Angling Notes: At a time when the lobby to cease salmon drift netting is at an all-time high, writes Derek Evans, it is fitting to repeat the wording of the full page advert in The Irish Times of December 10th, 2001, on behalf of the North Atlantic Salmon Fund.
Some 200,000 salmon are caught in the nets of Ireland's commercial fishermen during June and July. It is a catch worth about €3m. You might ask what is the problem with that? Well, the simple answer is that these fish could be worth so much more to our country. If the salmon were allowed to complete their epic voyage, their presence in our rivers would attract tourist anglers who would spend 40 times as much. And most of the fish would not even be caught or killed.
So we're talking €120m as opposed to €3m. And that is only part of the problem. Our salmon are threatened with eventual extinction by the walls of nets they face.
Most commercial fishermen are acutely aware of this. They don't want it to happen. And they want to do something about it. But they have to live. So, naturally, they are looking for some form of compensation.
And that's where the new Minister of State at the Department of Marine, Pat the Cope Gallagher, comes into the picture. Rather, that's where he should come into the picture. Right now, the Minister should be negotiating a deal with the commercial fishermen. A deal that would save salmon stocks, restore our rivers, radically revitalise our angling tourism and create so much more prosperity.
Everybody else wants to do something about it, including the Stop Salmon Drift Nets Now (SSDNN) campaign, the Federation of Irish Salmon and Sea Trout Anglers, the international conservation lobby, salmon-producing nations in the North Atlantic and Irish tourist interests.
NASF, the North Atlantic Salmon Fund, which works successfully with commercial fishermen to protect the salmon before they get to Ireland, wants to complete the job. It has put forward a viable compensation plan and said it will share the costs with the Minister. But he has failed to take up this great offer.
Twelve years ago 11 per cent of holidaymakers who visited Ireland were anglers. Tragically, things are now so bad we're down to 1 per cent.
So, in one stroke, Ireland could regain its world leadership in angling tourism - with all the attendant economic benefits. The Minister would really have to be sleeping with the fishes not to act. And act fast.
And you can do something about it, too. If you value the survival of a magnificent species and its potential to boost Ireland's economic fortunes, ask your local tourist board to lobby the Minister or get your TD to demand action.
Better still, as part of the ongoing campaign, SSDNN has decided to make its presence felt in Killarney on October 22nd for the Fianna Fáil Árd Fheis.
Every effort should be made to attend this event as it is your opportunity to show your disapproval to the present mismanagement of our national salmon resource.
Two important points. First organise your club or a group of friends to go to Killarney, the lobby will be in the afternoon and evening; Second, tell SSDNN about what you are planning by email to info@stopnow.ie or by post to campaign director, Vincent Duigan, 1 Bullock Park, Carlow.
After all of 20 minutes playing the fish, during which time it managed to pull the boat backwards against the current, the monster trout was finally brought to the net. Just in time because the hook straightened and fell out of its mouth. The official weight registered at 7.3kg.
According to Dr Roche, secretary of the Irish Specimen Fish Committee, the Irish record dates from 1894 at 11.8kg, Brian's fish comes in at about number 30 in the top 50. The Lough Mask record is 8.4kg, set in 1950. On this count, his fish is rated at eight on the Mask top 10, if ratified by the specimen committee.