Sir, - Like the first Cuckoo of the year, the annual prediction of doom and gloom about sea trout can he heard arriving in newsrooms throughout the country. In 1997, however, the arrival of this exhausted creature has been so premature that our friends in the media should seriously worry about the state of its health.
In each of its increasingly desperate incarnations, this merchant of scare stories has insisted that sea trout will vanish, that stocks have "collapsed" and that generally the end is nigh due to the "worst environmental disaster ever to hit Ireland" (paling the Great Famine into insignificance no doubt!)
With each arrival and this year is no exception - the messenger of disaster fails to produce any concrete evidence (stock levels, pathology studies, disease or environmental investigations) to back up its claims, relying only on the vain hope that the general public will continue to accept unfounded hysterical claims about fish farming. There is no room in the nest for hard facts when this particular cuckoo arrives!
1997, however, should be remembered as the year when the scaremongering overstretched itself. As reported in The Irish Times (May 6th) the Western Regional Fisheries Board predicts "devastation" for Connemara sea trout. But official sampling of the named Connemara sea trout rivers by the Fishery Board and the Marine Institute only began on May 2nd, the date of the Board's press release. It is therefore difficult to understand where the Board could have obtained any accurate or verifiable stock information.
ISGA would be very interested to see the details of any samples taken by the Board before the official sampling date to see if this can shed any light on their public speculations. Also, along with many concerned anglers and tourism interests, we would appreciate an independent assessment of the effect on stocks and annual smolt runs of the serious drought which hit many western rivers this year and was widely reported in the media.
It only remains to respectfully advise The Irish Times and its readership that any premature speculation on sea trout health or stocks before accurate sampling or an assessment of the drought takes place is, like the cuckoo, "for the birds". - Yours, etc.,
Executive Secretary, Irish Salmon Growers
Association,
Bluebell,
Dublin 12.