Sir, I refer to the recent letters by Messrs Nicolas Harman and Donal O'Shea concerning the stocks of white trout in some of the rivers flowing into Clew Bay. I see no reason not to believe Mr Harman's account of his observations of the dwindling stocks on his property; nor do I detect any good reasons in Mr O'Shea's bluster to make me change my mind.
I was not aware that there was a drought this year. I reject Mr O'Shea's assertion that "sea trout numbers have always fluctuated enormously from year to year and doubt will continue to do" (my italics). First, for the use of the word "enormously" and, secondly, because the word "fluctuation" implies ups as well as downs. Since the advent of salmon farming it's been all down where white trout are concerned, so by no stretch of the imagination can the current state of affairs be called a "fluctuation."
Nobody denies the people of Clare Island the right to make a living; but if what salmon farming is considered by our fishery experts to be doing to white trout stocks is the case, then other questions may arise. The purpose of this letter is not to argue these issues, but to rebuff Mr O'Shea's tactics. A similar sort of mentality would have converted Croagh Patrick into a gold mine. Yours, etc.,
Barcelona, Spain.