Drastic action needed now to save pike

WHILE walking in the Gearagh river in the Macroom area of Co Cork recently I came across a number of anglers hoping to enjoy a bit of pike fishing, as they have done for years.

Every single angler I met told me the same tale - the pike fishing there is a disaster, not a single bite of any kind.

One of them said that five years ago he caught specimen fish of 15lbs and 12lbs on a regular basis. Now, nothing.

Why should this be?

While the majority of these anglers tend to catch pike and return them to the waters to fight another day, there are some (especially east Europeans) who take a specimen home for the table. Nothing illegal or morally wrong here per se, but when the number of fish is so greatly reduced, something should be done.

Some ideas :

* Make fishing in the Gearagh illegal (it is, after all, a nature reserve)

* Enforce a one-year ban on pike fishing in the Lee Valley to let numbers get back to normal.

* Strict enforcement of fishing permits, with Garda support.

If drastic measures are not taken straight away, pike fishing in the ‘Beautiful Lee Valley’ will be a memory to tell our grandchildren about.

John McCaffrey

Glebe

Coachford

Co Cork