Rvier Laune Mecca for Angling!

 Recently a reporter for the Kerry's eye newspaper called the river Laune a mecca for angling! I contacted the reporter and asked the question where he got the data to prove his headline that the river Laune is a mecca for salmon angling. Firstly I suppose you have to ask yourself what does the actual word 'Mecca' mean? What the word means in this context is the river Laune is the centre for angling in Kerry. I asked the reporter who wrote the original piece about the data to prove his point. He pointed towards the Salmon figures released by the IFI. What we do know from these figures is that river Laune is number two on the commercial table and number 4 on the recreational table. Is the river Laune a 'Mecca' for angling in Ireland? The answer is no but in fairness that could be said for our county of Kerry. Now my problem here is that as a reporter would the Kerry's eye newspaper be better off on reporting the actual truth about what is going on in the estuary of the river Laune? Salmon numbers are down from 2 million in the 1970s to 200,000 returning to our rivers today. The Castlemaine SAC is a designated area of conservation for Salmon but we continue netting Salmon and contributing to their decline every single year. Anglers are still killing Salmon at an alarming rate with falsified figures keeping rivers open every single year. This is the truth, this is what will be said about the current people in charge at the IFI and the Marine Institute. It's just a matter of time before the truth is allowed to shine.  I know why this article was written and put into our regional newspaper. It was written because people on the river who may depend on it have a problem with the bad press the river Laune is getting. Maybe they want a better image to be put out so people continue to fish the river. My personal belief or ambition is solely based on the truth. The river Laune is a fantastic river and always will be. It's a place that everyone should go and fish but the truth is the river has serious problems. I haven't even mentioned the fact that the sewage plant in Killarney needs upgrading because it cannot handle the capacity of tourists that visit the town. All sewage is pumped into loch Leane and the Laune drains all this catchment. These problems are all fixable and please god they will be. 

Ross Castle and Loch Leane, Killarney