Sir, - Now that the neatly choreographed campaign in reply to my original letter has petered out, I would appreciate the opportunity to address some of the statements made. The general thrust of the letters is that there is a sea trout stock problem in 1998. Again, I urge anyone who remotely cares to ask the following simple questions when allegations are made of sea trout declines: Exactly where? By exactly how much? Have you conclusive proof? Using this simple test, Bord Failte and all the other State institutions could have saved themselves a lot of bother and money in 1994/5 in relation to Lough Currane, which was alleged to have collapsed because of salmon farming. It was delisted as a sea trout fishery only to miraculously recover to its full former glory with the introduction of an electronic fish counter!
Peter Mantle, who has the unique distinction of being both a well-seasoned anti-fish farm activist while running a successful salmon farm on the Delphi fishery, is, as he says himself (August 21st), starting to sound monotonous. His hatchery-reared fish are produced to be taken on the rod, ours for the supermarket shelves and restaurants of Europe. In an ideal world, we should be co-operating instead of trading insults in the media. However, as long as we allow State inspectors onto our farms on an almost weekly basis yet the state of the Delphi remains a mystery because last year Mr Mantle banned State inspections, there will always be a gulf of mistrust between us.
Of the other letters, once the above acid test of proof of "collapse" is applied, they merely highlight the incredible ignorance of the facts among people who regard themselves as experts. For instance, it is a sad reflection that Mr Conneff, who sits on the Eastern Regional Fisheries Board as an anglers' representative, actually believes that sea lice live in mud under salmon cages (September 4th). Fortunately, this strange trait exists only in Mr Conneff's imagination and has no foundation in the actual biology, life cycle or habits of the sea louse.
Most disturbing of all however, is the content and tone of the letter by Mr Greg Forde of the Western Regional Fisheries Board (August 26th). It is of no great comfort to salmon farmers, and I'm sure the general public, to know that their taxes are paying for a concerted campaign by a State body against a legitimate industry which includes personal attacks on industry representatives. His concern about where I base myself is touching (I'm sorry I manage only a weekly visit to Galway, but the aquaculture industry is flourishing in every coastal county!). However, it is disgraceful that this statutory board continues to support the legal case against its own paymaster (the Minister for the Marine) and that its deliberate anti-fish farm policy forces it to ignore the revival in sea trout on their own doorstep.
The main point of my original letter, i.e. that it is impossible to find any evidence of a problem with sea trout fisheries in 1998, has been reinforced greatly since July. Reports continue to pour in of a bumper sea trout year in areas with and without nearby salmon farms (but, strangely, sea trout are reported to be completely absent in the fish-farm-free South East).
To quote your own Angling Correspondent Derek Evans, (August 15th) it really is a case of "Sea trout here, sea trout there, sea trout everywhere...returns this season will surely surpass all previous records." Unless of course it doesn't suit you to notice. - Yours, etc.,
Richard Flynn,
The IFA Fish Farming Section,
Irish Farm Centre,
Bluebell,
Dublin 12.