Salmon is an endangered species and may be eradicated in the north-east of the State, according to local fishermen and anglers. Elaine Keogh reports.
They have blamed the continued use of drift-net fishing as well as problems with sewage for the sharp decline in the stock.
A lobby group, made up of hundreds of anglers and fishermen along the east coast, is being formed to campaign to have drift- nets banned.
The plight of the salmon is causing particular concern in the Dundalk area after raw sewage was pumped into the mouth of the River Fane near Blackrock recently.
While a spokesman for Louth County Council said he believed it was a once-off incident that is under investigation, the development officer for the River Fane, Mr Robbie McDowell, claims it is an ongoing problem.
He claimed that for every 100,000 young fish put into the river "we are lucky to get back 10".
"We are very successful at growing the fish and the river is at 100 per cent capacity at the moment.
"But the problem is when they are coming back into the river (from the sea) when they have to run through the sewage and the nets."
The chairman of the Dundalk Salmon Anglers Association, Mr Bernard Devenney, said that only 500 salmon were caught in Dundalk Bay last year compared to 10,000 40 years ago.
"Salmon are in danger along the whole of the north-east coast. There is practically no salmon in the River Dee this year and the Boyne is a disaster," he said.
Mr Devenney added that one boat on the Boyne caught just one salmon in a day. "The damage is done by the drift-nets which the salmon meet on their journey down the west coast, along the south coast and up the east coast."
He says that while 36 per cent of all salmon caught off the Irish coast last year were spawned in the rivers off the east coast, fishermen along the east coast are getting just 1 per cent of the catch.
"We need to get rid of the drift-nets. We are the only country in the North Atlantic that allows drift-netting for salmon. It is also affecting our angling tourism which has dropped from 11 per cent 10 years ago to just 2 per cent.
"Anglers from Germany and France are writing into publications about what is a disgraceful situation. They are coming here and catch only small or injured fish," he added.
Louth County Council said it believed that someone illegally emptying a septic tank into a manhole was the cause of the release of raw sewage into the mouth of the River Fane. The council said the sewage was a once-off problem.