Category Archives: Conservation

 
 
The Minister of State Fergus O Dowd TD has confirmed that a compulsory charge for anglers will not be introduced in the context of the proposed new inland fisheries legislation.  He has also stated there is no such proposal for consideration.
 
The context for new legislation is the need to bring the legislative code in the sector into a system that is fit for the 21^st Century.  In that regard, under existing legislation breach of fisheries legislation can result in prosecution, potentially leading to imprisonment.  It has been raised in consultation as to whether there is a better way and if lesser breaches could be taken outside the court system perhaps via a fixed penalty system.   
 
There are no predetermined proposals for any issue for new legislation and the consultation process is on-going. The Minister of State has made repeatedly clear that he wishes to see the fullest possible level of consensus before any proposals are finalised. He also gave a commitment at recent meetings with the Angling Bodies that no proposal will be finalised until the current round of inter-federation discussions are complete, and that he will not facilitate any proposals which might  be a source of division within the  sector.
 

Some discussion here

My name is Paul O’Reilly, I am a graduate student with Cairns School of Business & Economics, NUI Galway, and I am working on a joint project with Inland Fisheries Ireland to try to estimate the value of Irish angling events to the rural towns and communities who host them. The title of the project is ‘The Socio-Economic Impacts of Angling Festivals and Competitions on Local Communities in Ireland’. I have designed a survey which will gather data relating to the distances people are willing to travel to fish in festivals/competitions and how often they are willing to do so – this will be combined with other expenses incurred by participants in such events to estimate the total cost of participating in them and through this we will estimate the true value of such events to the anglers involved and to the host communities. I also have questions on other current aspects of angling such as poaching, commercial over-fishing, pollution etc to gauge angler’s opinions on these issues The survey should take about 10 minutes to complete and any information provided through Sea Angling Ireland will be invaluable.

Click here to take survey