Salmon drift-netting is to end following the Government's decision to accept the recommendation of the National Salmon Commission that it be phased out from next year.
A three-man committee has been appointed by Minister for the Marine, John Browne, to recommend how this can be done and how fishermen and coastal communities can be compensated.
Mr Browne said the committee would report to him by August.
He said he had made no recommendation to the committee on whether there would be a voluntary or compulsory buy-out scheme and he would not say whether this year would be the last salmon season.
But he said the Government had decided to accept the Salmon Commission's recommendation.
The Irish Hotels' Federation has welcomed the decision.
The IHF Chief Executive, John Power, said it would help regional tourism. He also said there should be a satisfactory compensation package for those leaving the fishery.
The committee will be comprised of: Padraic White, former chief executive of the IDA who wrote a previous report on the decommissioning of the white fish fleet; Professor Tom Collins, Chairman of the National Rural Water Monitoring Committee; and John Malone, former Secretary General of the Department of Agriculture and Food.
