Martin Brady (Fianna Fail)

Coming from a county which has a lake for every day of the year, I know well how fishing is linked with tourism. In recent years, however, fishing tourism in County Cavan has been in decline. We used to have many visiting fishermen, mainly from Britain but also from Germany, Holland and France, who generated much revenue for the local economy. One reason behind this decline was insufficient fish stocks due to pillaging through netting and lining, often in the middle of the night, that led to the cleaning out of rivers and lakes.

Senator McCarthy referred to the costs that would accrue from this restructuring exercise, while putting the necessary resources in place to ensure fisheries regulations were implemented. Recently in Virginia, County Cavan, up to six Garda squad cars had to be used to seize bags of fish taken from the local lake by fishermen, highlighting the lack of resources available to the Central Fisheries Board.

We have not got the tourism boards to promote fishing as a sport in Ireland.

I raised the issue previously at other venues but nothing was done about it. In addition, we should have more control over fishing clubs. There are many fishing clubs which have their own rules and regulations to allow them do their own thing. That must be examined.

We must examine also some of the fishing tackle shops that are selling not just fishing bait but animal snares and so on as well, which I believe are illegal and cruel. Those are important issues.

Another area we must examine is fish farms. We have a perch farm in Cavan. The people involved run a good show but they are not getting a sufficient number of grants to keep that farm on the road. Many people have never heard of perch and some ask what it is like to eat. Perch is on most menus on the Continent, as is pike. One of the main items on the menu on cruise liners is perch. I would like to see those farms being assisted in whatever way we can.

Overall, it is a good idea to have one group in control rather than the way it is currently but, as Senator McCarthy said, we must now promote fishing as an industry. That is important. Much revenue could be generated from that apart from the savings we are talking about in staffing and so on.