Sir, - Derek Evans in the Angling Notes of your Saturday edition (August 3rd) quite rightly states that the "River Moy must surely be the most lucrative salmon fishery in the world". Catches of over 7,000 salmon in a six-week period provide ample evidence of this fact. He continues to describe the £90,000 spent on the Cathedral Beat in Ballina, which should then "realise 20 new angling places and 29 existing rod places".
Whilst these improvements are to be welcomed by anglers and tourism chiefs alike, the figure of 20 new places is insignificant when compared to the potential which could be easily realised throughout the length of the rivers, if the Moy Fishery curtailed or ceased its practice of capturing many thousands of salmon in the cement "boxes" which lie across all but a small channel of the river above the Ridge Pool in Ballina town. Conservative estimates put the potential or removal of the boxes at 200 new angling places and improvements to all existing rod places, which run into many hundreds.
At present, due in no small way to the existence of the boxes, the local anglers and visitors to the communities of Foxford, Swinford, Knockmore and Attymass, all upstream of Ballina, are experiencing a severe decline in salmon numbers in their areas of the Moy. The resulting adverse effects on seasonal employment for ghillies, accommodation providers and services such as catering, bars and shops are being felt.
The River Moy is world famous for its salmon yield, and has attracted much needed tourist spending power to the areas of North and East Mayo through which it flows. It has also provided many years of pleasurable pastimes to local anglers, male and female, young and old. This Moy tradition, outside of Ballina, is in danger of being lost if the salmon are being arrested from reaching their natural spawning grounds along the entire length of the river by the actions of the Moy Fishery.
Common sense alone would dictate that the wider availability of salmon all along the river would accommodate many more anglers, whether they be local or visiting. Why is it that we can see a queue of people wishing to fish, as mentioned by your correspondent, in Ballina when we also see many miles of the river upstream without an angler to wet a line? - Yours, etc
Main Street,
Foxford,
Co. Mayo.