A firearm was discharged by alleged poachers during an incident in which inland fishery officers seized a boat, net and nine wild salmon in Co Tipperary.
The confrontation between fisheries protection officers and the alleged poachers took place on the River Suir on July 28th.
According to Inland Fisheries Ireland, the incident happened when a routine patrol of fisheries protection officers encountered a number of people at the waterside near Carrick-on-Suir. The State body said a firearm was discharged and gardaí were alerted. Nobody was injured.
Following the incident Inland Fisheries Ireland issued an appeal to the public to only purchase wild salmon which carry either a green or white gill tag through the fish’s mouth.
Atlantic Salmon tend to cross the Atlantic from the Americas to return to the location where they were spawned, often travelling thousands of kilometres to their home river, to spawn. Many obstacles can be put in their way including environmental pollution and poaching which makes the survival of Atlantic wild salmon a cause of concern.
Inland Fisheries Ireland described the alleged poachers’ use of nets as “illegal and highly damaging environmental crime”.
David McInerney, director of Inland Fisheries Ireland said: “The salmon caught by this illegal net were on the final leg of an arduous journey to reach their native spawning rivers. The fish were fresh in from the sea, having survived a journey from either the coastal waters off west Greenland or the Faroe Island, before being cruelly killed by an illegal net, a few miles from their final destination”.
Mr McInerney said “it cannot be stressed enough that nobody should purchase wild salmon that does not carry either a green or white gill tag through the mouth and gill clearly displaying the name Inland Fisheries Ireland”.
He also said he would like to highlight the “dedication and courage” demonstrated by the officers in tackling illegal fishing “in the face of significant personal danger”.
Anyone with information on incidents of water pollution, illegal fishing and fish kills is asked to phone a confidential telephone number -1890 34 74 24 or 1890 FISH 24.
