SHRFB Coarse Angling Permit
(The letter and information below was sent to all 226 Dail Deputies and Seanad Senators on 5th June 2003)

5th June 2003

For the attention of:
All Members of the Houses of the Oireachtas

Dear Member,

We are currently in dispute with the Shannon Regional Fisheries Board on two related issues i.e. the introduction of a €35 coarse angling permit on many midland waters and the continued use of gillnets to remove and kill thousands of pike and coarse fish from some of these midland waters.

Coarse Angling Permit

This charge to fish the Rivers Suck and the River Inny together with their respective lakes was introduced for the first time this year. We object to this on a number of grounds, principally;
1. We are expected to fish waters where the Shannon Regional Fisheries Board is intent on killing the very fish we are expected to pay to fish for.
2. Our permit fees could well be used to help fund the pseudo killing operations.
3. We are of the opinion that these waters should be operated as mixed fisheries and that coarse fish should not be removed from them. In this regard, please note that large numbers of the pike/coarse fish being killed are of specimen and record weight. If marketed properly, these waters could attract thousands of visiting coarse anglers.
4. The numbers of overseas visiting coarse anglers have dropped from 170,000 in 1996 to 89,000 in 2000. The introduction of additional costs will only help to drive more away.

Gillnetting

Gillnetting is a horrible and cruel way of removing fish from a lake. Long nets are set, which fish of all species swim into and become entangled and damaged. Fish sometimes die within a few hours though normally it would take a day or two. This is a barbaric method and has no place in the twenty first century. Wildlife can also become entangled and die as some of our photographs show.

Our 7000 members have voted to boycott these waters (see flier) and we are requesting all anglers to do the same. If no progress is made we will shortly be erecting "NO FISHING please" posters on many of these waters where local clubs and landowners agree. We will also be advising U.K and Continental tour operators of the position. We do not wish to go down this path. You can update yourself by visiting our website at www.angling-in-ireland.com. If you would like clarification on any issue, please do not hesitate to contact me. We would welcome your support on the above issues and we kindly request that you contact the Minister for Communication, Marine and Natural Resource and the Shannon Regional Fisheries Board with your considered views.

Yours sincerely,

John Chambers
Hon. Chairman

If you purchased a Euro35 Shannon Regional Fisheries Board permit you may have helped fund this!


This year the Shannon Regional Fisheries Board have introduced a coarse fishing permit on a wide range of waters in the midlands. The Irish Federation of Pike Angling Clubs objected to this permit on a number of grounds, which would include:

(a) We are expected to pay Euro35 to fish waters where our fees may be used to fund gill netting and killing of the very fish we want to catch

(b) Angling tourist visitor numbers have plummeted from 170,000 in 1996 to 89,000 in 2000. We believe that this extra cost on visiting anglers may lead to a further decrease in visitors

(c) Some of the Shannon Board's "Managed Waters" where pike and coarse fish are killed hold huge numbers of specimen and record coarse fish. An example would be the specimen and record Roach to 5lbs 4oz netted and killed on Lough Ennell in 2002. There should be a cessation of removal of these valuable fish and these waters should be developed to their best potential in the local and national interest.


To secure a fair deal for coarse and pike anglers we request your support in bringing about a change in Shannon Regional Fishery Board policy.

PLEASE BOYCOTT the "Managed Waters" which include the following: River Suck and Loughs Hollygrove, Loung and Doo River Inny and Lough's Sheelin, Kinale, Derravaragh, Owel, Ennell, Ballinafid, Mc Evoys, Slevins, Sheever,Iron Rivers Brosna and Little Brosna

PLEASE WRITE TO the members of the Shannon Regional Fisheries Board and Public Representatives to inform them of your views on their coarse permit.

Members of the Shannon Regional Fisheries Board (Addresses supplied)

Jim Horgan
Andy Mc Callion
Patrick Peril
Mathew Benn
Gabriel Mc Kenna
John Slattery
Michael Flanagan
Edmond Costello
Martin Mc Enroe
Michael Callaghan
Sean Young
Joe O' Donaghue
Jim Robinson
Paddy Isdell
Seamus Mc Dermot
Mary Bohan
Declan Quigley
Mary Candler-Kennedy
Peg Ward Heslin
Breege Murray
Paddy Mackey
Cllr. Hugh Lynn


Issued by the Irish Federation of Pike Angling Clubs, Oldcastle Road, Ballyjamesduff, Co. Cavan

Article in the "Roscommon Champion" dated 16th May 2003

The following is a copy of a letter - which is self-explanatory - sent to the Shannon Regional Fisheries Board - and forwarded for publication, to the Roscommon Champion:

Eamonn Cusack,
Shannon Regional Fisheries Board,
Limerick.

Dear Sir,

Thank you Mr. Cusack, thank you very much for your vision and your foresight. Thank you very much for the introduction of this tax, licence, permit or whatever you wish to call it. Thank you very much for one of the most enjoyable fishing weekends I and twenty of my colleagues have ever enjoyed. Yes, due to the 'permit' our annual pike fishing outing, between our club and Dublin bus, was switched from Roscommon to Arva in Co. Cavan.
Our initial plan was to base our group in Roscommon town and fish the surrounding Suck valley. This was sadly spoiled by the introduction of this ' Permit'. Each member of our group agreed that, on principal alone, we would not purchase a 'Permit' in any form, which regrettably led to the cancellation of our hotel booking. We decided instead to take our business elsewhere and what a weekend we had.
The Brefni arms Hotel in Arva provided superb accomodation and food, and catered for all our angling needs. The nearby lakes of hollybank, Guliadoo, and Glasshouse provided excellent sport, where we caught and released nearly ninety pike!
I would like to extend our special thanks to the proprietor, Eamonn Gray and his staff for their kind welcome. The swimming pool, Jacuzzi and sauna cured many a sore head!
However, it is the business people of the Suck Valley and the other Shannon areas I commiserate with.
Taking into consideration travel, accommodation, food and entertainment I conservatively estimate that our trip would have given 5000Euro to the economy of Roscommon Town. But again, as a direct result of this permit we took our business elsewhere. I am sure this type of business, especially in March, just cannot be turned away and recouped later in the year.
Certainly it won't be recouped from any of our group, because as long as this permit is in existence none of our group will fish the Shannon Region. Already plans are taking place to return to Arva next year, such was our welcome.
I am deeply saddened that we can't fish one of our favorite regions anymore, i.e the Suck. Nevertheless, I believe we must vote with our feet and wallets and make a stand and as a group we certainly intend to.
To the hotel, B&B owners and business people of the region I apologise for our actions, but I feel it is the only way we can be heard. Once more, to Mr. Cusack and the S.R.F.B. thank you for pointing us in the direction of Arva. I am sure such foresight is much appreciated by the business people in Roscommon and the Shannon area.

Yours Sincerely,
Sean O' Brien.

The following information is factual and states the fundamental grounds of opposition to gillnets.

What are Gillnets?
"Gillnets are composed of fabric mesh attached to a lead line and a float line. Gill netting is the capture of fish by entanglement in a fabric mesh that is not actively moved by man or machine. Although gill netting requires little skill or special training, it requires two trips (one to deploy the net and one to collect the fish) and has the potential for vandalism of the gear. Gill netting also kills many fish caught in the net or injures fish upon removal. For this reason, gill netting must not be conducted in areas where endangered, threatened, or special-concern species may be present."
(The above is an extract from the Website of the "U.S. Geological Survey")


Gill nets and their use in "Stock Management"
· Gill nets are used each year by three of the Regional Fisheries Boards to remove Pike and other Coarse fish from a number of large waters where Wild brown trout and Pike co-exist with the aim of preserving the trout stock, under the auspices of scientific advice.
· The process of gill netting, contrary to the implementation of any work plan devised for the safe transfer of any fish captured therein, is irrefutably responsible for the indiscriminate and unselective death of, or damage to, most fish caught. · The effect of this is to destabilise the balance of the remaining stock, which is undeniably compounded by the removal or uncontrolled eradication of the "larger pike", the only natural predator of lesser pike.
· Proven scientifically, the removal of these "large pike" leads to a proliferation of small pike and further compounds the perception of a pike problem, thereby putting the trout stock under greater pressure. (According to "Inland Fisheries Trust" data; in 1961 over 5000 gill netted pike weighed 6 tonnes while in 1979, 13000 pike weighed 6.3 Tonnes. Figures from the "Inland Fisheries Trust" for the period 1968-1979 also showed a drop in the numbers of trout caught in the nets from 3035 to 543, therefore gillnetting did not improve trout numbers, but in fact clearly doubled pike numbers).


Negative impact of gillnets on angling tourism
· The specific use of gillnets by statutory bodies projects an image from Ireland to International pike anglers that there is no respect for the pike species.
· Major International pressure to prevent the planned stock management, by way of gillnetting, proposed under the 1994-1999 Tourism Operational Programme, almost jeopardised the project, but for an agreement reached between anglers and the Fisheries Boards. Anglers strongly believe the full terms of the agreement were not upheld.
· A general decline in quality pike fishing and the destruction of premium, world famous pike angling that existed on the Wild brown trout waters has turned British and European anglers to European "value for money" angling destinations.
· Bord Failte reports show a drop in the number of anglers visiting Ireland from 170,000 in 1996 to 89,000 in 2000, contrary to an expected peak at the end of the 1994-1999 TAM project of 240,000 as referenced to in Dail Eireann on 16th November 1994 by the then Minister for the Marine Mr. Andrews.
· Gillnetting irrefutably was and still is, partly to blame for a reduction in visiting pike anglers.


Health and Safety
· Under the 1989 Safety, Health & Welfare at Work Act, employers have a duty of care towards employee's and the public. The practise of gillnetting constitutes a workplace by the Fisheries Boards using them.
· Gillnets, which can stretch for over 400 yards are mostly unsupervised during the day and left in place overnight, being unmarked except for a buoy at either end, however the nets become partially submerged when fish enter, rendering them invisible.
· No accompanying warning signage on bank or water is used and no precautions to cordon off the area in order to prevent contact by anglers or other water users are undertaken.
· Anglers are becoming increasingly aware that risks exist, such as motor entanglement and the subsequent danger in attempting to become free of the net and also of the hypothetical situation where an angler or water user could in the event of an emergency, try to swim ashore unaware of the net's location or indeed presence and the posed threat to his or her life.
· The issues above are the very least expected in a Health & Safety plan applied to the use of Gillnets and by virtue of their neglect, suggest some statutory bodies are exempt from assessing risks concerning their activities.
This matter will be taken up with the Health & Safety Authority of Ireland.

Note: Some photographs depicting the reality of Gillnetting are included for your review. Pike anglers will continue to expose the truth about gillnets Nationally and Internationally, if necessary, to ensure a cessation of their use in Irish Fishery Management. PLEASE END THEIR USE NOW.

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