Ocean linked to depleted salmon stocks

IN 2007, the government finally gave way to international pressure and banned drift net fishing for salmon in Irish coastal waters.

Conservationists were delighted because they felt the fish had been on a slow slide into extinction in this country. But is there any evidence the move has halted the decline in stocks? It’s not that easy to find out. Given the salmon’s lifecycle, it’s still a bit soon for any improvements to appear. But the lack of data on the internet is surprising. 103 rivers were closed to angling at the same time as the drift net ban. Some have since been reopened, but many of them only on a catch-and- release basis. As much of the data on salmon stocks came from observations and catch returns of anglers, the closures led to a reduction in the amount of information available.

There have been other factors. Many electronic fish counters were destroyed by floods over the past couple of winters and funds have not always been available to repair or replace them. There has also been a move towards managing salmon rivers on an individual basis rather than doing it centrally. This is basically a good idea because each river has its own particular identity and set of problems, but it has led to a dearth of national data.