State f isheries body accused of environmental vandalism
THE semi-state body in charge of Ireland’s fisheries has been accused of ‘environmental vandalism’ for its controversial policy of ‘gillnetting’ in the name of stock management.
Gillnets are made of large vertical panels in which fish are either wedged, held by their gills or tangled.
Inland Fisheries Ireland uses gillnets to remove pike from lakes that are popular for brown trout fishing.
But many anglers are angry at the semi-state’s gillnetting, claiming that they entangle other fish, including salmon, water birds and mammals, as well as negating the stated aim of increasing trout numbers – and have called for a protest outside IFI’s offices in Citywest, Dublin, this Thursday.
A statement released by the Pike Conservation Alliance called for the practice to end. ‘Stretching large lengths of gillnets out across bays in lakes and leaving them there for any fish (trout and salmon included), water birds and mammals to get entangled in and be left to rot is nothing short of environmental vandalism,’ it stated.
‘The pike culls should be consigned to the dustbin of history as a method of management that is environmentally damaging and scientifically unsound.’
Inland Fisheries said it does not indiscriminately kill pike, but conducts surveys and implements stock management plans.
An IFI spokesman said complainants should contact the body’s official complaints line to have their objections considered when the IFI updates its policies.