Poaching Is Driving Anglers Away From Sport, Seanad Hears

2nd March 2024

Wild salmon are a prize catch on the River Suir and other fisheries but are under serious threat from poaching, as Senator Garret Ahearn told the Seanad

The scale of poaching in some Irish rivers is so great that anglers are being driven away from the sport, the Seanad has heard.

Senator Garret Ahearn raised concerns from the angling community amid a decline in the rate of prosecutions for fisheries offences in the latest figures from Inland Fisheries Ireland (IFI).

And as the Irish Independent reports, he argued that action must be taken to protect both valuable stocks of salmon and sea trout, and the anglers and clubs who fish for them.

“Many people are poaching fish from [the River Suir] and essentially getting away with it,” Senator Ahearn said. “The fishermen who fish in it every week, who catch and release, feel like they have to manage the river themselves.”

The senator added that there is a feeling among anglers that protection “is not happening to the extent it should” — though IFI insists it is working to protect national fish stocks and support the angling sector.

The Irish Independent has more on the story HERE.

Published in Angling

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