Previously called “The Standing Scientific Committee” who advised on salmon Conservation Limits/ status of river stocks etc. Reformed some years ago to include the cross border dimension.
Atlantic salmon conservation work at Inland Fisheries Ireland is supported by independent scientific advice provided by the Technical Expert Group on Salmon (TEGOS) and its parent body the cross-border North South Standing Scientific Committee on Inland Fish (NSSSCIF).
Setting conservation limits and assessing the status of salmon stocks
The data sources used by the TEGOS include fish counter data, angling logbooks and commercial catch statistics, supplemented by expert opinion on the fishery status of each salmon river. Each river has a designated conservation limit: the probable number of returning salmon that meet the spawning requirements to maintain a river’s salmon population.
In a given year, TEGOS uses data from the previous five years to predict the number of adult salmon that will return the next year (year six). If the predicted return of fish in year six is greater than a designated conservation limit for each river, we deem there to be a surplus of fish. This means that we can set an allocation or limit on the number of fish that can be harvested by commercial fishing or angling, without affecting the overall sustainability of the population.
On this basis, fisheries may be opened for harvest, opened for catch-and-release only or closed for angling. The stock assessment takes into account the one-sea-winter grilse (1SW) and multi-sea-winter springer (MSW) stocks of each river where appropriate.
Enacting legislation to protect salmon stocks
The advice of Inland Fisheries Ireland, supported by TEGOS and NSSSIF, is submitted to the Minister for the Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment. The Minister subsequently publishes corresponding draft regulations, followed by a 30-day public consultation period. After this, the draft regulations are finalised and enacted in advance of the next salmon angling season.
As well as legislating whether each salmon river is opened for harvest, opened for catch-and-release only or closed for angling, the salmon regulations stipulate total allowable catches for salmon rivers that are open to harvest.
https://www.fisheriesireland.ie/what-we-do/research/technical-expert-group-on-salmon-tegos
River / stock specific information used in the salmon catch advice process (for 2021 advice):
FOI Request on TEGOS
“Atlantic salmon conservation work at Inland Fisheries Ireland is supported by independent scientific advice provided by the Technical Expert Group on Salmon (TEGOS) and its parent body the cross-border North South Standing Scientific Committee on Inland Fish (NSSSCIF)”
1) List of membership, named chair and number of years on Board for Directors of each of the above organisations
2) Constitution, governance, details on appointment of Director or other governance documents outlining the remit of the two organisations
3) Minutes and agendas from Board meetings for 2020/21