Angling crisis - Government must act to halt decline

THE worrying fall-off in the number of anglers visiting this country to fish for salmon is a direct result of the Coalition’s failure to tackle drift netting, the primary cause of the drastic decline in stocks.

Any lingering doubts about this have been dispelled by the latest figures showing the number of people visiting Ireland to fish for salmon has halved in the past six years.

As a result of over-fishing by drift nets, a vital part of the tourism industry is being decimated.