January 12, 2021 10:23 am
A farmer from Beaufort, Co. Kerry, was convicted and fined at Caherciveen District Court on Thursday, December 10, 2020, following a prosecution taken by Inland Fisheries Ireland (IFI).
The farmer was fined €3,300 plus costs, the authority said – amounting to approximately €4,000 in total.
Judge Waters convicted the farmer under Section 173 (d) of the Fisheries Consolidation Act 1959 for carrying out works in the Gaddagh River which damaged sensitive spawning beds.
While a charge of obstruction was struck out, Judge Waters commented that he could not ignore the defendant’s behaviour when considering the appropriate penalty.
The Gaddagh River, a tributary of the River Laune and in an SAC (Special Area of Conservation), is an important spawning habitat for Atlantic Salmon, a species protected under Irish and European law.