Government rows back on angling regulations
The Government has signalled a partial U-turn on controversial plans to introduce a policy of Catch and Release for wild salmon on the Corrib.
The Department of Climate, Energy and Environment late last year had indicated – following a public consultation – that it would introduce Catch and Release on the Corrib system as a wild salmon conservation measure.
But just months after Inland Fisheries Ireland insisted it had scientific evidence to support a new policy of Catch and Release on Corrib, the Department has launched another public consultation with revised regulations that waters down that divisive move.
The latest public consultation – to be signed off by Government in March – will allow licensed anglers to catch up to seven salmon on the Corrib between June 1 and August 31.
Under the new proposal, a Catch and Release policy would apply during all other periods of the angling season on Corrib.
Galway anglers, who strenuously opposed Catch and Release, said this was a partial victory. But they also feared it was bringing in Catch and Release ‘by the back door’.
“They are trying to introduce Catch and Release on the Corrib by stealth,” said Billy Smyth, chair of Galway Bay Against Salmon Cages.
“These new regulations show IFI have miraculously discovered 1,162 salmon for harvesting in the Corrib. This is surprising given that IFI said in the first public consultation that the Corrib system was only reaching 99% of its Conservation Limit in 2025 and that no surplus existed for harvest. Is this another miracle of the loaves and the fishes?” Mr Smyth asked.
Oughterard angler Mike Donnellan said that IFI and the Department appeared to have discovered “1,162 salmon down the back of the sofa”.
He said the new public consultation and proposed regulations “makes a mockery” of the advice and evidence published last November.
Each salmon river system in Ireland, including the Corrib, has a designated conservation limit (CL), representing the number of adult spawning salmon required to maintain a healthy and sustainable population.
For the Corrib, the CL is 7,564 which is the minimum number required to sustain the population, according to IFI.
IFI previously said its recommendation for Catch and Release policy was based on a catch advice using an 85% probability that the CL will be met.
Under this ‘cautionary approach’, and probability level, IFI said “no surplus stock is available on the Corrib system for sustainable harvest of adult salmon”, in 2026.
It’s understood that the new policy out for public consultation reverts to the standard 75% probability, which is where the 1,162 salmon came from to allow seven tags per angler during June, July and August.
The public consultation is currently open for submissions.
Pictured: Opposed...Billy Smyth.