A review of the national sea trout catch

Abstract

Statistical coverage of the sea trout catch is not so comprehensive as for salmon but a number of recent studies, providing information on aspects of the national or regional catches, are available for comparison with official catch statistics. The proportion of the official catch attributed to drift nets in the post 1968 period is thought to have been overstated. Draft nets account for a large proportion of the catch, averaging 29% in the 1970s but rod and line take the largest share of the fish, varying between an average of 47% in the 1940s to 66% of the national catch in the 1960s. Estimated catch has risen with the number of rod licences and two phases in these statistics have been noted: prior to 1959 and thereafter. On the other hand both official figures for the mean weight of catch per licence issued in the Connemara district and the catch per rod day recorded by fishery managers there have declined since 1927. Analysis of the national catch on the basis of licence returns in 1980 indicates that 8 tonnes of sea trout were taken by draft, 0.25 tonnes by drift nets and less than 51 tonnes by rod and line.