 |   | |
| HOME | CONTENTS NEWSUPDATESFISHING
TIPSARTICLESPUBLICATIONSGALLERYLINKS | JOIN HERE | |||||
| ABOUT
PACREGIONSFEEDBACKEVENTS NEWS FEEDABOUT PIKESEARCH | |||||||
| IRISH
PIKE REVIEW, CENTRAL FISHERIES BOARD The Pike Anglers' Club of G.B. has represented pike anglers and promoted pike conservation for more than 25 years. During this time the once persecuted pike has become one of the most respected and sought after sport fish available to anglers throughout Britain, and indeed other parts of Europe and North America. The pike has become widely accepted as a valuable resource in providing sport and recreation for thousands of people. This can provide a valuable base for tourism in areas that offer the best quality pike fishing and the largest pike. In the past Ireland was renowned among pike anglers throughout Europe for just that kind of sport. For many years a great number of our members, plus numerous other British pike anglers have visited the various Loughs and rivers of Ireland to sample the pike fishing for which it was once famed. However, in recent years most of these anglers have refrained from visiting Ireland to fish, because of the continued widespread slaughter of pike and the dwindling quality of the pike fishing. In fact if the angling press is anything to go by, the majority of these anglers are now travelling to Europe (particularly Sweden), increasingly to Northern Ireland, and even to North America, to fish for large pike in waters where they are not treated as vermin but as a valued sport fish. Rather than fish Irish venues that now tend to offer mediocre pike fishing, due to the continued persecution of pike, travelling pike anglers will increasingly look elsewhere for their sport. For years British and European pike anglers have promoted and written about their pike fishing adventures in Ireland through angling publications, our own PAC magazine included, spoken about them at conferences (such as the one organised by the PAC each year) and at group meetings held throughout the UK on a regular basis. Indeed when the pike fishing declines these anglers refrain from promoting Ireland as a worthwhile holiday venue and often put anglers off from trying Ireland by giving negative publicity. These
days the internet provides pike anglers with an instant and permanent platform
to voice their opinions and Irish pike fishing has been criticised quite heavily
on many of the angling forums to be found on the internet. A growing number of British fisheries have realised that by good fishery management they can provide good trout and pike fishing to give income all year round. It is clear that the pike offers the opportunity to encourage all year round pike angling tourism to Ireland, particularly amongst British anglers who, since the close season was abolished in the UK, no longer restrict their pike angling travels to the springtime. They are now willing travel abroad all year round to visit venues that offer the best pike fishing. There
is far more to the role of the pike in mixed sport fisheries than their presence
as a target species. It has to be remembered that the pike plays an important
part in the ecology of a balanced fishery. Where pike are routinely culled in
an attempt to eradicate them from a fishery, the result is never a reduction in
the pike population only a reduction in their sizes and quality. Conversely the
number of pike in the water will increase. When large pike are removed from a
fishery pike-on-pike predation is reduced and small pike numbers boom, any boom
in smaller pike will mean the size of prey species will change, upsetting a fisheries
balance. Where pike are not persecuted and removed, all species benefit and a balanced mixed fishery results, therefore a wide range of anglers gain as each species thrives. In turn, a balanced pike population provides sport from a healthy population of year classes including larger fish. This provides visiting anglers with the motive to fish on the waters offering better sport than those where pike sizes have become reduced through the effects of culling. It was always the ledgendary pike of Monster proportions which traditionally attract pike anglers from afar to the waters of Ireland! It is significant that the recent decline of quality pike fishing on Irish venues coincides with a renewal to remove pike in large numbers, this in our view is short sighted and a recipe for fishery suicide! We believe there are a number of factors that have contributed to the decline of fish stocks and the quality of fishing in many Irish fisheries such as:
As a concerned party, the Pike Anglers Club of G.B would like to see the implementation of Pro-pike and fishery improvement policies that benefit all such as:
From the lists above you can see there are many issues that need to be resolved in a professional way. These issues can only be resolved with the input of all interested parties and if adequate research is undertaken. Our organisation is prepared to get involved with any process that will bring a satisfactory result, that benefits all parties in the long term - Irish fisheries, pike, trout and tourism in Ireland. If we can be of any further service to the Irish pike review process please get in touch at the address below. I believe the next stage in the review process will be conducted as a workshop, the PAC is willing to be represented at this workshop and is happy to be involved in the development of a policy for the management of Ireland's pike fisheries. Please find attached several PAC information sheets for your use. We believe that if this review is to be genuinely successful a positive pike management strategy will need to be introduced that protects and ensures the future of quality pike fishing in Irish waters. Maybe then, pike fishing in Ireland will be regarded once again as the best in the world and the lost anglers will return and benefit from the magic of Ireland. The PAC looks forward to your reply and a fair deal for pike. We hope you will be able to keep us informed of any future developments on the Irish pike review process. |
| HOME | CONTENTSNEWSUPDATESFISHING
TIPSARTICLESPUBLICATIONSGALLERYLINKS | JOIN HERE | |||||
| ABOUT
PACREGIONSFEEDBACKEVENTS NEWS FEEDABOUT PIKESEARCH | |||||||