#Angling - Inland Fisheries Ireland has secured victory in recent prosecutions against illegal fishing in Co Louth and Co Meath.
In Dundalk, Pat Smith of Annagassan, Co Louth was fined €100 for illegal salmon fishing and ordered to pay total costs of €460 to IFI in Drogheda District Court on 27 September.
His co-accused, Jimmy Mulroy, also of Annagassan, Co Louth was fined €100 for illegal salmon fishing and ordered to pay total costs of €777 to IFI in Drogheda District Court on 22 October.
On 13 June this year, Smith and Mulroy were found to be illegally fishing for salmon at Annagassan, which is the meeting point of the Rivers Dee and Glyde.
Fisheries officers Dermot Wynne, Thomas Duffy and Seamus Kelledy apprehended the two men, who pleaded guilty to the charges brought against them.
Judge Flann Brennan convicted both individuals under Section 95 of the 1959 Fisheries Act for having a net in their possession which was capable of capturing salmon.
Numbers of salmon in the entire Dundalk Bay area dropped from a 1970s peak of many thousands of commercially caught fish to an all-time low in 2006 when just 225 specimens were caught.
This led to the closure of all salmon fisheries in the region, with fishing restricted to catch and release only for salmon on the Dee and Glyde.
Elsewhere, IFI had success with recent court cases at Whitewood Lake in Kilmainham Wood, Co Meath resulting in fines of €500 issued and expenses of €2,024 awarded.
Jonas Kavaliauskas of Clondalkin, Dublin 22 was apprehended by fisheries officer Ronan O'Brien while fishing suspiciously at Whitewood Lake in May this year.
Kavaliauskas was found to have 57 coarse fish in his possession. This is in breach of the coarse fish byelaw which allows an angler to have four coarse fish under 25cm.
This case was heard on 20 September at Kells District Court and Kavaliauskas pleaded guilty. Judge Denis McLaughlin convicted him for breaches of the coarse fish Byelaw 806 of 2006. The defendant was fined €100 with six months to pay and IFI was awarded €714 in expenses.
A second case was heard on 9 October at Navan District Court, which heard that in August this year Petre Tuica of Nephin Road, Dublin 7 and Iosif Ciocan of Fernleigh, Dublin 15 were fishing at Whitewood Lake and found to be in possession of 60 fish.
Both individuals were apprehended by Assistant Inspector Ronan O’Brien as they had more than four coarse fish in their possession.
Ciocan did not appear in court and Tucia pleaded guilty. After hearing the evidence, Judge Patrick Clyne found both defendants guilty and convicted them for breaches of the coarse fish Byelaw 806 of 2006.
Ciocan was fined €200 with 14 days to pay with five days imprisonment in default and to pay €655 in costs. Tucia was fined €100 with one month to pay with five days imprisonment in default and to pay €655 in costs to IFI.
Whitewood Lake is a notable coarse fishery in the Kilmainham Wood area of Co Meath containing stocks of roach, bream, hybrids and pike.
