THE ancient art of draft fishing has been part and parcel of the river Boyne for 1,100 years and a hardy bunch are refusing to surrender a way of life that is under serious threat.

Less than four years ago, due to dwindling spawning salmon stocks, the decision was taken to ban draft netting, impacting on the lives of 50 local people who had licences to ply their trade.

36 of those subsequently left the game, leaving just 14, nine of them in Mornington and another five in Drogheda.

Now, on various nights of the week over the summer, they gather at The Haven in Baltray, right across from Mornington, and cast their nets, all in the cause of conservation.

When they lost the right to catch and keep their prey, they came to an agreement with the Inland Fisheries Ireland to take part in a scientific experiment that tags fish caught in the nets.

They are then released, allowing them to head back upstream having arrived from Greenland and the Faroe Islands.

But as the nets swell with fish and the fishermen eagerly haul them ashore you can see the glint in their eyes. They want to return to the fishing, properly, as soon as possible.

'I've been on these waters a long time and we've seen the best fishing since the 1960s this year,' Leo Boyle stated. One of the biggest fish landed was 18lb.

The Mornington man knows his stuff, coming from a village that thrived down the decades from the fruit of the Boyne.

On one evening alone last week, over the course of about four hours, they landed 69 salmon. Hundreds have been caught and released in recent weeks using two boats. If they used their allotted 14 boats the number would be enormous.

Not all salmon caught are tagged, but are later 'counted' by a system at Blackcastle as they move upstream. The fishermen would argue it doesn't give the true measurement of the number of fish in the Boyne.

In 2007, it clocked 7,500 salmon going through a weir. With the fish using different routes and some heading up the Mattock river, the true numbers could be well up on 15,000. 13,000 are officially needed for spawning stock.

' To say we miss it would be an understatement,' Leo added. ' We have played our part in this conservation project and can see the numbers that are in the river.

'The counter system is totally ineffective. As we know, in 2008 and 2009, the whole country was basically under water at certain times. Huge numbers of salmon just bypassed the counters so no one knows how many salmon there are,' he stated.

The authorities have introduced the 'precautionary measure', simply refusing fishing to restart as they are unsure of the numbers.

'Granted, they are updating the system at the moment but there's no guarantees that it will be effective this year. We've called for a modern counting system for eight years and the fishermen's patience has been stretched to breaking point.'

Next year they hope to again have a chance to obtain a quota and revive the old tradition again.

'What we do is a very ineffective method of fishing. But that makes it part of the conservation process too,' Leo explained.

Maureen Byrne from the Inland Fisheries Ireland, based in Blackrock, Co Dublin, is on the scene when the fishermen pull their nets to oversee the tag and release. On the qustion of the draft men returning to fishing, she is not so sure.

' The draft catching stopped three years ago and this is the fourth season, the lifespan of the salmon, so we should get a good indication of numbers now.

'I know the fishermen want to return but it's too early to say as yet if that is possible.'

For the moment, the draft fishermen of the Boyne must continue to play the part of conservationists but know that the true lure is a return to the waters and the wild.

- Hubert MURPHY