The background to this Review has been the well publicised decline in the standard of pike fishing in Ireland. This has been accompanied by a drastic reduction in the number of visiting pike anglers. Furthermore, pictures of gill netted pike and trout from the Great Western Loughs along with illegal netting activity have been widely condemned.
The intention of the Review meeting was to bring together the various stake holders for pike fishing in Ireland and to subsequently make recommendations for change and improvement to the Minister of the Marine for the Irish Government.
The Review meeting was called by the Central Fisheries Board of Ireland and was held in Westport on the West Coast of Ireland on 12th June. Submissions had been invited from any interested party and in total over a hundred had been received.
On the day, delegates from both sides of the pro culling and pro pike camps were in attendance. The Irish Pike Society was represented by David Overy whilst Phil Wakeford was in attendance on behalf of the Pike Anglers Club of Great Britain. Matt Hayes of Sky TV fame was also invited to attend and spoke on behalf of the tourist industry.
This potentially tense gathering was chaired by Dr Philip McGinnity of the CFB who is to be credited for ensuring that proceedings were conducted in a calm, professional and focussed way.
The various speakers from the pro pike camp gave a firm and unified message. Pike angling in Ireland was once the best in Europe, but this could no longer be claimed. The Pike angling resource has declined to such an extent that tourists after pike angling now venture to the Baltic and even further afield instead. Matt Hayes gave a particularly hard hitting and entertaining presentation and called upon Ireland Inc to get its product up to scratch. Only then could it be successfully marketed and numbers / income start to recover.
Debate on the day was at times heated, but what follows was signed up to unanimously by the Review group:
- The review group recognises the importance of pike and pike fishing as a resource.
- There is a perception that pike fishing in Ireland is not attractive to foreign anglers.
- Potentially Ireland could have the best pike fishing in the world.
- More research is needed into the biology behind pike and pike fishing.
- The marketing strategy for the product needs to be updated.
- Communication channels between all stake-holders needs to be improved.
- Bye-Law to be changed according to prevailing concepts. Ref. Length to replace weight and abandon the allowance for specimen fish to be taken.
- The review recognises the need to manage trout identified fisheries but this to be done in a way sympathetic to the management, preservation and marketing of large pike.
Those passionate about pike angling in Ireland can be confident that their corner was fought hard. We can now only hope that the Minister of the Marine uses his position to intervene and change things for the better. If not, and the barbaric use of gill nets goes on then tourist income and pike fishing in Ireland can only continue to decline.
All pike anglers should think very carefully about visiting Ireland to fish until significant and sustainable change occurs. Those that do go should broadcast the fact within the communities that they stay, pubs, etc, and make their views known to any Fisheries Staff that they encounter. It is a time for us all to keep up the pressure initiated by this review.
A full and detailed transcript of the meeting can be found on the websites of the Irish Pike Society and the Pike Anglers Club of Great Britain:
