WRITTEN QUESTION E-2439/96 by Magda Aelvoet (V) to the Commission (18 September 1996)

Subject: Tourism operational programme

The Commission's Tourism operational programme is said to have granted the Irish Western Fisheries Board £Irl 3 m for a five-year period, for the development of the Western Lakes (Loughs Mask, Corrib and Carra). Following a survey, the quality of which is doubted by experts, pike are said to have been removed wholesale from the lake (using nets), supposedly to protect trout stocks. However, measures to improve water quality and re-establish spawning grounds would seem to be a more effective means of protecting trout stocks. A big question mark therefore hangs over the Irish Western Fisheries Board's approach. Moreover, a considerable amount of money is said to have been spent on new vehicles and flights over the lakes.

Will the Commission state:

1. Why this amount was granted specifically to the Irish Western Fisheries Board?

2. What the programme's aims are?

3. To what extent the ecological impact of the activities is being assessed?

4. What research there has been to support the view that the wholesale removal of pike would benefit the trout population?

5. Whether the use to which the money is being put has already been monitored and, if so, what the results were?

Answer given by Mrs Wulf-Mathies on behalf of the Commission (25 October 1996)

1. Under the tourism operational programme (OP) for Ireland, a total of IR£ 1.036 million has been awarded, to date, to the Western regional fisheries board for the development and promotion of the lakes mentioned

by the Honourable Member as part of Ireland's strategy to attract foreign tourists to the region. The European regional development fund contribution to this project is IR£ 777,000, or 75% of the cost. The sum allocated has been awarded for the following purposes:

- IR£ 36,000 for a cost benefit analysis and marketing survey.

- IR£ 1 million to address the significant decline in wild brown trout stocks. The Corrib is one of only 13 significant wild brown trout fisheries left in Europe.

2. The aim of the project is to increase the tourism revenue from game angling in the West of Ireland. The execution of the project will give rise to an extra 20 jobs over the period of its implementation, while the additional benefit of the completed project should lead to the creation of approximately 200 jobs in the tourism sector.

3. It is a key objective of the project to ensure that the proposed development is sustainable from an environmental and ecological perspective. All developments under the tourism OP are required to comply with the best environmental standards. Furthermore, due account must be taken of the nature conservation objectives of Directive 92/43/EEC on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild flora and fauna ((OJ L 206, 22.7.1992. )), as well as the commitments of the Community and Member States to safeguarding species and avoiding or minimising any deterioration of important natural habitats intended to be protected by the Convention on the conservation of European wildlife and natural habitats. Wild brown trout are a native species while pike are not.

4. There is substantial biological evidence to support the thesis that pike prey on brown trout. Surveys carried out as part of the Western lakes project demonstrate that trout are the principal prey of pike over a certain size. No decision to carry out a pike cull has yet been taken.

5. The Central fisheries board, which is responsible for the day-to-day financial management of the tourism angling measure of the tourism OP, has carefully examined all elements of the proposed budget for the project. Drawdown of funding is only made on the basis of fully vouched expenditure receipts and compliance with the objectives of the project.