A challenge by eel fishermen in the Shannon region to bylaws banning commercial eel fishing there since 2009 has been rejected by the High Court.
The Conservation of Eel Fishing bylaws were made in 2009 by the minister for natural resources in response to a 2007 EU regulation requiring member states to address the endangered status of the European eel. Some experts have said recovery of Irish eel stocks could take several decades.
In a judgment rejecting arguments by James McArdle of the Shannon Eel Fishermen’s Association, Mr Justice Daniel Herbert said the purpose of the 2007 regulation was to ensure “effective and equitable” eel recovery measures. The two bylaws at issue were not unreasonable or incapable of objective justification by reference to scientific evidence [on causes of depletion of eel stocks], “however lacking in certainty that might be”. He rejected arguments the bylaws meant the minister had permanently closed the Shannon river basin area to European eel fishing.