Concerns that people fishing on the River Suir are not observing the catch and release policy for salmon in place since 1995 were raised in the Seanad yesterday by Senator Garrett Ahearn.
The Senator praised the many angling clubs operating along the river but says there are concerns about illegal poaching going unpunished and that this behaviour is leading people to question how Inland Fisheries Ireland is managing the situation and in some cases people are giving up fishing.
Minster Martin Haydon confirmed that day, night and weekend patrols are undertaken but also informed Senators that there are only 4 staff in the greater Waterford/Suir area.
IFI use a variety of techniques including patrols on foot, on bike, by kayak and also deploy drones.
There have been a number of fishing tools confiscated including 143 nets, 1 cage, 4 boats, 22 rods and a total of 43 Fixed Charge Notices issues along with 7 successful prosecutions over the last ten years.
The Minster also informed senators that a total of €4.4M euros had been allocated to 113 conservation projects over the last 10 years.
The Minister could not supply the number of calls received by the IFI Hotline but committed to getting this information from IFI and added that as recently as 30 January, the IFI secured a conviction for illegal angling on the river, resulting in a fine of €1,000 and €500 towards legal costs.
The hotline number is intended to be used to report illegal fishing, fish kills, fish in distress, water pollution, habitat destruction, or invasive species. The hotline is open 24/7 and can be contacted at 0818 34 74 24.
Senator Ahearn told the Seanad there’s a sense of fear among local fishermen as they feel intimidated in challenging illegal behaviour by people he claims were coming from outside Tipperary.
