Martin Ferris (Kerry North, Sinn Fein)

At that time we were fishing off the coast of Clare and Kerry and were refused licences, so we fished and made a living out of it. I assure the Deputy, as sure as night follows day, that under no circumstances were drift fishermen responsible for the decline in fish stock in rivers. It goes far deeper than that and is to do with the far greater power exercised by other sectors in our society. Pollution of the rivers killed salmon spawn and the non-replacement of hatcheries contributed to the problem. That river pollution was caused by large industries, local authorities and other sectors.

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