Salmon netting techniques and legality

Silent Runner wrote: »

I am a little bit confused on the area of salmon netting, I have a few questions.

1.The methods are Drift net, Draft net and Snap net. What are the differences between each of these, could someone explain these fishing methods?

Drift net fishing is fishing in the open sea, paying out a light monofilament net up to 800m long, and letting it drift with the tide. After a certain time, the net is hauled and any salmon caught up in it are removed.
Draft net fishing is inshore fishing, where a boat rows out paying out a heavier multifilament net, which is held at one end by a crewman on shore. The boat rows against the tide slowly so that the net forms a semicircle, and when a salmon is spotted inside the "enclosure" or felt hitting the net, the boat rows to shore, closing the circle, and the net is hauled ashore.
Snap net is a very localised, artisanal type of fishing carried out in river estuaries. A description of it can be found here: http://www.iol.ie/~carigeen/salmon.htm

Silent Runner wrote: »

2.As for legallity, I know that the governement introduced a drift net ban in 2007; but why did they ban drift net fishing while draft net catches larger quantities?

Drift net fishing intercepts stocks of salmon from different rivers returning to their home river, out at sea. Draft net fishing is carried out in estuaries and inshore bays, so it targets only those salmon returning to a particular river. Some rivers have enough salmon to sustain a harvest, while others are below their conservation limit (don't have enough salmon returning to spawn and sustain the stock). Draft net fishing in those rivers with a harvestable surplus is still allowed. Drift net fishing was banned because it was indiscriminate and targeted multiple stocks, some of which were below conservation limits.

Silent Runner wrote: »

3.Are draft and snap net fishing legal or are they being phased out?

They are legal where the fisherman has a current licence, in areas where draft or snap net fishing is permitted, and where the fisherman has been allocated a quota and carcass tags to affix to salmon that he catches. AFAIK there are no plans to phase them out as long as we have some rivers that have a harvestable surplus of fish.

Silent Runner wrote: »

4.Is this ban permament or could it be lifted if there is no difference in fish populations?

The drift net ban is permanent, as drift net fishing is a multi-stock fishery. See above. Draft net bans in certain areas could be lifted if salmon stocks improve sufficiently in those rivers, or could be closed if stocks decline.

HTH