About Inland Fisheries Ireland
Following recent government plans for the rationalisation of state agencies outlined in the 2009 budget, the eight separate fisheries organisations, comprising the Central Fisheries Board and seven Regional Fisheries Boards have been merged into one single entity and become Inland Fisheries Ireland (IFI).
Inland Fisheries Ireland is responsible for the protection, management and conservation of the inland fisheries resource across the country. Ireland has over 70,000 kilometres of rivers and streams and 144,000 hectares of lakes all of which fall under the jurisdiction of IFI. The agency is also responsible for sea angling in Ireland.
IFI operates under the aegis of the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources
With regard to the Water Framework Directive, the following have implications for IFI
- Within the WFD recognition is now given to water as a habitat
- Preservation of aquatic ecosystems is a requirement
- Current Catchment Management Projects will be integrated into River Basin Districts (RBDs)
- Fisheries representation on co-ordinating groups and RBD Groups
- IFI to provide fisheries data for all species (also required to service Habitats Directive and Biodiversity Plan)
- Data to be presented in GIS format
- New technology and additional resources required
- Fish stock conservation/assessment will constitute core function
- Fisheries catchment management strategies to interlink with WFD/RBD programmes