Two Men Prosecuted for Fishing Illegally and Impeding IFI Authorised Officers on the River Boyne

PRESS RELEASE 23rd June 2014

Two Men Prosecuted for Fishing Illegally and Impeding IFI Authorised Officers on the River Boyne

Inland Fisheries Ireland (IFI) was successful in a court case brought against two defendants accused of illegal fishing and impeding authorised officers of IFI on the River Boyne in 2013. 

At Navan District Court, on 28th May 2014, Mr. David Tuite of Beechwood Drive, Drogheda, was fined €400 for impeding an IFI authorised officer and ordered to pay total costs of €683 to IFI within six months, and 40 days imprisonment in default of payment. Mr. John O’Brien of Beechwood Drive, Drogheda was fined €800 for impeding an IFI authorised officer and ordered to pay costs of €683 to the IFI within six months and 50 days imprisonment in default of payment. 

After midnight on the 8th of August 2013, Fisheries Officers Kevin O’Brien, Val Woods, Robert Bergin and Philip Duff from the Drogheda District were undertaking a covert surveillance operation following reports of illegal fishing at Proudfootstown, Co. Meath. They detected a number of men including Mr. David Tuite and Mr. John O’Brien who were acting suspiciously on the River Boyne and who were suspected of attempting to take fish illegally. When intercepted by the Fisheries staff, one of the men impeded the Officers by throwing a bag which he was carrying into the River while the second man attempted to run away and refused to give his name when required to do so by the Officers. 

On 28th May 2014, both men were present at Navan District Court and pleaded guilty to impeding authorised officers in carrying out their duties in the execution of powers under Section 301 (7) of the 1959 Fisheries Consolidation Act. Judge Conal Gibbons was very forceful in his support of the actions of IFI staff on the night in question. He stated that Fisheries Officers carry out difficult work in difficult places at unsociable hours. He commended the work of Officers O’Brien, Woods, Bergin and Duff and stated that people should not interfere with the work of Fisheries Officers in the execution of their duties. 

The River Boyne was one of the most salmon prolific rivers on the east coast and in the 1980s approximately 10,000 salmon ran the system. This declined to an all-time low in 2006, when less than 1,000 salmon were caught on the river. In 2006, IFI introduced a series of conservation measures in order to combat the decline in salmon numbers. The River Boyne is open for catch and release in an effort to conserve our native population of Atlantic salmon. 

Inland Fisheries Ireland (IFI) has a freefone number to enable members of the general public to report poaching and pollution incidents - 1890 34 74 24 or 1890 FISH 24. This phone line is designed to encourage the reporting of incidents of illegal fishing, water pollution and invasive species. 

...ENDS...

Contact: 

Suzanne Campion
Head of Business Development
Inland Fisheries Ireland 
Anglesea Street, 
Clonmel, Co. Tipperary.

Tel: 052 6180055 Fax: 052 6123971
Email: suzanne.campion@fisheriesireland.ie Website: www.fisheriesireland.ie

Note for Editors:

Inland Fisheries Ireland is a statutory body operating under the aegis of the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources and was established under the Fisheries Act on 1st July 2010. Its principal function is the protection and conservation of the inland fisheries resource. IFI will promote, support, facilitate and advise the Minister on, the conservation, protection, management, development and improvement of inland fisheries, including sea angling and develop and advise the Minister on policy and national strategies relating to inland fisheries and sea angling.