Fisheries Ireland accused of failing Mayo lakes

MANAGEMENT PLAN NEEDED Ballinrobe FG councillor, Michael Burke.

Anton McNulty

The role of Inland Fisheries Ireland in the management of the lakes in Mayo was heavily criticised at a recent Mayo County Council meeting, with one councillor claiming they are ‘fiddling while Rome burns’.
Inland Fisheries Ireland (IFI), the State agency responsible for the protection, management and conservation of Ireland’s inland fisheries and sea angling resources, was accused by many councillors of neglecting the lakes around Mayo to the detriment of brown-trout stocks and angling in the region.
The matter was raised by Ballinrobe-based councillor Michael Burke at last week’s monthly meeting of Mayo County Council, when he called for the IFI to ‘urgently put in place a Management Plan for Lough Mask and its hinterlands’.
The IFI was established in 2010 to replace the regional fisheries boards into a single agency. Cllr Burke claims that since then, the number of fisheries officers assigned to look after Loughs Mask and Carra has reduced from 12 to three. As a result, he said, these officers cannot effectively carry out their core functions to protect the lakes.
“The quality of the angling product is in progressive decline, and consequently, angling tourism is following the same trajectory. Declining staff numbers, lack of investment and the absence of a clear vision and plan for these priceless lakes will result in their further decline and ultimately their demise,” he said, adding that the lack of action by the IFI was akin to Nero fiddling while Rome burned.
The Fine Gael councillor received cross-party support for his motion for a meeting with senior IFI and Department officials, to call on them to invest in Mayo lakes.
Fellow councillor Al McDonnell, a keen angler, described Mayo’s lakes as a ‘priceless resource’, saying he was sad to see the water quality decline in recent years. He was also critical of the role of the IFI in protecting Mayo’s lakes.
“There is an additional problem with the attitude of the Inland Fisheries, who are no longer sympathetic to the welfare of the wild brown trout. As a matter of fact, to my knowledge, they are far more sympathetic towards the international pike anglers. The introuduction of pike to our lakes by the British many years ago has been disastrous for the trout population and the eco system in general,” he said.
Erris-based councillor Gerry Coyle was also scathing of the role of the IFI in Mayo, describing them as the ‘most awful shower I have ever met’, referring to the way he claims they have treated the people of Bangor Erris and fishermen on Carrowmore lake.