Some 150 anglers protested at the Laune River near Killarney, Co Kerry, on the opening day of the salmon fishing season in the south-west yesterday over the Department of the Marine's new wild salmon tagging scheme .
The anglers claimed the scheme "aims to tag anglers, not fish", and would make poaching "and the laundering of wild salmon" easier. The protesters were joined by representatives of FISSTA - the Federation of Irish Salmon and Sea Trout Anglers which represents 11,000 anglers nationwide. Anglers' organisations are asking their members not to comply with the tagging scheme and not to take fish from the river. They said they would also refuse to pay the £500 fines for first-time offences under the new scheme.
FISSTA chairman Mr Noel Carrn said the anglers' protest was "completely about conservation". He added: "Drift-netters can now buy a rod licence and hoard tags until after their season closes in July, which is two months earlier than the recreational angler."
Anglers catch only 3 per cent of salmon but that figure will rise "artificially" with the entry of commercial fishermen under the guise of sport, they predicted. They are also worried about breaches of their civil rights, claiming the logbook which has to be filled regardless of fish caught infringes on their freedom of movement.
However, Mr Aidan Barry CEO of the South Western Regional Fisheries Board, said the purpose of the scheme is to provide valuable information on catches and is a vital means of conservation. "In other countries the experience has been very positive," he said.
Meanwhile, the first salmon of the season in the south-west was caught down river of the protest at the mouth of the Laune. The 13lb fish was caught and tagged by Mr Donal Duggan from the Glen Ryan Angling Club in Cork. He caught the salmon on the first cast, shortly after 8 a.m. He said he did not agree with the scheme nor did members of his club. But he said he wanted to comply with the law.
"The new scheme is not for the anglers' benefit," he said. If fisheries people were worried about conservation, they would stop the drift-netting of wild salmon, he added.