Salmon may thrive, thanks to angler

From the Salisbury Journal, first published Friday 6th Jan 2006.

AVON angler Brian Marshall's long-running fight to save from extinction the population of wild salmon in his beloved river has forced the Irish government to announce a dramatic U-turn.

Thanks to the efforts of Mr Marshall and the Wessex Salmon and Rivers Trust, the Irish marine ministry has accepted that the drift net industry operating along Ireland's west and south coasts must operate within European Commission rules.

And Irish marine minister Pat Gallagher "fully accepts" that more needs to be done to ensure the conservation of wild salmon.

Drift nets, both licensed and illegal, that operate along Ireland's coasts catch not just Irish salmon but protected fish from rivers in England and Wales and from European rivers.

These rivers are designated special areas of conservation by the European Habitats Directive, mainly because of their salmon population a population that is dwindling at an alarming rate.

Surveys show that 11 per cent of salmon returning to the Hampshire Avon are netted by the Irish drift nets, while a recent Environment Agency report highlights the worrying fact that, of the 14 English and Welsh special areas of conservation rivers, only one has enough salmon spawning.

The decline of salmon in the Hampshire Avon led to Mr Marshall, who lives near Ringwood and is a retired hotelier, deciding to challenge the Irish government through the European Union.

He was concerned that efforts to persuade the Irish government to close the fishery had failed and, in 2002, the Wessex Salmon and Rivers Trust lodged a formal complaint with the EU Environment Commission.

The complaint cited four infringements of the directive.

Two years later, the association's campaign was backed by eight Irish salmon river interests, which also lodged similar complaints.

In July 2005, the Commission upheld the Wessex association's complaint and issued a warning of proceedings against the Irish government.

The Irish government has now responded and said it accepts that the requirements of the habitats directive must be adhered to, that more needs to be done to conserve wild salmon and that it will ensure specific requirements of the directive are complied with.

Mr Marshall said: "There is strong joint English and Irish scientific evidence that proves these nets have a serious impact on the recovery of our salmon populations.

"Clearly, their closure will make a significant addition to our returning spawning stocks.

"While we welcome the apparent change of attitude, we wait to see tangible evidence that Ireland at last recognises its international obligations."

Salmon anglers on the Avon and netsmen operating in Christchurch and Mudeford harbours return all fish they catch, under a sponsored scheme run in conjunction with Tesco supermarkets that exchanges a released wild caught salmon with a farmed salmon.

Mr Marshall said: "I would never, under any circumstances, kill another salmon. Without intervention, they are threatened with extinction."

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