Northern Ireland
IP(09)14draft Protection, Restoration and Enhancement of Salmon Habitat Focus Area Report Northern Ireland 1 DCAL[NI] – FEBRUARY 2009 DRAFT NASCO Focus Area Report on Protection, Restoration and Enhancement of Salmon Habitat UK - Northern Ireland 2 DCAL[NI] – FEBRUARY 2009 CONTENTS Page 3. Introduction 5 Overview of salmon rivers in Northern Ireland and the cross border Foyle and Carlingford catchments 11. Current status of salmon habitat 22. Processes to identify and designate key habitat areas or issues 28. Activities and approaches to share and exchange information on habitat issues and best management practices between relevant bodies 32. Work undertaken and planned to protect, restore and enhance salmon habitat 52. Overview of ongoing habitat activities 56. References 57. Annexes 3 DCAL[NI] – FEBRUARY 2009 I. INTRODUCTION Northern Ireland‟s Atlantic salmon management strategy (NASCO Implementation Plan) was finalised in February 2008. The Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure (DCAL) has overall policy responsibility to ensure implementation of the strategy and took the lead in the preparation of the Fisheries Management Focus Area Report submitted in March 2008. The current management approach and proposed actions to implement the NASCO resolutions and agreements pertaining to the protection, restoration and enhancement of salmon habitat are set out in the strategy. This describes that several different government departments and/or their agencies have responsibilities in this regard. A review of this approach and an in-depth assessment of measures that contribute to: Protection of the current productive capacity of the existing physical habitat of Atlantic salmon; and Restoration, in designated areas, of the productive capacity of Atlantic salmon habitat which has been adversely impacted, has, therefore, required inputs, and collation of information, from DCAL, the Agri- Food and Biosciences Institute (AFBI), the Loughs Agency, the Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA) and the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (DARD).
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