The Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) today published the ‘Digest of statistics for salmon and inland fisheries in the DAERA jurisdiction’.
These statistics give an overview of DAERA’s fisheries sector in Northern Ireland. The latest available data has been drawn together from a number of published and unpublished sources.
Key statistics from the report are summarised below:
* There were 25,779 angling licences and 17,681 DAERA permits sold in 2015.
* 1,120 rod licences and 1,118 permits were checked in the DAERA public angling estate in 2015/16.
* There were approximately 189,000 salmon fry stocked from Bushmills Hatchery to rivers in Northern Ireland in 2015, decreasing to 160,000 in 2016.
* No salmon were caught in commercial nets in 2015.
* The estimated return of wild adult salmon to the River Bush in 2015 was 1,005 and was below the previous 10 year average (2005-2014) of 1,247.
* The 10 year overall eel catch average in Lough Neagh (2006-2015) of 386 tonnes is 33% less than the previous 10 year eel catch average (1996-2005) of 575 tonnes.
* The eel escapement estimate for the Neagh-Bann River Basin District for 2015 was 111 tonnes, falling below the 200 tonnes target.
Further information can be found in the Fisheries Digest report published on the DAERA website.
