Dublin’s River Liffey has produced the capture of Ireland’s first salmon of 2012. Declan Briggs landed the 8.5 lbs bar of silver at 9.50am on 1st January 2012 at Islandbridge on the River Liffey. The salmon was taken on a yellow devon minnow with a single barbless hook. The capture was witnessed by Inland Fisheries Ireland’s fishery officer Joe Delaney. Declan is a member of the Dublin Salmon Anglers, a club that has existed on the Liffey since the mid 1950’s. Declan played his part in research being carried out by Inland Fisheries Ireland(IFI) on the River Liffey by taking scales from this multi sea wintered salmon before releasing the fish to continue its journey upriver.
The River Liffey is closed for salmon fishing as it is not reaching its conservation limit. However, for one day only, January 1st, the Dublin Salmon Anglers are permitted to fish for salmon under a Section 59 Authorisation from IFI . This authorisation was granted to the club in an effort to gather research for the scientists in IFI.
“It was another remarkable day for the three Salmon Rivers of Dublin” commented Dr Ciaran Byrne, CEO if IFI,” along with the discovery of Salmon in the River Tolka in 2011, now the River Liffey has produced the first Salmon of 2011”. He urged the anglers to continue to support the conservation measures on the river and thanked the club for all their efforts to date.
Since the lifting of the Drift nets in 2006 and the various conservation measures in place there has been an improvement in the numbers of salmon returning to Irelands 168 indexed salmon rivers. The 2012 Salmon Regulations can be found on www.fisheriesireland.ie along with details on the correct method for releasing Salmon safely and the current status of Irelands salmon rivers.
