Call to ease fishing restrictions for rest of season
From September 1st, fishing on the River Moy is operating on a catch-and-release system.
A Mayo councillor has called on Inland Fisheries Ireland (IFI) to allow anglers to keep one fish from the River Moy for the remainder of the season, stating the new catch-and-release rules are having an impact on local businesses.
Foxford-based Cllr Neil Cruise made the comments at the September meeting of Claremorris and Swinford Municipal District, saying the River Moy is “teeming” with fish following a “fantastic summer” weather-wise.
The River Moy is currently subject to catch-and-release fishing, following the introduction of new salmon conservation regulations for 2026.
Under the new rules, from September 1 until the end of the season on September 30, anglers must fish on a catch-and-release basis, meaning no salmon or sea trout over 40cm can be kept.
Cllr Cruise said the restrictions had left anglers with “very short change this year”. He said while some anglers are more than happy to simply catch a fish and return it to the river, others like to bring a memento of their fishing trip home with them.
“A lot of fellas like to bring a fish home, to have something to show for coming on their holidays. It is nice to bring one home and maybe get it smoked.”
He joked that anglers could face questions from people at home about whether they had actually been fishing if they came back without something to show for it.
“You might have people at home that ask ‘are you going fishing at all or are you at different things’, when you don’t bring home a trophy,” he said.
The councillor said he had been in contact with IFI about the issue, arguing that the restrictions were affecting not only anglers but also businesses that rely on angling tourism. He said B&Bs, pubs, cafés, coffee shops and other businesses in the area were feeling the impact.
Cllr Cruise called on IFI to ease the restrictions for the remainder of the season, and allow anglers to keep one salmon.
“I think it would be decent of IFI if they allowed people to catch one fish, even, for the period to the end of this season,” he said.
- Published as part of the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.
