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The Irish Federation of Pike Angling Clubs |  |
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Statement
to Affiliated Clubs:
To : Each Affiliated Club The Executive Committee ask that you bring the following important information to the attention of your club/association members. The Shannon Regional Fisheries Board on January 1st last introduced a new coarse angling permit for their 27 managed waters. (Of these waters, pike angling is permitted on only 12, while 26 are available for game angling). This permit costs €35 for the current season and will be enforced by SRFB staff. The issue of this permit was raised at the Federation's AGM in 2002. The Chief Executive Officer of the SRFB made a presentation on the new permit at the AGM, but club delegates who attended the meeting spoke out strongly against the introduction of the permit at that time. This situation remains unchanged and our main dispute lies in the continued removal and culling of pike on Loughs Owel, Ennel and particularly on Lough Sheelin. We have received reports of club members of our affiliated clubs having photographed dead and dying pike estimated at up to 20lbs in gillnets on Lough Sheelin a number of weeks after our last AGM. In addition, to date, we have received no assurances that further culling and removal of pike will not take place in the future and we find it incredulous that we are being asked to pay a €35 permit to fish waters where the Shannon Regional Fisheries Board are engaged in killing the very species we wish to fish for. Our views in regard to our opposition to the permits introduction
were outlined in the national media when an interview between our
Chairman, John Chambers and RTE's Midlands Correspondent, Cieran
Mullooly, was broadcast on January 27th on both TV and radio. A
full transcript of this interview will be posted in the next few
days on our website In short, considering current events, the Federation has unfortunately no option but to adopt the following position and asks for the support of all affiliated clubs in its observation. We acknowledge that this stance will have greater implications for some of our affiliated clubs whose principal waters are among the listed managed waters but we see little option in this matter. ''The Irish Federation of Pike Angling Clubs hereby requests that our members boycott the 27 managed waters of the Shannon Regional Fisheries Board until further notice. This action is in direct response to the activities of the Board which we believe are contrary to the preservation and conservation of pike.'' Note: Some of the most notable waters affected are the Rivers Inny,
Suck and Brosna and Lough's
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