The neglect of our game and coarse fisheries by the Government is a disgrace. And it is costing the tourist industry a great deal of money.
The latest manifestation of this unacceptable behaviour is to be found on the River Nore, in Co Kilkenny, where thousands of wild Atlantic salmon are likely to die for the second year running because of the incompetence of the Department of the Marine and the Office of Public Works (OPW).
A fish weir was constructed there two years ago as part of a flood control programme for Kilkenny city. But the weir was faulty. Salmon were unable to make their way upstream to spawn. And thousands died as a result. It wasn't just the adult salmon that perished. Their potential progeny and hope for the future of angling tourism in the region, numbering millions of unfertilised eggs, died with them.
That disaster is now being repeated because the Department of the Marine did not ensure the necessary remedial work was carried out during the summer months. And the best the OPW can now offer is to place sandbags on the defective weir to assist the passage of salmon upstream to spawn. It may come as news to the OPW, but salmon spawn in November and December. So, its offer to put sandbags on the weir is both too little and probably too late.
This lackadaisical approach to the protection of an endangered species is appalling. Within the Department of the Marine, Minister of State, Pat "the Cope" Gallagher refuses to adopt scientific advice on permissible catch levels by driftnet salmon fishermen. The same lack of foresight failed to protect our coarse fisheries. In the past decade, the IRA and other criminal gangs operated a lucrative trade in illegal eel and pike fishing on the Shannon system. Unprincipled German anglers paid for their holidays by exporting large pike in freezers. More recently, some immigrants have come to regard our coarse fisheries as a source of free food. That may be part of their angling culture, but it has become a real source of friction in some parts of the country. The situation has been exacerbated by the emergence of gangs that use nets and inflatable boats to catch coarse fish in broad daylight.
Angling for the pot is understandable and acceptable, provided conservation rules are obeyed. But the use of nets in inland waters must be stamped out in a sustained operation, using all the resources of the State. Angling tourism is now in sharp decline. Firm action is required to protect all fish stocks and to encourage compliance by anglers.