Rod & Gun by Dan Kinney - FL Sat 25/02/12
Posted: Sun Mar 04, 2012 7:46 pm
Rod & Gun (for Sat Feb 25th)
Dan Kinney
What we need is an Agri spring without the Arab bloodshed
They fought long and hard to get the netting of salmon at sea by commercial fishermen banned. Now that it has happened across the board it is time t reflect on just what has been achieved.
I am afraid to say that those who expect to see hundreds of big salmon and sea trout caught by anglers in the Glens of Antrim rivers in the next few seasons could be disappointed. That is unless positive action is taken on a much wider scale throughout these islands, in the Atlantic feeding grounds and as the fish make their way out to sea and back again to spawn in their mother rivers.
My concern is that while anglers are jubilant about getting the netting licences suspended they could be missing the elephant in the room. I have written many times about the Northern Ireland environment and its wildlife 80 years ago when our moors all held big populations of grouse, lark, meadow pipits and curlews and on our lowland coverts had good numbers of wild pheasants, grey partridge and arable land resounded to the calls of the lapwings and snipe and our meadows were full of wild flowers and butterflies.
My old friend veteran Tyrone journalist Tommy Conlon had unearthed a 1925 copy of the Ulster Tourist Development Association booklet. Tommy, a proud member of the old school of journalism where integrity, practical experience and common sense counted for more than political correctness told me:
``I thought that I had lived through the best years for Ulster anglers but this booklet tells me that they would not have compare to the early ‘Twenties when our rivers and lakes teemed with big salmon, sea trout and brown trout.’’
That as at a time when millions of pounds were not being spent by Brussels and other benefactors in `improving the environment and its wildlife’ and we did not have the `benefit of all those well paid and well padded `experts’ telling farmers and field sports people what they could do and what they couldn’t do on their farms and lands.
Where did it all go wrong and what is to be done about those people and organisations who are actually harming the environment and its wildlife instead of protecting them and our civil servants are in awe before their every utterance?
The first real shots were fired n Tuesday of this week at Stormont when Assembly members were given the facts of wildlife by some of he men who have been burning the midnight oil in a commendable effort to save the Atlantic salmon.
Ulster Unionist MLA Robin Swann who was at the forefront in the fight to save our salmon welcomed the fact that netting would be suspended but said that in addition to the sorry state of our salmon stocks Lough Neagh eels were now badly in need of protection.
Will anything come of it? That remains to be seen. The fact is that our civil servants ,like those on huge bonuses in the MOD and on the climate change bandwagon where billions of pounds are handed out to undeserving recipients, some overseas, feel safe in their little cocoons from ministerial reckoning. They won’t do anything of value unless they are compelled to do so.
I have mentioned his before but it is worth repeating: some civil servants well down the line of responsibility have been making absolute nuisances threatening hard working farmers that if they do not toe the Dundonald House line they will have their payment reduced or withheld. That is an absolute scandal.
There is something like a reign of tyranny in the civil service when even quite senior officers are afraid to talk on the record to the media. I met one such person put on the moor one day and when I asked him the time of day, he gave it tome all right but warned me not to say he had done so.
It is mostly hill farmers I talk to and they will give me all the fact I want but will warn me not to publish their names in case the boys and girls `up there’ come down on them like a ton of bricks. One famer said: ‘’these people can make life very difficult for you if you step out of line’. Another said: ``These people are using farm payments as a weapon to beat us with if we even suggest that they are doing things the wrong way.’’
Readers know my views on the RSPB which I fear does more harm than good by appearing to work hard to protect and promote raptors like hen harriers, peregrine falcons, buzzards, ravens and sparrowhawks while ignoring the sad plight of their prey.
Now the National Trust has come under attack for banning shooting on a major estate in England and appearing to be particularly interested in turning its vast land resources into playgrounds for townies; it would seem it has forgotten its origins.
It may appear to be a small matter but, again, it is worth mentioning. I am told on good authority that last spring a well –known conservationist counted 70 cormorants roosting at a site near the mouth of the Glendun River. How many smolts would they and the half dozen seals lying out in the bay, have consumed at the time of the smolt migration?
This week QUB professor Ian Montgomery warned about the damage done by invasive species of mammals. At the same time thoughtless people are being lauded and paid to release killers like golden and sea eagles, sparrowhawks, buzzards, hen harriers and red kites apparently without a care about what they will assuredly do to vulnerable indigenous species.
What is to be done about pollution and poaching? What are they going to do about the thousands of buzzards and sparrowhawks in the country? Do they have any intention of limiting the damage done by peregrine falcons on moors and near where racing pigeons are released? Are they going to tackle the badger problem? These are among the questions the authorities must address if they are to be seen as being serious about improving salmon and sea trout n umbers in our rivers.
Those who love to cast a line or who like to walk the moors and coverts with their dogs must wake up before it is too late and their children and grandchildren will never be able to enjoy the experiences that they have had.
Dan Kinney
What we need is an Agri spring without the Arab bloodshed
They fought long and hard to get the netting of salmon at sea by commercial fishermen banned. Now that it has happened across the board it is time t reflect on just what has been achieved.
I am afraid to say that those who expect to see hundreds of big salmon and sea trout caught by anglers in the Glens of Antrim rivers in the next few seasons could be disappointed. That is unless positive action is taken on a much wider scale throughout these islands, in the Atlantic feeding grounds and as the fish make their way out to sea and back again to spawn in their mother rivers.
My concern is that while anglers are jubilant about getting the netting licences suspended they could be missing the elephant in the room. I have written many times about the Northern Ireland environment and its wildlife 80 years ago when our moors all held big populations of grouse, lark, meadow pipits and curlews and on our lowland coverts had good numbers of wild pheasants, grey partridge and arable land resounded to the calls of the lapwings and snipe and our meadows were full of wild flowers and butterflies.
My old friend veteran Tyrone journalist Tommy Conlon had unearthed a 1925 copy of the Ulster Tourist Development Association booklet. Tommy, a proud member of the old school of journalism where integrity, practical experience and common sense counted for more than political correctness told me:
``I thought that I had lived through the best years for Ulster anglers but this booklet tells me that they would not have compare to the early ‘Twenties when our rivers and lakes teemed with big salmon, sea trout and brown trout.’’
That as at a time when millions of pounds were not being spent by Brussels and other benefactors in `improving the environment and its wildlife’ and we did not have the `benefit of all those well paid and well padded `experts’ telling farmers and field sports people what they could do and what they couldn’t do on their farms and lands.
Where did it all go wrong and what is to be done about those people and organisations who are actually harming the environment and its wildlife instead of protecting them and our civil servants are in awe before their every utterance?
The first real shots were fired n Tuesday of this week at Stormont when Assembly members were given the facts of wildlife by some of he men who have been burning the midnight oil in a commendable effort to save the Atlantic salmon.
Ulster Unionist MLA Robin Swann who was at the forefront in the fight to save our salmon welcomed the fact that netting would be suspended but said that in addition to the sorry state of our salmon stocks Lough Neagh eels were now badly in need of protection.
Will anything come of it? That remains to be seen. The fact is that our civil servants ,like those on huge bonuses in the MOD and on the climate change bandwagon where billions of pounds are handed out to undeserving recipients, some overseas, feel safe in their little cocoons from ministerial reckoning. They won’t do anything of value unless they are compelled to do so.
I have mentioned his before but it is worth repeating: some civil servants well down the line of responsibility have been making absolute nuisances threatening hard working farmers that if they do not toe the Dundonald House line they will have their payment reduced or withheld. That is an absolute scandal.
There is something like a reign of tyranny in the civil service when even quite senior officers are afraid to talk on the record to the media. I met one such person put on the moor one day and when I asked him the time of day, he gave it tome all right but warned me not to say he had done so.
It is mostly hill farmers I talk to and they will give me all the fact I want but will warn me not to publish their names in case the boys and girls `up there’ come down on them like a ton of bricks. One famer said: ‘’these people can make life very difficult for you if you step out of line’. Another said: ``These people are using farm payments as a weapon to beat us with if we even suggest that they are doing things the wrong way.’’
Readers know my views on the RSPB which I fear does more harm than good by appearing to work hard to protect and promote raptors like hen harriers, peregrine falcons, buzzards, ravens and sparrowhawks while ignoring the sad plight of their prey.
Now the National Trust has come under attack for banning shooting on a major estate in England and appearing to be particularly interested in turning its vast land resources into playgrounds for townies; it would seem it has forgotten its origins.
It may appear to be a small matter but, again, it is worth mentioning. I am told on good authority that last spring a well –known conservationist counted 70 cormorants roosting at a site near the mouth of the Glendun River. How many smolts would they and the half dozen seals lying out in the bay, have consumed at the time of the smolt migration?
This week QUB professor Ian Montgomery warned about the damage done by invasive species of mammals. At the same time thoughtless people are being lauded and paid to release killers like golden and sea eagles, sparrowhawks, buzzards, hen harriers and red kites apparently without a care about what they will assuredly do to vulnerable indigenous species.
What is to be done about pollution and poaching? What are they going to do about the thousands of buzzards and sparrowhawks in the country? Do they have any intention of limiting the damage done by peregrine falcons on moors and near where racing pigeons are released? Are they going to tackle the badger problem? These are among the questions the authorities must address if they are to be seen as being serious about improving salmon and sea trout n umbers in our rivers.
Those who love to cast a line or who like to walk the moors and coverts with their dogs must wake up before it is too late and their children and grandchildren will never be able to enjoy the experiences that they have had.