Poachers cast cloud over angling tourism jobs

Fish poaching is jeopardising attempts to revitalise salmon and trout stocks in South Connemara – and putting tourism jobs at risk.

Brian Curran of Indreabhan-based fishing services company, Ireland West Angling, has warned that poachers are doing “untold damage to rehabilitation efforts” in An Spidéal and are “stealing the potential for bringing much needed employment and tourism to the area”.

Mr Curran made his comments in the wake of Inland Fisheries Ireland securing a conviction against a Spiddal farmer, who was fined at Galway District Court recently for being in unlawful possession of a net which was used to illegally catch fish on the Boluisce River.

The local farmer was fined a total of €500 for obstruction and possession of the net.

Mr Curran said that through his South Connemara business he has been working closely with registered fishery owners and IFI staff to rehabilitate the various water systems in the area. They have done this “through the clearing of obstructions, input of spawning gravel and stopping the killing of the limited stocks of salmon and sea trout.”

“Over the last number of years, a large amount of money has been expended on this work with a fish counter put in place at the mouth of the Boluisce river at Spiddal village and large amounts of gravel have been placed in the headwaters and various streams to encourage fish to spawn,” he said.

“The activities of poachers do untold damage to this rehabilitation effort and are stealing the potential for bringing much needed employment and tourism to the area. There are also problems with individuals stealing fishery protection equipment used to identify people taking fish needed to repopulate the system,” he added.

See full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune.