A SOPHISTICATED eel-poaching operation involving thousands of euros worth of threatened eels has been uncovered in the southwest by the region's fisheries board.
Large string bags of eels, known as pokes, were hauled up after an extensive trawl of Inniscarra Lake in Co Cork by officers from the South Western Regional Fisheries Board. The submerged bags, or "pokes" contained several hundred eels, most of which were alive and in very good condition.
The eels (brown eels, Anguilla anguilla) were worth in excess of €5,000 and would most likely have been destined for processing in the Netherlands. Fisheries inspectors suspect the organisers were from outside the area. The inspectors think the operation was set to run for some time and would have decimated the eel population of Inniscarra Lake.
It is believed the eels were caught at night using long lines or fyke nets but "the set-up indicates this was a sophisticated professional operation", said Dr Patrick Buck, assistant chief executive of the board. "There is little doubt that a large-scale poaching operation such as this was having a serious impact on eel numbers in the lake."
The investigation began when Inniscarra users reported spotting what they thought was a net of dead fish.
In serious decline, eels are fished here only by licence and only around six licences are issued annually in the southwest. A total ban is being considered to protect the species.