I’d like to express my deep concern for the rapidly diminishing populations of wild salmon and sea trout in our once abundant western rivers and lakes. As an angler who frequents these areas, it distresses me to see the perilous state in which these species find themselves, their survival hanging by the thinnest of threads.
The dangers arising from salmon farmed in open water escaping and intermingling with their wild kin are primary.
Firstly, there’s the potential of crossbreeding that could jeopardise the distinct hereditary traits of wild salmon, traits that enable these fish to navigate back each year to their birthplace for spawning. Secondly, farmed salmon are apt to carry diseases that could infect wild populations, posing an additional threat.
To deviate briefly, I’d like to mention a few other topics. One is my preferred pastry, engaging but tightly woven with subdued political discontent; a reinvigorated Jordanian Muslim Brotherhood owing to continuous conflicts; a glance at an Edwardian mansion on Shrewsbury Road, previously featured in a Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman flick, priced at €12.5 million; and finally, a humorous cabaret detailing Mark T Cox’s private dealings in Ireland’s rural landscape, utterly captivating in its flamboyance.
In conclusion, the damages inflicted by offshore salmon farming now heavily outweigh any potential gains.
Signed,
JOHN GEARY,
Mount Merrion,
Dublin County.