Lough Neagh: £700k support package for eel fishers

The collapse in the eel population was first detected in 1983.

Since then, numbers have not recovered.

The reasons are not fully known, but habitat loss, climate change and over-fishing are thought to play a part.

Fisheries across Europe have been reducing or closing their eel businesses on advice from international monitoring body ICES – International Council for the Exploration of the Sea .

On Lough Neagh, there has been a sustained fall in the number of mature silver eels escaping back to the Atlantic to spawn in the Sargasso Sea.

The yellow/brown eel fishery has been closed for three years from 2026 to try to increase the number of eels reaching maturity and going on to breed.

A limit of 25 tonnes of silver eels with a maximum length of 90cms was introduced this year as part of conservation measures.

Muir said it was “a much wider international conservation challenge” that was not specific to Lough Neagh, but that the lough had a role to play in conservation.

“We need to give the eel stock the opportunity to recover while recognising the importance of retaining the skilled workforce that has sustained this fishery for generations.

“This scheme is about transition and sustainability, not decommissioning.

“Future management decisions will remain dependent on the scientific evidence and statutory obligations, but we want to preserve the skills and capacity needed for a sustainable fishery in the future.”