Act now to save the salmon
In it, the South West Regional Fisheries Board is quoted as saying that around 50,000 fish were caught commercially in the South-West and around 30,000 were caught on the rod by anglers.
They claimed that the anglers wanted to reverse that situation “so that they can get more of the resources”.
The real issue here is that the commercial drift net sector are taking 75.99% of the total catch nationally and, within the South-West region, 83.33%.
Anglers, on the other hand, account for 10.05% of the total catch nationally and within the South-West region, they take 5.7%.
My findings are based on summary statistics from the Central Fisheries Board for 2001 (the most up-to-date available on their website).
They are:
* Cork bagnet, 113; Kerry, 112.
* Cork driftnet, 36,287; Kerry, 23,224.
* Cork rod-and-line, 1,682; Kerry, 2,451.
* Cork draftnet, 3,788; Kerry, 5,129.
* Cork total: 41,870. Kerry total: 30,196.
The issue that faces this country is the demise of the salmon and immediate action is required to save the species for the future.
Ireland is the last country in the north Atlantic to allow a commercial driftnet fishery. Banning angling and/or closing rivers will not save the salmon from extinction.
Seventy-three percent of anglers who purchase a salmon licence do not catch any salmon.
Salmon are not, by any stretch of the imagination, easy to catch. Anyway, anglers are only allowed to take 15 salmon per year per licence.
Obviously, if the 877 driftnets were bought out for a fair price, then the future of the salmon would be given an enormous boost.
The Government know they must make a stand.
Don’t wait for the EU to step in and provide the funding. By then it may be too late. Action is already long overdue.
I challenge the South-West Regional Fisheries Board to refute my statistics.
Paul Dorman
58 Gillabbey Street
Cork
