Political Activist and fisherman Liam Whyte has called on Inland Fisheries Ireland (IFI) to create a new approach for salmon conservation.
Whyte believes that current tactics have been simply ineffective in conserving salmon stock in the area and has asked the IFI to research other possible causes such as pollution, invasive species and water quality.
Whyte condemned the current monitoring of licensed boats during open fishing season as “borderline harassment.”
“If IFI spent as much time looking at the root causes of salmon decline instead of constantly monitoring and boarding licensed boats legitimately fishing for salmon there could be some chance of a recovery of stocks.”
“The same old cliche of blaming netting and poaching is simply not accurate. The Salmon Drift netting which was universally blamed for decline in stocks has been banned for a decade now and stocks continue to decline . Surely this is enough evidence to suggest that there are other issues need to be addressed if there is to be a recovery,” concluded Whyte.