Why all the pike hate?

Thanks for asking this question, and I really hope all non anglers are asking this question and not just believing the propaganda on those signs, on facebook, and the local news papers, mainly the Connacht Tribune. I'm an all round angler, so I fish for pretty much all species, including Pike, trout and salmon. I'm also from the west of Ireland. I could write an essay of a reply but I'll try to keep it as short and to the point.

If you have 30 mins, watch this video. Its very well put together and debunks most of the propaganda being spread. It also highlights the important role Pike play in a balanced fishery.


Pike are not an invasive species to Ireland, they are a native species, for more info in this link.

The "Anti-Pike" stance held by a large number of anglers in the west of Ireland is nothing new, however in recent times it has become much more than just culling Pike, it has become a front for anglers to complain about IFI, and it has pretty much become an Urban/Rural divide issue.

It was previously the belief of scientists that Pike had a negative impact on trout populations, and as a result their numbers needed to be culled to keep trout stocks healthy. We now know that this is not the case. Pike are cannibalistic, and will control their own numbers. In fact, killing large pike results in an increase of juvenile pike, as there are less larger pike to predate on them. Nature is best left to find its own natural balance in this case.

Since the 1970s, an invasive species of fish called Roach began to spread through out the country. They are present in large numbers in most rivers and lakes in the country now (including the western loughs), except for most mountain areas. As a result, the diet of pike has changed, they now feed mainly on roach rather than on trout. If you look at the video I linked, you can even see this in a submission made by the Connacht Angling Council, yet they are trying to deny it! The problem with roach is their population grows at an alarming rate. They are competing with trout for the same food where they co exist. Culling pike on these lakes, just allows the roach numbers in keep increasing, and will have a negative effect on the trout.

When there is a fall in trout numbers on the Western Loughs, some of the locals point the finger at the Pike, and call for them to be culled. As I've pointed out above, this will not help the situation. Trout are very vulnerable to poor water quality. Farming practices and poor septic tanks in the catchment of these lakes has resulted in a decline in water quality. Nitrogen fertilizer and Slurry run off makes it way into the streams and rivers that flow into the lakes, resulting in an increase in weed growth. Excess weed growth on the gravel beds of the streams the trout use to spawn reduces the spawning area for them. Some of the local clubs perform stream enhancement works every year to try and remove this excess weed growth.

Every spring, Pike are culled on 7 lakes in Ireland to "help" trout stocks. This culling is performed by Inland Fisheries Ireland (IFI), and is based on out dated information. IFI decided to review this whole process in 2017, do decide if culling pike was worth the return on investment (bear in mind its tax payers money paying for these culls, costing around 60k a year. open to correction on that figure). With the new studies showing pike are native, lots of pike hating anglers in the west took matters into their own hands, and hounded their local TDs to create a new bye law that came into effect last October. Most of this bye law was ok, however, one part of the new bye law stated that an angler can kill up to 4 pike of any size per day, on the 7 designated lakes. The same 7 lakes where pike were being culled. The previous laws only allowed 1 pike per day, up to 50cm. Effectively, this bye law allowed the locals to keep culling Pike, if IFI decided to stop. This caused war in the angling community. The Irish Pike Society (IPS), and the Irish Federation of Pike Angling Clubs (IFPAC) brought a case to the high court to get this bye law removed. They won, and the law was annulled a few weeks ago. Just to add, this also shows how rotten Irish Politics is. TDs Sean Kyne, Richard Bruton and Seán Canney fought to get this law over the line, knowing it went against scientific advice. Never underestimate the power of the Parish Pump!

The "Pike are Predators" campaign which led to the creation of that new bye law started around two years ago. The result is that angling in Ireland is in a dire state. There has been lots of online arguments, and threats fired back and forth from each side. I have to hand it to some of the pike hating clubs in the west, they really know to get their propaganda out there. OP, for fun, go to the Oughterard Anglers Association's facebook page, leave a comment asking why are Native Pike being culled on lough Corrib. Then just wait to see how long it takes for you to be banned from their page! Anybody that asks any questions like that, gets banned. The idea is that the locals will only see their point of view, and will not accidentally see any information via comments that goes against their ideology. Then they will tell the locals how important trout are for local tourism (which it is), and how the Pike are eating them all. Of course, the average non angler will then support the locals petition to have pike removed. Just to add, the editor of the Connacht Tribune news paper is from Oughterard, hence why that paper only ever prints one side of the debate.

Thats my summary of the last 2 years, which seen these signs appear along the western loughs.
OP, to answer your original questions:

I believe trout/salmon anglers cull pike numbers from time to time but why is it such an issue now?

In reality, it never was an issue in the first place.

Are pike numbers gone mad?

No, in fact their numbers were higher in the mid 90s.

Are pike not required for a balanced ecosystem?

Absolutely. Just like Lions, Tigers, Foxes, Sharks......

Because they are sex mad cannibalistic trout killing manic invasive fish,
Being from the west myself I have it on good authority 😉,

Let’s not talk about all the rivers that are overgrown with weeds and all that tho,

There’s bigger threats out there to lads precious stocked trout than pike.
Cormorants being a big one.
I’ve noticed a massive decrease in pike numbers. Especially large females. A lot of jacks around and if there’s lots of jacks about then that means there’s not many big females to feed on them. As we all know pike will feed more on pike than other species. And that means pike control their own numbers.
I recently heard of big numbers being killed around lakes in mullingar by trout anglers and clubs alike.
It’s a shame really. They are an amazing prehistoric species. They deserve as much respect as our trout and salmon. A 20 lb pike is a good 20 years old.

Ultimate Seduction wrote: »

Is that the general rule 1lb a year? Saw a good double just thrown on the ground at Lough derg. Didn't look dead long. Discusts me.

http://wildernessnorth.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/FishGrowthChart.pdf

Found that online. I’ve found skulls of massive fish in blessington. Skull sizes indicate the fish would’ve been in late 20pound Mark. This was good few years ago.
It’s as bad as lads killing off bird of prey to protect their farmed pheasants that they shoot