Unbelevabe

[PAB]

Oughterard Anglers Association

Oughterard Anglers Association. 2,299 likes · 1 talking about this. Oughterard Anglers & Boatman's Association is a community group interested in salmonid angling and conservation in and around Lough...

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[Pompous git]

If allowed to live those pike would have munched their way through no end of small pike. All they have done is encourage hordes of
small pike.

 

[Freesolo82]

Doesn't a Healthy environment/eco-system eventually balance itself out? I hate it when Pike ruin my peg but they have a purpose and would never harm one. I'm no expert

 

[frankg]

They have no right to call themselves anglers!!!!

 

[Simon R]

As I put on their facebook page:

You know what happens when you remove pike indiscriminately?
Obviously you don't (or don't care) but EVERYWHERE else it's been done you get an explosion of jacks.
You won't lose so many sizeable trout 'cos the small pike will hammer all the fry and there simply won't be any small trout left to grow to a takeable size.
Do you know what the favourite food of a large pike is? - it's a small pike - but if they've all been wiped out they'll eat the trout instead.
I thought the kill, kill, kill approach had been consigned to history since it's proven not to work.
Left alone the balance of pike to trout will level out - it always does.

Evidently they don't like criticism as the comment's been deleted and looks like I've been barred from commenting in future

Simon

 

[Tyecon]

Unfortunately this culling has been going on for a few years now and it is just not Lough corrib

 

[Ken the Pacman]

This has gone on for many many years in Ireland Scotland Wales and even England on the basis that removal somehow prevents other fish being eaten which it does not unless you completely eradicate Pike from your water,
I can remember being told to throw it up the bank when I caught a Pike by people who should have known better and I can also remember tons of quality Roach and Dace being netted from The Tweed and spread on the fields for fertiliser.

 

[Sam Vimes]

Sadly, you'll find a few too many game anglers share similar views on pike (and other coarse fish species). The difference is that few in the UK would be quite so public with those thoughts, let alone actually publicizing any efforts to control, or eradicate (not likely), those species.

 

[rd115]

Sickening.

 

[Trogg]

As any of you on the MD FB page will know, i made my thoughts clear and got a few digs in at the mentality of the so called anglers involved in this culling...and same as @Simon R , my comments were removed and i was banned from the page.

Sadly i lost my internet signal at work so i've had to wait till i got home and have had some fun in the 20 mins since getting here

 

[tipitinmick]

I just hope Danny doesn't see this post. It will really upset him.

Personally I think this sort of thing is despicable. There's a reason predators are in our waters. It's to clean up the dead and deceased fish. Pike, Perch, Zander, they all get my approval. Leave them be.

 

[PAB]

As I put on their facebook page:

Evidently they don't like criticism as the comment's been deleted and looks like I've been barred from commenting in future

Simon

posted again for you.

 

[Arry]

This is the sort of stuff that the Anti's and PETA love there are some folks who are so short sighted they cannot see past the end of their own nose... they are not anglers... they are feckin barbarians

 

[tipitinmick]

This is the sort of stuff that the Anti's and PETA love there are some folks who are so short sighted they cannot see past the end of their own nose... they are not anglers... they are feckin barbarians

Can I shoot a few Arry ? ?

 

[Arry]

Fill yer boots mate...

 

[Silver fan 82]

Heartbreaking stuff really. Nature usually balances itself out anyway. Where was this does anyone know?

 

[Lee Richards]

This is just for thought and to give a different perspective so as stimulate discussion.
There is no doubting that the death of such lovely specimens is to us not a good thing and the fact they publicly show their work does the sport no favours at all. Let's be honest they are probably culling far more fish of all sizes than we know about.
Looking at it from their perspective though and what if the Pike are decimating the natural fish stocks in the Loughs and if continued to increase their numbers could have the potential to cause extinction of these fish.

The question is what would we do if some of our waters had the same problems and although it is something we don't like to see happening removal sometimes is the only way to address the problem.
Although invasive species such as the problem we saw with Zander is an issue in itself, the reality is a fish is a fish and population explosions can soon decimate a fishery. We have seen it before with Zander and Perch in this country and they are having serious ecological problems in America with Snakeheads and Asian Carp.
Is doing something however uncomfortable we feel about it better than doing nothing?

 

[Silver fan 82]

This is just for thought and to give a different perspective so as stimulate discussion.
There is no doubting that the death of such lovely specimens is to us not a good thing and the fact they publicly show their work does the sport no favours at all. Let's be honest they are probably culling far more fish of all sizes than we know about.
Looking at it from their perspective though and what if the Pike are decimating the natural fish stocks in the Loughs and if continued to increase their numbers could have the potential to cause extinction of these fish.

The question is what would we do if some of our waters had the same problems and although it is something we don't like to see happening removal sometimes is the only way to address the problem.
Although invasive species such as the problem we saw with Zander is an issue in itself, the reality is a fish is a fish and population explosions can soon decimate a fishery. We have seen it before with Zander and Perch in this country and they are having serious ecological problems in America with Snakeheads and Asian Carp.
Is doing something however uncomfortable we feel about it better than doing nothing?

Some food for thought there really.

 

[John Step]

There is a difference between culling invasive species and natural species.

 

[Lee Richards]

The fish don't know if they are invasive or not and are just eating and breeding machines. They will do what they do and are very good at it.

Let's not fool ourselves that it doesn't happen here as plenty of waters have had their stocks of silvers thinned overy the years.