Six rivers in and around Galway will be completely closed to salmon and sea trout fishing next year in new rules to manage and conserve fish stocks.
Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications, Eamon Ryan has approved legislation that will govern the wild salmon and sea trout fisheries in 2022.
These new rules will come into effect at the beginning of the new year on Saturday, January 1.
In the Galway Fishery District the Aille, Kilcolgan, Clarinbridge, Knock, Owenboliska at Spiddal rivers will be shut, as will Lough na Furnace waterway in the Connemara District.
Minister Ryan said that these rules will allow “careful management” and conservation of an important natural resource.
“Improvements in stocks can only be achieved collaboratively over time and are entirely dependent on everybody redoubling our conservation efforts in the face of environmental, climate and human impacts.”
In total there will be 81 rivers in Ireland open for salmon and sea trout fishing in 2022, of which 45 will be fully open, and 36 will allow catch-and-release fishing.
On the other side of the equation, 66 rivers will be shut to fishing as they have no surplus of fish available.
In the Galway Fishery District only the Corrib will be opening for angling next year, while just one river in the Connemara district is shut.
The Ballinakill Fishery District fares better than the other two around Galway, with all of its rivers open, either for full angling or catch-and-release.
The status of each of the rivers listed in Galway, including the number of tags that may be issued for taking fish from the river, can be found here.
To inform the legislation for 2022 Minister Ryan received management advice from Inland Fisheries Ireland in relation to over 140 genetically individual wild salmon stocks in Ireland.
The assessment of these fish stocks was carried out by the Technical Expert Group on Salmon (TEGOS) – an all-island independent scientific group comprising experts from a range of bodies.
During a public consultation process on their advice more than 100 public submissions were received.
“Ireland is internationally recognised for prioritising the conservation imperative as fundamental to our salmon management efforts,” Eamon Ryan said.
The Minister added that it has, however, been more than a decade since Ireland adopted its current conservation policy, and that he intend to shortly publish two policy papers on reviewing it.
“The first of these will explore new options for salmon management with conservation, and how to do it better as the key focus.”
