AN uncle and nephew were fined a combined total of €5,000 after admitting illegally fishing for wild salmon.
Brendan O’Leary of West End, Dursey Island, Beara and his nephew John O’Leary of Gurranes, Templemartin, both admitted the charges when they appeared before Judge Joanne Carroll at Bantry District Court.
Both men, neither of whom have previous convictions, offered guilty pleas for the offences that were brought against them by the director of public prosecutions.
Fishery officer Dermot Long told the court he watched, through scopes, two men fishing in the sea of Ballynacallagh, off Dursey, on July 10th 2024. He said they fished consistently from 6.30am until 3pm when they went on to Dursey Island.
At 4.30pm, the fishery officer said, they returned and resumed fishing and remained out for three more hours. After that, they put the salmon and a drift net into the back of a jeep.
It was as they were being approached by a fishery officer that Brendan O’Leary ‘took off’, thereby obstructing them, but John O’Leary remained as another fishery officer, Mary Traynor, identified herself to him.
John O’Leary co-operated fully with the fishery officers and was very anxious and embarrassed by his actions, the court heard.
Solicitor Brian Harrington said John O’Leary co-operated fully with the fishery officers and was very anxious and embarrassed by his actions.
He added that Brendan O’Leary had since offered the drift net for forfeiture. Dermot Long said that Brendan O’Leary, through his nephew as an intermediary, also refused to be interviewed by the fishery officers.
The fishery officer told the court that since 2006 fishing for salmon is completely prohibited because of falling stocks. Taking pollution, environmental factors and over-fishing into consideration, Dermot Long said: ‘Salmon could be gone from Ireland in our lifetime.’
Judge Carroll said Brendan O’Leary ‘fled with the salmon and (initially) didn’t surrender the net that he fled with’. As a former fisherman, the judge said, he would know full well that it is illegal to fish for salmon. ‘This was an intentional criminal act,’ she said.
‘He disposed of the fish for profit. That is the reality of it unless he fed them to the cat,’ she added.
She noted that the charges brought against the accused men are ‘extremely serious offences’ but accepted that neither of them had ever been in trouble before.
A penalty of €500 was imposed on John O’Leary for taking fish with a drift net; and €500 for having 13 unlawfully captured salmon in his possession.
A charge against Brendan O’Leary of having on board a boat a drift net was marked proved but taken into consideration. A penalty of €1,000 was imposed on Brendan O’Leary for fishing with a drift net. And a €1,500 fine was also imposed on him for having 13 unlawfully captured salmon.
Two other charges against Brendan O’Leary – namely that he used a boat and a motor vehicle in the act of fishing illegally – were marked proved but taken into consideration.
In respect of the final charge, Judge Joanne Carroll imposed a €1,500 fine on Brendan O’Leary for obstructing an unauthorised fishing officer.
Both men were given six months to pay the fines, and their solicitor asked for recognisances to be fixed in the event of an appeal to the circuit court.