Comment: Miles of prime habitat sacrificed in the name of Mayo progress

COUNTRYFILE

Current number one topic for conversation among anglers is the decision by Inland Fisheries Ireland to place restrictions on the number of wild salmon harvested on the River Moy for 2026.

While it is understandable that people affected be disappointed or even angered at this development, we have to admit we have seen this coming at us for some time.

We have had plenty of opportunity to observe the ongoing decline in fish stocks, and just as much time to try and do something about it before the situation deteriorated to the point drastic such action had to be taken.

But what could we have done? And, more importantly, what can we do now so that things improve in the future?

What we cannot do is control what is happening to salmon at sea as they migrate to and from their marine feeding grounds.

That is beyond our reach, and it is only too easy for us to sit at home and blame foreign fishing boats for, allegedly, scooping our salmon up with their vast catches of herring or other pelagics.

Far better to look at what we can do in order to promote the number of juvenile fish making a safe exit from our estuaries than to expend our energy fighting such imaginary foe.

We might start with spawning and say that, for a fact, the amount of suitable spawning gravel has been severely diminished by those whose eager minds work at deepening and straightening mile after countless mile of river and stream.

Questions immediately arise. Who asked that such aggressive drainage be executed? Who really gains from it? The small amount of winter grazing gained by keeping low-lying fields free of flooding is so small that the price is certainly not worth paying.

Unfortunately, some were even persuaded that building homes on flood plains was a sound idea. Now we know full well it was not, but we have painted ourselves into a corner with that.

And now, today, we have some clamouring for drainage and others pleading for restoration of habitat. We can't have both.

If I had my way, I would fill the rivers with rocks and pour lorry loads of gravel over the lot, and give our salmon the room they need to reproduce without the stress of having to spawn in each other's redds, or nests. That would be a start.

Yes, we would have regular floods in riparian zones, just as we had years before.

But those same floods would increase soil fertility by natural means, cutting down the need for artificial fertilisers.

The growing and grazing seasons might be shorter, but we can't have it all ways.

The next thing to tackle would be eutrophication, or enrichment of both ground and surface water.

The Nitrates Derogation generously accorded Ireland by authorities in the EU might be good news for farmers but it is bad news for any who want clean, clear water and waterways unimpeded by such dense growth of plants and algae as to render them unnavigable.

As you drive from A to B, just take note of the appalling condition of every stream you pass over – even small ones were once the nursery homes of salmon and trout. Countless thousands of miles of prime habitat has been sacrificed in the name of progress.

Once a mixture of streams and pools, they are now, for the most part, muddy drains devoid of their natural inhabitants. Our experiment with 'improving' our environment in such a way should be at an end.

Unfortunately, we have various authorities with their own agenda: dredge, protect, preserve, restore. You know who they are.

Until we get some kind of joined-up thinking we will keep losing our valuable things.

What we ought not do is point the accusatory finger at Inland Fisheries Ireland, who are merely juggling the balls we ourselves have thrown.