Fish a target for birds after Mayo river bank collapse

FISH are finding themselves easy picking for diving birds after a river bank collapsed, flooding adjoining lands.

The banks on the Belclare River in Westport are falling down at one location, Councillor John O'Malley told a local municipal district meeting.

The water and fish are going out onto the fields and birds are diving down, catching the fish, which includes salmon.

The landowner, he said, has seen the fish in the pools of water and the birds diving for them.

If a person took a salmon they'd be fined, but there's nothing they can do about the birds, he quipped.

On a serious note, the river banks need to be built up, he said.