Dams need monitoring if we are to have any fish left

Letter to the Director of the Department of Fisheries and Marine Research

Sir,

I have fished the reservoirs of Cyprus for the last two years. I have purchased the necessary licence in order to do so and have always obeyed the conditions applicable to recreational fishing.

With the drought situation as it is, the reservoirs available for fishing are few in number.
I was therefore extremely angry at what I saw taking place when I visited Polemidia reservoir on September 27, 2008 with some friends, to do some fishing.

There were at least twenty other people there fishing. Some were fishing with what appeared to be just a line and we found evidence of nets being used to catch fish.

I would be surprised if anyone of those ‘fishermen’ had a licence to do so but what enraged me more than anything was that I saw a group of four men leave the reservoir with three carrier bags full of fish!

I would estimate that there were at least 50 fish in total being taken. This was just by one of the groups concerned. If fish continue to be taken at that rate there will soon be nothing to fish for!

I don’t know if fisheries staff work at the weekend. I suspect not. But, something needs to be done in order to stop this before fishing the reservoirs of Cyprus becomes a thing of the past.

A. Morcom
Moni, Limassol

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