The largest political party in the twenty-six county Republic of Ireland will hold its annual Ard Fheis (convention) in Killarney next month. Delegates will have a full agenda to deal with-they always do-but this year they will be facing a major demonstration by anglers demanding protection for wild salmon stock against drift net fishing.

The decline of the salmon fishery in all regions of the country has been ongoing for decades. Despite repeated warnings from experts, the government has been reluctant to move forcefully against the destruction caused by drift net fishermen. A quota system introduced three years ago has failed miserably.

Now one of the most respected voices in the country has spoken once more on behalf of the sports fishery and its value to the national economy. Dr. T. K. Whitaker, credited as the most powerful advocate of change to the economic system which kept Ireland under the thrall of protectionism during the middle of the 20th century, has publicly lent his support to the campaign to save the salmon.

As reported in the anglers magazine, "Hooked on the Moy", he commented:

"Official policy for years past appears complacent and tentative. An elaborate and expensive quota system/tagging system was introduced but the quota fixed for commercial fishing which accounts for 80 per cent of the wild salmon killed before they can spawn, has been exceeded, for three years running."

An article by Jerome Reilly in the "Irish Independent" newspaper of July 24 expanded on Dr. Whitaker's words:

"He was referring to a recent decision by the National Salmon Commission to recommend to the Government that 167,400 wild salmon be caught this year. That decision has stunned anglers and tourism chiefs, who had believed the Government was finally ready to make moves to protect the salmon.

The Commission's recommendation flew in the face of its own scientific advice. Experts had recommended that along with drift-net fishing at sea, salmon angling should be banned in more than half of our most famous rivers and restricted to 122,000 salmon."

It went on to quote John Power, chief executive of the Irish Hotels Federation, as saying the economic contribution per fish caught made by salmon angling tourism far exceeds that generated by the commercial fishing sector. One wild salmon caught by an angling tourist is estimated to be worth 423 to the economy compared to 22 for one caught by drift netting.

This is not the first time that Dr. Whitaker's name has cropped up on this web site. Readers will recall mention of his startling findings of the fall in salmon caught by rod and line in one of our first stories "The Hawk of the Erne" in the listing of recommended reading found at the end of the work.

In a paper titled "Exploitation of Salmon in Ireland", T. K. Whitaker of the Salmon Research Trust of Ireland reported the fall in salmon catch by rod and line between the 1950s and the 1980s "from 16 per cent to a mere 3 per cent" of the total catch.

The near extinction of the wild salmon stock returning to the River Erne prompted the launch of an Internet campaign calling for the restoration of the Falls of Assaroe as the natural route for the Erne salmon. That other rivers in Ireland are suffering a sharp decline in stocks may prompt the government to take the situation seriously, and curb, if not eliminate, the use of drift nets on migratory salmon routes in Irish waters.

It makes economic sense, and Whitaker, whose earlier work led to the booming Celtic Tiger economy of recent years, knows whereof he speaks.

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