Foyle salmon crisis not taken seriously: MLA

Thus claimed West Tyrone MLA Joe Byrne during a recent debate on indigenous fish stocks at the Stormont Assembly.

The comments coincided with a declaration by the Chief Executive of the Loughs Agency Derick Anderson that netting in the Foyle has been suspended.

Anglers on the River Finn must also fish on a catch-and-release basis only during the current season.

Mr Anderson explained that less than 5,410 salmon tricked a fish counter in the River Finn in two of the past five years. Under new regulations the Lough Agency is obliged to “suspend netting in the River Foyle, Lough Foyle and seaward of Lough Foyle and restrict angling in the River Finn to angling on a catch and release basis only from February 13 to September 15.”

The move came as Mr Byrne called for statutory action to address diminishing salmon populations.

The MLA told the Assembly: “Anglers on the Finn, Mourne and Glebe, all of which are in the Foyle system, have been calling out for years for what was the Foyle Fisheries Commission to recognise the deteriorating state of the river system. They feel strongly that the senior management of the commission, which has been replaced by the Loughs Agency, did not take the crisis seriously.”

Mr Byrne paid tribute to bailiffs employed by the Loughs Agency for their efforts in clamping down on illegal fishing.

But he blamed legal drift and draft netting over many years for the depletion of stocks.

“All clubs involved in the Foyle system feel very strongly that the licensed net holders at the mouth of the Foyle and between Strabane and Derry have, for years, been allowed legally to exploit the river.

“They have depleted stocks so much that all those who fish upriver are being denied the chance to engage in what I would call legitimate fishing on the rod. Many of the clubs have been involved in catch-and-release systems for a long time.

“Many have behaved responsibly and operated a voluntary system. However, the time has come for statutory action, statutory co-ordination and good statutory management of our river system,” said Mr Byrne.