Proposed restriction could 'wipe out' angling tourism in Mayo
A PROPOSED restriction on angling activity on the Moy could wipe out international angling tourism in Mayo, a public representative has hit out.
There will be war on the rivers if a catch and release lottery is implemented by Inland Fisheries Ireland (IFI), Councillor Neil Cruise predicted at a meeting of Mayo County Council.
Public consultation on the new system is open and he urged the council to make a submission, with colleagues pointing out that issues with fish numbers go back to seals in the estuary and trawlers out at sea swiping the salmon.
The consulTation process is open until December 20 on gov.ie.
Councillor Cruise said he had attended a Ballina salmon anglers' meeting, held because of a 'dire situation' about to unfold in the county.
A brown tag system, a lottery for people coming angling on the Moy next summer, meant those lucky enough to get a tag could fish in a catch and release system, he said.
People from overseas, he predicted, are not going to come to north Mayo and the Moy this coming year, and this was going to 'wipe out' international angling tourism in Mayo.
Councillor Cruise said seals, mink and cormorants are all protected, but there's nothing to protect the angler and those they support when they are here.
With consultation closing this month, they needed to get in on this or else there will be a huge hole in tourism next year and in subsequent years, he told councillors and management.
The brown tag will kill off angling and there will be war on the rivers, he added.
Ballina is the salmon capital of Ireland, Councillor John O'Hara pointed out, and he did not believe the Moy is overfished.
The seals at the estuary - part of the problem - should be relocated, he suggested, while there was no word of the trawlers who swipe the salmon.
Angling is important for tourism and if it's taken away 'we are finished'.
West Mayo Councillor Johnny O'Malley said the rivers need to be cleaned as the beds are full of debris and silt and salmon can't spawn.