Fishermen in Tipperary are giving up on their pastime due to the amount of poaching that’s taking place on the River Suir.
Senator Garret Ahearn has raised the issue in the Upper House of the Oireachtas where he sought information on the measures Inland Fisheries Ireland take to patrol the Suir.
The Fine Gael representative also requested the number of prosecutions for illegal fishing in the river in the last 10 years and the number of calls received through the Inland Fisheries helpline – these details are to be provided by IFI which has its headquarters in Clonmel.
Senator Ahearn told the Seanad there’s a sense of fear among local fishermen.
““Poaching is happening on a weekly basis and there are safety and intimidation concerns for fishermen out there. Their fear is that they have to manage it and there’s people giving up fishing in Tipperary because of what’s happening with poaching from people coming from outside of our county and taking the fish.”
