Thu Aug 24, 2006 11:14 am
Fri Aug 25, 2006 10:32 am
Mon Sep 04, 2006 9:44 am
Having read Mike Fitzpatrick's article (The Irish Times, August 23rd), in favour of continuing to commercially fish for wild salmon, I sometimes wonder if we are all living on the same planet.
Catch and release is a way forward. Angler catch-and-release studies have shown that with appropriate capture and handling techniques a high proportion of salmon will survive to spawn. Mortality rates of released fish can drop dramatically when anglers follow a few simple but important guidelines.
Salmon are wild, beautiful and a valuable national resource. If we continue to kill them at the present rate they will be gone for good from many Irish rivers. Careful management could save them. The first step is to stop the mixed-stock salmon driftnets.