Over-worked fishery officers threatened by gunmen

Inland Fisheries Ireland (IFI) has flagged the “increasingly challenging environment” in which its its fishery officers work, referring to one incident in which staff were threatened with firearms.

The IFI annual report for 2016 also emphasised financial challenges, with IFI chairman, Fintan Gordon, writing that “the fact that non-pay funds are being expended each year to meet the pay costs is becoming unsustainable in the short- to medium-term”.

The report, laid before the Oireachtas, outlines how 1,487 illegal fishing items were seized in 2016 by officers — 266 more than in 2015 — including 301 nets and 818 illegally caught fish.