Wild Salmon current status?

IrishHomer

Just curious does anyone know what the latest status is in relation to wild Salmon?

Is there any improvement in numbers since the netting ban?

mp22

http://www.fisheriesireland.ie/Salmon-Management/wild-salmon-and-sea-trout-statistics.html

IrishHomer

mp22 wrote: »

http://www.fisheriesireland.ie/Salmon-Management/wild-salmon-and-sea-trout-statistics.html

Thanks but that report is two years old

mp22

Well as someone who goes angling for the beast's I can tell you that there is a difference in the size of fish caught.The size is increasing.As for the numbers who can tell.

Kess73

mp22 wrote: »

Well as someone who goes angling for the beast's I can tell you that there is a difference in the size of fish caught.The size is increasing.As for the numbers who can tell.

That is certainly not consistent across the country. There are many rivers in county Limerick that were once famous salmon waters that now have greatly reduced numbers as well as a most reduced number of larger fish.

I would hazard a guess that in many counties the salmon numbers were impacted upon more heavily by pollution than by nets.

IrishHomer

Kess73 wrote: »

mp22 wrote: »

Well as someone who goes angling for the beast's I can tell you that there is a difference in the size of fish caught.The size is increasing.As for the numbers who can tell.

That is certainly not consistent across the country. There are many rivers in county Limerick that were once famous salmon waters that now have greatly reduced numbers as well as a most reduced number of larger fish.

I would hazard a guess that in many counties the salmon numbers were impacted upon more heavily by pollution than by nets.

I would definitely disagree with you there.

Ireland is or was the gateway to Europe for Atlantic ocean salmon passing and we have the cleanest waters, Ireland was the last Eu country to ban Salmon netting that only occurred after many years of pressure from European countries as we were basically wiping out Europes salmon as they migrate to Europe passing Ireland on route.

Kess73

IrishHomer wrote: »

I would definitely disagree with you there.

Ireland is or was the gateway to Europe for Atlantic ocean salmon passing and we have the cleanest waters, Ireland was the last Eu country to ban Salmon netting that only occurred after many years of pressure from European countries as we were basically wiping out Europes salmon as they migrate to Europe passing Ireland on route.

Well the volume of salmon not being caught in rivers like the Feale, the Deel, the white river, the Mulcair, the Maigue and stretches of the Shannon around places like Castleconnell compared to the numbers being caught years ago says otherwise. As does the many reported spills (both industrial and agricultural) especially in the first three rivers I mentioned.

It may not be the case all over the country but as I said in my other post I am only talking about the rivers in county Limerick as my example , and the rivers that were heavily polluted in county Limerick over the past five, ten, and fifteen years all flow into the shannon estuary, right where a large number of salmon return each year so that they can access rivers that join the Shannon, most of which are above Limerick.

recedite

IrishHomer wrote: »

Ireland is or was the gateway to Europe for Atlantic ocean salmon passing and we have the cleanest waters, Ireland was the last Eu country to ban Salmon netting that only occurred after many years of pressure from European countries as we were basically wiping out Europes salmon as they migrate to Europe passing Ireland on route.

The nets were across estuaries were they not? So we were wiping out Irish stocks, but not those of other countries?

SeaFields

recedite wrote: »

The nets were across estuaries were they not? So we were wiping out Irish stocks, but not those of other countries?

Drift netting is carried out on the open sea so other countries salmon would have been intercepted as they passed through Irish waters. This was a particular annoyance of the UK who had been working hard to rebuild salmon stocks.

Draft netting it carried out in the estuaries. A lot of the draft net licences have been bought out over the years by angling clubs and that, but mainly on the larger rivers such as the Blackwater in Cork, which are better financed.

Anecdotally illegal netting of rivers is on the increase with the recession and people looking to make a quick few quid and the fisheries boards resources being cut.

IrishHomer

SeaFields wrote: »

Drift netting is carried out on the open sea so other countries salmon would have been intercepted as they passed through Irish waters. This was a particular annoyance of the UK who had been working hard to rebuild salmon stocks.

Draft netting it carried out in the estuaries. A lot of the draft net licences have been bought out over the years by angling clubs and that, but mainly on the larger rivers such as the Blackwater in Cork, which are better financed.

Anecdotally illegal netting of rivers is on the increase with the recession and people looking to make a quick few quid and the fisheries boards resources being cut.

Yes I recall seeing an interesting documentary a few years back on BBC Countryfile where a rich guy from the UK or Europe (not sure) was putting all the blame on Ireland and was trying to buy out the remaining netting people in Ireland.