Four rod angling members of the South Western Regional Fisheries Board have resigned over proposals to change the way salmon are killed.
The 21-member board has jurisdiction over the most important commercial wild salmon fishery in Ireland, and governs a coastline of over 1,000 kilometres, 300 loughs, and important game rivers.
The dramatic walk-out came at a heated meeting in Macroom when proposals to introduce monofilament netting in draft net fishing for wild salmon in Cork Harbour were supported by a majority of eight to six.
Chairwoman Ms Ellen Godfrey used her casting vote to defeat an amendment which would have shelved the proposals.
The changes were endorsed by the chief executives of the country's seven regional fisheries and the central fisheries boards, Mr Aidan Barry, chief executive of the SWRFB, said.
Up to 200 anglers from Cork and Kerry protested outside the board's headquarters in Macroom before and during the meeting.
One of those who resigned, Mr John O'Hare, a former president of the Trout Anglers Federation of Ireland, said yesterday he was upset and shocked by the meeting.
"Every country in the world is trying to protect the wild salmon. Here we are trying to find a more efficient way of killing them."
Mr O'Hare said he was fighting a losing battle on the board. Rod representatives' concerns about hydro-electric schemes, and salmon farms next to important angling rivers were being regularly brushed aside by the executive, he claimed.
The other members who resigned were Mr Richard Whitely, representing coarse angling on the board, Mr David Forde, salmon rod representative, and Mr Tom Sweeney, trout angler.
An emotional Mr Forde said measures were being weighted in favour of the commercial sector and against the anglers.
The new move is to be on a trial basis for three years, and is to involve draft netting with strictly controlled mesh size.
A study commissioned by the Cork Harbour draft net sector jointly prepared by the Central Fisheries Board, Still Waters Consultancy, the Cork and District Draft Net Fishermen's Association and the South Western Regional Fisheries Board, found no difference between the use of monofilament and cotton and nylon nets, the meeting was told.