that they cannot legally issue licences to net salmon this year due to the perilous status of the salmon population " [added emphasis]. The Ulster Angling Federation welcomes the information today from the Department of Culture Arts and Leisure (DCAL) that they cannot legally issue licences to net salmon this year due to the perilous status of the salmon population. This comes about as a direct result of the Ulster Angling Federation challenge to DCAL policy at the European Union Environment Directorate in Brussels. The Federation can confirm that the remaining salmon nets are in breach of the Habitats Directive as they are mixed stock fisheries, and as such are illegal due to the stock collapse on the River Finn in Donegal, a Special Area of Conservation for salmon. Sadly DCAL for some years refused to see commonsense. Following a meeting at the EU in Brussels on January 24th, DCAL have moved now in the face of threats of huge fines from Europe. The anglers have always taken the lead in salmon conservation, and recently have exerted very considerable pressure at Stormont on this issue via the "No To Salmon Nets" group. MLAs Robin Swann and Danny Kinahan have also worked extremely hard, and have been instrumental in focusing pressure on the issue.   The Ulster Angling Federation policy on salmon has not changed since we commenced our campaigns on salmon in the late 1980s. This work intensified in the early 1990s and in 1993 we set up our sister organisation