22 January 2022
By Tom Collins
tom@TheCork.ie
To boost conservation efforts, anglers who wish to catch and keep wild salmon from the Lower River Lee in Cork this year, are being advised by Inland Fisheries Ireland that ‘brown tag’ regulations are coming into force from Tuesday, February 1st 2022.
The measures are included in the Wild Salmon and Sea Trout Tagging Scheme (Amendment) Regulations, recently signed into law by the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications, Eamon Ryan, T.D.
Under brown tag regulations, an angler who wishes to ‘harvest’ a wild salmon i.e., take or keep it, must attach a brown tag as well as a standard blue tag to the fish. To help conserve stocks of wild salmon within the Lower River Lee, No. 5 or Cork District, a total of 152 brown tags will be available for the season and will be distributed to anglers with a 2022 rod licence through a series of online lotteries.
Up to a quarter of the available number of brown tags can be issued at one time, under the Wild Salmon and Seatrout Tagging Scheme Regulations. Therefore, 38 brown tags will be selected through the first online lottery on January 31st 2022.
News from Inland Fisheries Ireland
How to apply?
Any anglers that are interested in entering the January 31st draw are being asked to email their request to Inland Fisheries Ireland at: 2022corkleebrowntag@fisheriesireland.ie between Friday, January 21st and Friday, January 28th 2022 only. Within this email, anglers must provide their name, contact address, contact telephone number and they must also quote their 2022 Salmon Licence number. Only one entry is permitted per licence holder into the draw.
Anglers with a 2022 rod licence who are not allocated a brown tag are only permitted to fish for salmon on a ‘catch and release’ basis on the Lower River Lee, where the salmon is returned safely to the same waterbody.
Further details are available from the Inland Fisheries Ireland’s website at www.fisheriesireland.ie or by phoning its Macroom office on (026) 41221.
The brown tag regulations come into force on the Lower River Lee in Cork from February 1st and will remain in place until midnight on September 30th 2022.
