that a public consultation on longer term measures for protecting wild salmon had been completed and 83% of respondents supported an end to commercial salmon fishing.