Salmon fishing is now played out

July 1989

Salmon fishing in Co. Wexford is now a depressed and fruitless enterprise, and a mere shadow of its former self.

Where more than 80 boats and 200 fishermen earned a livelihood during the salmon season in the region just a mere decade ago, in the current season less than one-tenth of the Wexford boats eligible to apply for salmon fishing licences have opted to do so.

And in what were formerly prime salmon waters in the Waterford Estuary, just a handful of fish are being landed weekly by boats from Duncannon, Slade, and Ballyhack.

The vast majority of the county’s offshore fishermen are now dependent in whole or in part on social welfare, says Fethard-on-Sea Chairman of the Southern Regional Fisheries Board, Declan Hearne, who says that fishing simply won’t pay your costs, let alone make it worthwhile to go out.

While over-fishing of salmon off the northwest coast is cited by the regional chairman as the prime reason for the demise of the industry in the south-east, a collapse in price because of widespread salmon farming has also had an impact.

‘Salmon prices have hit rock bottom. You can buy farmed salmon in Quinnsworth at around £1.99 per lb, and peal are being sold at around £1.10 per lb. That’s cheaper than eggs or mince,’ he says.

There is concern too that diversification by local fishermen into crab and lobster is leading to over-fishing of both species at the moment, and that this will bring another crisis in the future.

‘Some boats have as many as 400 pots down. The crab and lobster population simply won’t be sustainable for long at that rate,’ he said.

‘In fact, the best way of making money from fishing now is to provide sea angling boat trips. That used to be scoffed at in the past, but it’s the best choice now,’ he added.