stop the killing of pike in the western fisheries region

not only is this going to lead to an unprecedented slaughter of one of our natural predatory fish species ,it will also lead to an environmental imbalance in the waters eco systems - pike feed mainly on sick ,dying and distressed fish - this helps keep the waters delicate ecosystem in check - in short it is natures way of balancing the books ,the unnecessary and indiscriminate killing of pike without restriction to any size ,weight or number will lead to an imbalance . pike are not only predatory fish but also cannibalistic in as such as they will feed on their own species -- this helps keep down the number of smaller 'jack ' pike in any water - killing and removing larger pike will lead to an explosion af smaller jack pike , these smaller jack's can only eat fish that are again smaller than themselves - so will feed on younger fish and fry of other species - leading to a reduction in the numbers of those species - jack pike are far more likely to devour more 'prey' in one day than a larger -older pike would -so the more jacks a water holds -the more small fish and fry that get eaten , conservation wise the decision to allow the unlimited killing of pike across the western fisheries region is akin to shooting ones self in the foot - a pointless and painful exercise . in addition to the environmental aspect of this 'cull ' there are also other aspects that must be considered - ireland rely's on the tourist industry , a large part of ireland's tourism is t in the angling and sport fishing sector - over 1 million anglers per year come to fish irish water - that number of anglers bring many benefits - businesses such as tackle and bait suppliers , b&b's ,guest houses , holiday homes ,hotels ,bars ,pubs, cafe's restaurants, boat hire companies ,petrol stations ,camping sites all gain from anglers visiting these shores - in the to late 1980s ireland attracted almost as many anglers as there were residents -some 3 million per year - those numbers have declined because of issues with water quality ,access to rivers ,lakes and fisheries , poor water management and maintenance - but over the last 5-6 years tourist numbers have been on an upward trend and are now back over the 1 million mark for the first time in a decade . many of those anglers come here because of the excellent pike fishing - especially the uk, french ,german and dutch anglers - a great many of those anglers are so disgusted by this backwards step to allow the unregulated slaughter of predatory species especially pike that they are considering removing ireland from the list of countries to visit - the knock on effect to the tourism industry and other small local businesses would be devastating to say the least - imagine losing at least 1 quarter of your prospective business !! therefore im asking people -not just anglers but also those interested in the conservation and natural resources of this country to sign this petition and try to get this disgraceful decision reversed .
thank you