Béarnais amateur fishermen in the Pyrenees accuse the professional Basque fishermen off the coast of plundering the stocks of returning salmon to the detriment of their right to catch up to three fish per year on their fly fishing lines. Naturally the professionals refute this and claim they are being pilloried for following their right to make a living by netting the fish at the river mouth at Bayonne.
It is reckoned some 20000 salmon will return to the Gave de Pau and the Gave d'Oleron and attempt to return to their spawning grounds in the mountains.
The methods used by the professionals are claimed to be illegal: use of nets at unauthorised depths, preventing the fish from passing. They claim, however, that the tides will raise the depth and allow many fish to pass unhindered.
The amateur fishermen up stream reckon that if more specimens were in the rivers they could lead to an increase in tourism, with salmon stalkers no longer needing to go to Scotland or Norway for their sport.
Stocks are carefully monitored by government environment officers, but the dispute has apparently gone to court for clarification. Both sides agree that cleaning up the water is necessary to keep the fish coming.
