Oyster fishermen told no licences for lough this year

OYSTER fishermen on Lough Swilly have been told their licences will not be issued this year, cutting their season in half.

Up to 28 boats and 50 people will now see their livelihoods for the year placed under threat as a result of the move by Inland Fisheries Ireland (IFI), who said the non-issuing of licences was so an environmental impact study could be carried out.

However, while the small fishing boats have been told to remain ashore, licences have still been issued to large-scale dredgers who fish for mussels on the Co Donegal lough, prompting anger among members of the Lough Swilly Wild Oyster Co-op.

The IFI said it would be meeting with the fishermen affected in the coming weeks and was withholding the licences pending legal advice. It grants oyster licences but does not have any responsibility for granting licences for other types of inland fishing, such as for mussels.

But Alec Carlen of the Co-op said: “We are tied up in the middle of the season.

“This is the season you get bills paid and there is no cash coming in.

“It’s just another way of putting the small man off the river.”

Greg Forde, director of operations with the IFI, said the licences were being withheld pending legal advice.

He said this was linked to European Union Habitats Directives protecting areas such as Lough Swilly, which as a ‘Natura 2000’ site, part of a network of protected areas in Europe.

However, he was unable to say why the fishermen have been told to stop fishing now, as opposed to the end of the season in March. A group, comprising members of the Department of Agriculture, Bord Iascaigh Mhara, the Marine Institute and others, is undertaking a study of the Lough to ensure Ireland is adhering to the EU directives.