There have been calls for safety procedures in the State's biggest inland fisheries board to be reviewed after an assault on a fishery officer working on a Kerry river bank.
The call was made at a meeting of the South Western Regional Fisheries Board where members appealed to the Departments of the Marine and Justice to provide more resources for policing the lakes and rivers from Kerry Head to Ballycotton in west Cork.
The meeting heard that the victim, a fishery officer in the Kerry district, had noted a sea trout being landed by an angler on the River Maine. He asked to see the angler's licence.
Two other anglers appeared and all three "viciously and without provocation beat the officer," the meeting in Macroom, Co Cork, heard. Gardaí are investigating the incident. The officer has been off work since the assault some weeks ago.
The Inland Fisheries Trust representative of staff on the board, Mr Jerry Keating, said staff were stretched to the limit.The board's staff representative, Mr John Harte, said anglers and poachers knew the levels of inspection staff were fewer now than ever.