​Anglers body urges members not to buy DAERA fishing permits after it stops stocking public fishing lakes

​The Ulster Angling Federation (UAF) has urged all its members not to purchase an Inland Fisheries Licence from the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA), over its decision not to stock the public angling estate with fish due to budget pressures.

DAERA says the minister Andrew Muir is due to meet with the UAF in the coming weeks to hear their concerns.

Gary Houston, chairman of the UAF, told his members not to purchase the DAERA license, and obtain one from the Loughs Agency instead – alongside a £1 ‘endorsement’ from the department. This move is aimed at “removing the funding from DAERA Inland Fisheries and the Exchequer”.

He says the department has “ceased all promotional and development activity and secretarial support for the Angling Forum”

A DAERA spokesperson said: “Minister Muir is due to meet with the Ulster Angling Federation in the next fortnight. He is keen to use the meeting as an opportunity to listen to their concerns and discuss issues that are currently impacting the angling community across Northern Ireland”.

Part of the reason public fisheries are no longer being stocked by DAERA id concerns about the spread of the invasive zebra mussel species. They have been blamed as a contributory factor in the blie-green algae crisis facing Lough Neagh.

The mussels filter the water, allowing more sunlight to penetrate the lough and fuel the growth of the toxic bacteria – which are fed by an excess of nutrients caused by agricultural run-off and waste water pumped into the water body by NI Water, particularly after storms.

Zebra mussels were discovered at the Department’s Movanagher fish farm in June 2023. As a result, DAERA has taken “a precautionary approach” and suspended movements of live fish from Movanagher fish farm for stocking to other fisheries “to ensure compliance with the 1985 Wildlife Order”. The Department is currently considering scientific advice “to inform the way forward”.