By Mike McKimm, BBC NI environment correspondent
Fishermen and anglers around Northern Ireland have been asked to help protect wild salmon populations.
The call comes after research indicates a significant downturn in the abundance of wild Atlantic salmon.
“The continued commercial exploitation of wild Atlantic salmon and killing of salmon caught by rod and line in the DCAL jurisdiction is currently untenable,” said the Northern Ireland fisheries minister, Caral Ni Chuilin.
“We have to take further steps to conserve salmon populations.”
The concern comes from the annual monitoring of salmon rivers in Northern Ireland.
Conservation targets had been set for a number of rivers and subsequent monitoring of those rivers showed they failed to reach the targets most years from 2002.
Read the full article: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-16536487
BBC News, 12/01/12
