Soapbox
Davy Stinson argues for an end to catch-and-kill wild trout competitions
IN HIS EXCELLENT BOOK, TROUT AND Salmon Loughs of Ireland, published in 1987, Peter O’Reilly, writing of Lough Melvin, stated that, “In 1985, 114 anglers took 759 trout in a one-day fishing competition.” What Peter didn’t write, for almost none of us in those pre-catch-and-release days thought the resource would ever end, was that all these trout were killed. Slowly, in the decades since, the awful truth of decline has begun to dawn on us. A quick perusal of the Irish angling reports in this magazine from the 1960s, ’70s and ’80s, compared with reports of the last decade, will soon dispel any notion of rose-tinted spectacles being at play in my description of decline.
Many of the waters Peter wrote about then are now closed to catch-and-kill fishing for salmon and sea-trout, something unthinkable four decades ago, when recorded catches of sea-trout in many systems were in thousands and salmon in hundreds. Reasons for the decline in migratory fish are perhaps more complex than those for brown trout, but declines in our trout loughs can be ascribed in varying degrees to pollution from agriculture, forestry and human sewage, as well as the impacts of invasive flora and fauna. Overcoming these issues will require huge expenditure of public money, politicians caring enough to challenge powerful lobby and voter groups, and, of course, a willing public service capable of carrying out the necessary remedial tasks. Don’t hold your breath.
So is there no hope? Some angling clubs and community groups have, at local level, begun to carry out habitat restoration and pollution-monitoring work. While I have participated in and certainly wouldn’t criticise this work, unless it is soundly based on results and scientifically assessed, it can easily end up being little more than well-meaning people having a go on a tiny scale and hoping for the best. As I say, I’m not against this work, but for now, I return to where this piece started — 759 dead trout.
Many Irish trout anglers have turned against catch-and-kill competition in recent years, yet still most major competitions, with valuable prizes —boats, engines, tackle —are fished on this basis. As a result, thousands of wild trout are killed every year. In my opinion, this
