Sir, - The latest diatribe from the chief propagandist for the salmon farming industry, Mr Flynn (August 14th) brightened an otherwise dreary day in Connemara. His entertaining contribution, which for the umpteenth time sought to deny his paymasters' role in the sea trout collapse, is now pinned above my desk together with such other newspaper gems as "Man Found Dead in Graveyard" and "Elvis Speaks From Mars". His laughable claims, while lacking even the slightest factual substance and undeserving of detailed consideration, do elevate "public relations" to an art form which Lewis Carroll would greatly have admired. In the salmon farmers' wonderland, it would seem, reality is replaced by glorious fantasy.
Only one dull fact spoils the teaparty and requires monotonous restatement. Most western sea trout fisheries remain devastated. The few that have staged any sort of comeback are those whose neighbouring salmon farms have controlled their sea lice. Outside the salmon farming industry and its circle of paid hacks, there is no longer any scientist or interested layman who seriously disputes the overwhelming evidence that salmon farms caused the collapse.
But please allow the Luddites sheltering in IFA headquarters further space to describe their looking-glass world. It's been a gloomy summer down here. - Yours, etc., Peter Mantle,
The Delphi Fishery,
Leenane,
Co Galway.