Coarse fish poachers convicted in Navan court

News Release 22nd January, 2014

Inland Fisheries Ireland has successfully won a court case for coarse fishing offences on Whitewood Lake, Co. Meath. Two people were convicted at Navan District Court on 10th January, one was given Community Service and the other the Probation Act. Inland Fisheries Ireland was awarded €3,840 in expenses for bringing these cases.

In August 2013, Mr. Grigorij Charlamov and Ms. Liudmila Baseva were acting suspiciously at Whitewood Lake in Kilmainham Wood, Co. Meath. They were apprehended by fisheries officers Dermot Wynne and Brendan Cusack as they had a boat, nets and 99 coarse fish in their possession which consisted of bream, roach, rudd and perch. This is in breach of the coarse fish byelaw which allows an angler to have 4 coarse fish under 25cm in their possession, all equipment was seized.

Items seized by Inland Fisheries Ireland at Whitewood Lake, Kilmainham Wood, Co. Meath.

Mr. Grigorij Charlamov with an address in Bray, Co. Wicklow pleaded guilty to two charges. Judge Grainne Malone convicted him under Section 285A of the 1959 Fisheries Act, for using a boat as an aid to the commission of an offence and breaching the coarse fish byelaw of 2006. Judge Malone noted that Mr. Charlamov had been well prepared, travelled from Bray and the consequences for him were therefore more significant. She gave him Community Service and he was ordered to pay costs of €1,920 to Inland Fisheries Ireland within four months.

Ms. Liudmila Baseva also with an address at Bray, Co. Wicklow pleaded guilty to the breach of the coarse fish byelaw. Judge Grainne Malone convicted her under the coarse fish byelaw of 2006. The defendant was given the Probation Act and to pay costs of €1,920 to Inland Fisheries Ireland within six months.

Whitewood Lake is a notable coarse fishery in the Kilmainham Wood area of County Meath containing stocks of roach, bream, hybrids and pike. Many of the bream caught in this lake in 2013 were over 5lbs in weight with an average age of 8-10 years, and very valuable from an angling perspective. Coarse angling provides an important recreational amenity to both local and overseas anglers. A recent study by Inland Fisheries Ireland found that angling generates €0.75 billion to the Irish economy every year. Inland Fisheries Ireland have a freefone number to enable members of the general public to report poaching and pollution incidences - 1890 34 74 24 or for easier recall 1890 FISH 24.

...Ends...

Media Enquiries

Suzanne Campion,
Head of Business Development,
Inland Fisheries Ireland,
Anglesea Street, Clonmel, Co. Tipperary.
Tel: 052 6180055 Fax: 052 6123971
Email: suzanne.campion@fisheriesireland.ie Website: www.fisheriesireland.ie

Inland Fisheries Ireland is a statutory body operating under the aegis of the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources and was established under the Fisheries Act on 1st July 2010. Its principal function is the protection and conservation of the inland fisheries resource. IFI promotes, supports, facilitates and advises the Minister on, the conservation, protection, management, development and improvement of inland fisheries, including sea angling. It also develops and advises the Minister on policy and national strategies relating to inland fisheries and sea angling. www.fisheriesireland.ie