Madam, - A ban on drift-netting will not significantly increase the numbers of salmon entering our rivers. As with our cod stocks, the changing climate is causing these two fishes to remain further north from Ireland. Fish, it is well proven, are very sensitive to rising water temperatures.
To attempt to argue that the number of angling tourists will rise if a ban is initiated is false, as the great majority of visiting anglers seek coarse fish and seafish. By comparison, there are very few visiting anglers who have experienced salmon angling, and have the gear for it.
Drift-net fishing has been steadily declining due to the glut of salmon on the market, and many of these fishermen are not renewing their gear when it becomes worn. The gear, by the way, in many cases costs more than the boat.
Many Irish salmon anglers regard the "sport" as a part-time source of income by getting the opportunity again to sell their fish, and hence their support for a ban.
The best solution available to increase the salmon stocks is to introduce a responsible cull of the large numbers of seals in Irish waters, which is annually supplemented by thousands swimming over from Scotland. - Yours, etc,
ARTHUR REYNOLDS, Seapoint Avenue, Blackrock, Co Dublin.