SOUTH Down MP Margaret Ritchie has called on a leading government department to address anglers’ concerns about dwindling fish stocks at the Quoile River in Downpatrick.
Anglers say stocks at the waterway have reached “dangerously low levels” with seals which have found their way into the river from Strangford Lough “eating everything before them.”
Fishermen fear that unless the problem is addressed, there will soon be no fish left and have appealed for repairs to be carried out at so-called fish pass erected at the Quoile barrier.
It was designed to allow fish to pass between the Quoile and Strangford Lough, but part of it was damaged a number of years ago, allowing seals to pass through it.
Miss Ritchie, who met anglers last week, said that having viewed the problem and witnessed the impact the seals are having on the fish stocks in the Quoile, she has raised the issue with the Minister for Culture Arts and Leisure at Stormont.
The MP has requested the government department intervenes to relocate the seals and take measures to ensure the current situation isn’t repeated.
Miss Ritchie added: “Fish stocks are being depleted and this places at risk the sustainable fishing practices of the anglers at the Quoile. Action must be taken immediately to resolve this situation.”