Member's statement: Lough Neagh Eel Fishermen
Member's statement by Mr Declan Kearney on .
- MLA
- Mr Declan Kearney
- Party at the time
- Sinn Féin
- Date
- 15 April 2024
- Type
- Member's statement
- Business
- Members' Statements
- Heading
- Lough Neagh Eel Fishermen
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 4482395
Read the official Assembly record
Text
The ecological catastrophe on Lough Neagh is an environmental crisis for the region, but it has also been a financial disaster for the commercial fishermen and their families, who rely on the lough for their income. The eel fishing season normally lasts for six months. Last year, it lasted only six weeks, meaning that there was massive financial devastation for our freshwater fishing industry in the lough. The eel fishing season will resume on 1 May, and local fishermen will not be able to sustain financial losses such as they experienced last year. We need a robust cross-departmental and inter-agency plan that not only tackles the crisis in Lough Neagh but addresses the financial hardship that fishermen have experienced and ensures that they will not be exposed to similar financial pressures this year. I will write directly to the AERA Minister to highlight that priority.
145 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.
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