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Displaying items by tag: carp

Two carp anglers convicted at Craigavon Magistrates’ Court for separate fishing offences have been fined a total of £430.

Samuel Seenan (42) of Altnagarron Mews, Belfast pleaded guilty to three breaches of legislation prescribed under the Fisheries Act (Northern Ireland) 1966 — namely unlicensed fishing, failing to provide his name and address and obstructing and impeding an authorised person.

Separately, Wayne Hull (51) of Ashmount Gardens in Lisburn pleaded guilty to two breaches of legislation prescribed under the Fisheries Act (Northern Ireland) 1966, namely unlicensed fishing and failing to provide his name and address.

On 20 March 2022, DAERA fisheries protection officers were on routine patrol of Mill Lodge carp fishery in Dromore, Co Down. This fishery is owned by the Northern Ireland Carp Angling Society (NICAS).

During their patrol, they observed Seenan setting up fishing rods. Seenan was then approached by a DAERA fisheries protection officer and asked that he provide his details so a check of the online system could take place to confirm there was a license in place for each of his fishing rods.

Seenan was aggressive and confrontational during these requests and continually refused to comply, the court heard.

After numerous requests were ignored, the PSNI was called to assist. With the PSNI assistance, Seenan then provided his details.

Due to his constant refusal to provide details initially, and that there was no fishing licence in place during the initial request to provide his details, all fishing equipment belonging to Seenan was seized.

The total fine of £315 consisted of fines ranging from £50 to £200 for each offence along with an offender levy of £15.

In a separate incident, when Hull was approached and asked for his details, he explained that he was an officer of the club and that all fishing licenses had been checked previously for all anglers present.

Hull then provided a false name, along with two different dates of birth, the court heard. When asked again to provide his correct details, a follow-up check confirmed that Hull had no current fishing license and was fishing illegally.

Hull’s total fine of £115 consisted of two fines of £50 for each offence along with an offender levy of £15.

DAERA says it is committed to pursue those who fish illegally. If you are aware or suspect illegal fishing, DAERA Inland Fisheries can be contacted at (+44) 0300 200 7860 or outside office hours (+44) 0800 807 060.

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Plans by Armagh’s council to restock Loughgall Lake with £12,000 worth of carp have been deemed insufficient by local anglers.

According to ArmaghI, the Loughgall Carp Anglers group believes night angling catch rates would rise — and its membership would skyrocket — with a £50,000 investment in the Northern Ireland fishery.

But Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council poured cold water on the suggestion as the funds are not available in the budget — while noting that Loughgall Lake is a mixed fishery intended to cater or all coarse angling enthusiasts.

It was also identified in a 2017 survey that the majority of fish were in the centre of the 37-acre lake, out of reach of shore anglers.

ArmaghI has much more on the story HERE.

Published in Angling

#Angling - The cost of replacing lost carp at The Lough in Cork city centre could be more than €200,000, according to the Irish Examiner.

Inland Fisheries Ireland responded to reports of a fish kill at the popular catch-and-release coarse angling venue on Friday 4 May.

Sample fish examined by scientists at the Marine Institute tested positive for carp edema virus, or CEV, which causes ‘koi sleepy disease’.

It’s since emerged that more than 750 carp were lost in the outbreak at The Lough, which hundreds more removed from the private Belvelly fishery near Cobh.

However, according to the Cork Carp Anglers Club, restocking cannot happen before issues with biosecurity and water quack are dealt with.

The Irish Examiner has more on the story HERE.

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#Angling - Scientists of the Fish Health Unit at the Marine Institute have advised that sample carp taken from The Lough and Belvelly Lake in Cork have tested positive for carp edema virus, or CEV.

The poxvirus causes a disease known as ‘koi sleepy disease’ in both koi and common carp.

The fish kill was first reported at The Lough in Cork city centre last week, with subsequent reports at Belvelly Lake in Cobh. Some 450 carp were removed from the former, and over 20 from the latter, as well as live samples from both for analysis.

At present, while tests are ongoing and further tests are carried out on the CEV detected, this is being treated as a ‘suspect positive’ and is not confirmed as the causative agent of the mortalities until all tests have been completed.

Inland Fisheries Ireland (IFI) recommends that stringent biosecurity protocols continue to be implemented. All mortalities continue to be removed and disposed of in a bio-secure manner.

Angling remains suspended at both locations, as well as at Inniscarra and Carrigadrohid Reservoirs.

Published in Angling

#Angling - Inland Fisheries Ireland yesterday (Friday 4 May) responded to reports of a fish kill at The Lough in Cork city centre.

The reports were received from Cork Carp Anglers Club who recorded a number of dead fish at this iconic Cork carp fishery.

Initial investigations by IFI indicate the cause of death to be a fish health issue, with a bacterial or fungal infection suspected of causing the mortalities.

It is estimated that in the region of 200 carp have been infected in this outbreak.

A small number of live fish have been securely transported to a specialist fish health unit to identify the infectious agent.

All dead fish that have been collected are being held in cold storage at an IFI facility pending the outcome of tests to determine the exact cause of death.

Anglers are requested to suspend all fishing activity at the lake until further notice.

Any anglers who have been fishing the venue in the last month are advised to carry out appropriate disinfection of their landing nets, fish mats, footwear and other gear that may have become contaminated, to prevent the spread of the disease to other fisheries.

Published in Angling

#ANGLING - Angling Times reports that an Irish angler has caught the biggest carp ever recorded in the country.

Andrew Doyle landed the 40lb 2oz monster known as Big Hole at Maynooth Fishery in Co Kildare recently.

The intrepid fisherman caught the mirror carp during a 72-hour session using a "boilie hookbait fished in conjunction with a PVA bag of freebies over a bed of hemp and corn".

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Ireland's offshore islands

Around 30 of Ireland's offshore islands are inhabited and hold a wealth of cultural heritage.

A central Government objective is to ensure that sustainable vibrant communities continue to live on the islands.

Irish offshore islands FAQs

Technically, it is Ireland itself, as the third largest island in Europe.

Ireland is surrounded by approximately 80 islands of significant size, of which only about 20 are inhabited.

Achill island is the largest of the Irish isles with a coastline of almost 80 miles and has a population of 2,569.

The smallest inhabited offshore island is Inishfree, off Donegal.

The total voting population in the Republic's inhabited islands is just over 2,600 people, according to the Department of Housing.

Starting with west Cork, and giving voting register numbers as of 2020, here you go - Bere island (177), Cape Clear island (131),Dursey island (6), Hare island (29), Whiddy island (26), Long island, Schull (16), Sherkin island (95). The Galway islands are Inis Mór (675), Inis Meáin (148), Inis Oírr (210), Inishbofin (183). The Donegal islands are Arranmore (513), Gola (30), Inishboffin (63), Inishfree (4), Tory (140). The Mayo islands, apart from Achill which is connected by a bridge, are Clare island (116), Inishbiggle (25) and Inishturk (52).

No, the Gaeltacht islands are the Donegal islands, three of the four Galway islands (Inishbofin, like Clifden, is English-speaking primarily), and Cape Clear or Oileán Chléire in west Cork.

Lack of a pier was one of the main factors in the evacuation of a number of islands, the best known being the Blasket islands off Kerry, which were evacuated in November 1953. There are now three cottages available to rent on the Great Blasket island.

In the early 20th century, scholars visited the Great Blasket to learn Irish and to collect folklore and they encouraged the islanders to record their life stories in their native tongue. The three best known island books are An tOileánach (The Islandman) by Tomás Ó Criomhthain, Peig by Peig Sayers, and Fiche Blian ag Fás (Twenty Years A-Growing) by Muiris Ó Súilleabháin. Former taoiseach Charles J Haughey also kept a residence on his island, Inishvickillaune, which is one of the smaller and less accessible Blasket islands.

Charles J Haughey, as above, or late Beatle musician, John Lennon. Lennon bought Dorinish island in Clew Bay, south Mayo, in 1967 for a reported £1,700 sterling. Vendor was Westport Harbour Board which had used it for marine pilots. Lennon reportedly planned to spend his retirement there, and The Guardian newspaper quoted local estate agent Andrew Crowley as saying he was "besotted with the place by all accounts". He did lodge a planning application for a house, but never built on the 19 acres. He offered it to Sid Rawle, founder of the Digger Action Movement and known as the "King of the Hippies". Rawle and 30 others lived there until 1972 when their tents were burned by an oil lamp. Lennon and Yoko Ono visited it once more before his death in 1980. Ono sold the island for £30,000 in 1984, and it is widely reported that she donated the proceeds of the sale to an Irish orphanage

 

Yes, Rathlin island, off Co Antrim's Causeway Coast, is Ireland's most northerly inhabited island. As a special area of conservation, it is home to tens of thousands of sea birds, including puffins, kittiwakes, razorbills and guillemots. It is known for its Rathlin golden hare. It is almost famous for the fact that Robert the Bruce, King of Scots, retreated after being defeated by the English at Perth and hid in a sea cave where he was so inspired by a spider's tenacity that he returned to defeat his enemy.

No. The Aran islands have a regular ferry and plane service, with ferries from Ros-a-Mhíl, south Connemara all year round and from Doolin, Co Clare in the tourist season. The plane service flies from Indreabhán to all three islands. Inishbofin is connected by ferry from Cleggan, Co Galway, while Clare island and Inishturk are connected from Roonagh pier, outside Louisburgh. The Donegal islands of Arranmore and Tory island also have ferry services, as has Bere island, Cape Clear and Sherkin off Cork. How are the island transport services financed? The Government subsidises transport services to and from the islands. The Irish Coast Guard carries out medical evacuations, as to the RNLI lifeboats. Former Fianna Fáíl minister Éamon Ó Cuív is widely credited with improving transport services to and from offshore islands, earning his department the nickname "Craggy island".

Craggy Island is an bleak, isolated community located of the west coast, inhabited by Irish, a Chinese community and one Maori. Three priests and housekeeper Mrs Doyle live in a parochial house There is a pub, a very small golf course, a McDonald's fast food restaurant and a Chinatown... Actually, that is all fiction. Craggy island is a figment of the imagination of the Father Ted series writers Graham Linehan and Arthur Mathews, for the highly successful Channel 4 television series, and the Georgian style parochial house on the "island" is actually Glenquin House in Co Clare.

Yes, that is of the Plassey, a freighter which was washed up on Inis Oírr in bad weather in 1960.

There are some small privately owned islands,and islands like Inishlyre in Co Mayo with only a small number of residents providing their own transport. Several Connemara islands such as Turbot and Inishturk South have a growing summer population, with some residents extending their stay during Covid-19. Turbot island off Eyrephort is one such example – the island, which was first spotted by Alcock and Brown as they approached Ireland during their epic transatlantic flight in 1919, was evacuated in 1978, four years after three of its fishermen drowned on the way home from watching an All Ireland final in Clifden. However, it is slowly being repopulated

Responsibility for the islands was taking over by the Department of Rural and Community Development . It was previously with the Gaeltacht section in the Department of Media, Tourism, Arts, Culture, Sport and the Gaeltacht.

It is a periodic bone of contention, as Ireland does not have the same approach to its islands as Norway, which believes in right of access. However, many improvements were made during Fianna Fáíl Galway West TD Éamon Ó Cuív's time as minister. The Irish Island Federation, Comdháil Oileáin na hÉireann, represents island issues at national and international level.

The 12 offshore islands with registered voters have long argued that having to cast their vote early puts them at a disadvantage – especially as improved transport links mean that ballot boxes can be transported to the mainland in most weather conditions, bar the winter months. Legislation allowing them to vote on the same day as the rest of the State wasn't passed in time for the February 2020 general election.

Yes, but check tide tables ! Omey island off north Connemara is accessible at low tide and also runs a summer race meeting on the strand. In Sligo, 14 pillars mark the way to Coney island – one of several islands bearing this name off the Irish coast.

Cape Clear or Oileán Chléire is the country's most southerly inhabited island, eight miles off the west Cork coast, and within sight of the Fastnet Rock lighthouse, also known as the "teardrop of Ireland".
Skellig Michael off the Kerry coast, which has a monastic site dating from the 6th century. It is accessible by boat – prebooking essential – from Portmagee, Co Kerry. However, due to Covid-19 restrictions, it was not open to visitors in 2020.
All islands have bird life, but puffins and gannets and kittiwakes are synonymous with Skellig Michael and Little Skellig. Rathlin island off Antrim and Cape Clear off west Cork have bird observatories. The Saltee islands off the Wexford coast are privately owned by the O'Neill family, but day visitors are permitted access to the Great Saltee during certain hours. The Saltees have gannets, gulls, puffins and Manx shearwaters.
Vikings used Dublin as a European slaving capital, and one of their bases was on Dalkey island, which can be viewed from Killiney's Vico road. Boat trips available from Coliemore harbour in Dalkey. Birdwatch Ireland has set up nestboxes here for roseate terns. Keep an eye out also for feral goats.
Plenty! There are regular boat trips in summer to Inchagoill island on Lough Corrib, while the best known Irish inshore island might be the lake isle of Innisfree on Sligo's Lough Gill, immortalised by WB Yeats in his poem of the same name. Roscommon's Lough Key has several islands, the most prominent being the privately-owned Castle Island. Trinity island is more accessible to the public - it was once occupied by Cistercian monks from Boyle Abbey.

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