CLAMPDOWN ON POACHING IN BAY AND RIVER MEETS HOSTILITY
BAILIFFS AND VOLUNTARY WATERKEEPERS FACE SERIOUS CONFRONTATIONS August 1987
A clampdown on poaching in Dundalk Bay and local rivers is met with open hostility towards bailiffs and voluntary waterkeepers.
It culminates in two serious confrontations in recent weeks.
In one incident, six waterkeepers are ambushed along the Castletown River, and a bloody row ensues.
Meanwhile, in Dromiskin another man is carried along on the bonnet of a van when he and a colleague attempt to intercept two men suspected of poaching on the River Fane.
Gardai are notified about both incidents, and prosecutions are expected to follow.
Angling clubs come together to wage a concerted campaign to stamp out poaching and eliminate pollution.
They obtain warrants from the courts to guard parts of rivers over which they have rights or leases.
‘ The situation has got so much out of control, that bailiffs are not able to cope. So, we decided to apply to the courts for warrants, and set up our own fishery protection patrols,’ explains a spokesman for one of the clubs.
They are quite successful in their efforts in relation to the Castletown River, to the extent that anglers are enjoying the best fishing in ten years.
However, poachers don’t take lightly to being removed from the riverbank.
A gang lies in wait, and then sets upon six bailiffs on patrol at midnight.
They fight back, and in a bloody tussle, the poachers appear to come off second best, and two nets, stretched across the river, are seized.
Indeed, surveillance leads to eleven nets being removed along the Fane this year.
Regarding the other incident, an eight-strong dawn patrol observes two men at Milltown, Dromiskin.
At first, the poachers agree to allow their van, parked in a field, to be checked, then change their minds.
A bailiff, standing at the front of the vehicle, is forced to grip the bonnet, as the van moves off, and is carried one hundred yards onto the road, before being driven around one-and-a-half miles and tossed into a ditch.
Apart from shock, the victim is none the worse for his ordeal.
His colleagues discover a fixed net laid across the river. There are no fish in the van.
The position between the poachers and fishery protection officers develops into ‘a real cat and mouse affair’, one of the officers reveals.
Ironically, hard work to clean up the rivers makes it even more attractive for the poachers to operate, even if the risk of being caught is greater.
It is intended to step up surveillance on the Dee, as well as on the Fane and Castletown rivers.
‘ There are more fish in the rivers, and this makes it more lucrative for poachers to carry on their activities,’ remarks a fishery protection officer.
Alongside their battle with poachers, the clubs are restocking waterways and vigorously tackling pollution.