Sir, - The story of the success of the Central Fisheries Board (The Irish Times, May 4th), was misleading. While other tourism sectors are growing on average by 8 per cent per year, tourism angling is in deep crisis.
The Comptroller and Auditor General's report of July 1997 on the management of inland fisheries included recommendations which continue to gather dust. The report has not been acted upon and seems to have been treated with contempt by the successive Government ministers responsible for inland fisheries and tourism angling.
Ireland, before the rod-licence dispute, was the undisputed world leader in tourism angling. Angling is the biggest activity sport in the world with 20 million active registered anglers in Europe and 60 million in the US.
Ireland with its rich under-developed angling resources is uniquely placed to satisfy the needs of this huge market. If our very large State-owned inland fisheries resources were developed and managed for the maximum national benefit, tourism angling revenue could finance the building and overheads of several Bertie Bowls.
While he concentrates his efforts on the Bertie Bowl, the Minister for Tourism and Sport, Dr Jim McDaid, ignores the decline in tourism angling which is now running at 15 per cent a year. He is ignoring the enormous potential of inland fisheries, a debt-free State-owned asset which is potentially worth billions of pounds if properly developed.
Bord Failte ignores its own yearly tourism figures which report the decline in tourism angling from 184,000 in 1994 to 70,000 in 1999.
The £19 million plan for tourism angling from 1994-1999 was to have increased tourist anglers by 7 per cent annually, from 184,000 in 1994 to 240,000 in 1999. Chief executive John O'Connor claims that the Central Fisheries Board achieved its targets. The target for tourist anglers was certainly not achieved. - Yours, etc.,
Ofko Holtkamp, Athlone, Co Meath.