Irish Anglers catch many Large Fish during 2019
Media Release
Irish Anglers catch many Large Fish during 2019
Catch and release the byword as Irish Specimen Fish Committee publishes report
Thursday, 30th of January 2020: Anglers fishing Irish waters caught hundreds of large fish in 2019 according to the just-published Irish Specimen Fish Committee (ISFC) report.
For the first time in many years no new records were set but over 500 exceptionally large fish of different species were caught by anglers from venues throughout Ireland in 2019. The main species were smaller shark species like Smooth-hound and Spurdog and in freshwater large Bream and Pike dominated. All fish were caught, weighed, measured and released. From 2020 there will be a new award for the best length-based Specimen, for the fish which represents the greatest percentage of the threshold length for all eligible length-only species.
Details of all of these fish and the current Irish record fish are in the Irish Specimen Fish Committee Report 2019, which has just been released. The Irish Specimen Fish Committee, which is supported by Inland Fisheries Ireland, is an independent all-Ireland voluntary body which verifies and records the capture of large fish caught on rod by anglers in freshwater and marine waters.
The Irish Specimen Fish Committee report is available on the ISFC website www.irish-trophy-fish.com or from the Inland Fisheries Ireland website http://www.fisheriesireland.ie/. Hard copies of the report are available from Inland Fisheries Ireland Citywest office from Friday the 31st of January 2020.
The ISFC Awards Day, when anglers will be presented with their awards and certificates, will be held on the 15th of February 2020 in Dublin (in conjunction with Irish Angling Show weekend: http://irelandanglingexpo.ie/ ).
Meanwhile, anglers both at home and abroad will be reading the report carefully to plan their angling trips to catch the big fish in Ireland in 2020.
ENDS
For further information:
William Roche, ISFC Secretary
T: 01-8842600
Email: william.roche@fisheriesireland.ie
Issued by Irish Specimen Fish Committee, Inland Fisheries Ireland, 3044 Lake Drive, Citywest Business Campus, Dublin 24, D24 Y265.
Notes to Editors
About the Irish Specimen Fish Committee
Founded in 1955, the Irish Specimen Fish Committee, is an independent voluntary body, representative of angling interests in Ireland, whose principal function is to verify, record and publicise the capture of large (i.e. specimen) fish caught on rod and line by anglers in Ireland, both in freshwater and marine waters. The Committee also ratifies Irish record rod caught fish. The ISFC coordinates and administers the unique specimen awards scheme which is designed to recognize any angler who catches a specimen fish and to publicise the angling venue. Successful anglers are awarded a certificate and a commemorative badge. Specially commissioned silver medals are presented to captors of record fish and special awards are also made to captors of multiple specimen fish (on a cumulative basis). This report is a detailed listing of all particulars relating to specimen and record fish captures in Irish waters in 2018. Over 29,000 claims have been received by the ISFC over the past 63 years. This dataset is one of the most valuable and long-running time-series of its type. The service is free, and anglers catching a specimen or record fish can check the ISFC website for details on how to claim their specimen.
ISFC is funded primarily by Inland Fisheries Ireland and DAERA, some angling federations, individual anglers and its activities are also supported by representatives from the various agencies that serve on the Committee.
Irish Specimen Fish Committee Members 2019
Dr. Robert Rosell (AFBI), Chairman, Dr. William Roche, Secretary, Shane O’Reilly,Treasurer, Myles Kelly and Micheál Hennessy (Inland Fisheries Ireland), Alan McGurdy, Stewart McGrane (Game Angling), Dr. Edward Fahy, Dorrie Gibbons, Der Casey (Coarse Angling) and Brian Cooke (Sea Angling).
