Concerns have been raised over low numbers of salmon in Donegal.
At today’s Donegal County Council’s Fisheries Committee meeting both Inland Fisheries Ireland and the Loughs Agency highlighted the dwindling of stocks over the years.
Inland Fisheries Ireland say fishing, changes in food availability, climatic influences and pollution are forcing salmon stocks to leave the North Atlantic Ocean which is impacting in turn, stocks in Donegal.
Threats now facing salmon stocks include exploitation, disease, water quality, climate change and habitat issues.
This year in the Donegal District, 6 of the 21 rivers designated for salmon fishing are open this year, while a catch and release system is operating on 11 of the rivers and the remainder are closed due to low conservation limits.
In the Letterkenny area, 5 rivers are open for harvesting, 4 for catch and release and 11 will be closed this year.
Members of the committee were concerned about the low stock levels of salmon in Donegal, questioning if the current monitoring system is painting a true picture.
The argument was made that the low numbers are impacting fishermen when there could in fact be a larger volume of the species in waterways in Donegal.
