Angling Notes: Salmon and sea trout permits available for 2021

Salmon and sea trout angling licence sales for the 2021 season are now available. E-licences can be purchased online at store.fishinginireland.infoand delivered along with log book to your phone or computer. Gill tags will be dispatched by post.

There is no price change this year and fees will remain the same across all classes including those for juveniles. Anglers are legally required to be in possession of a licence and log book when fishing for salmon or sea trout.

Online licences must be printed off along with the log book and in possession of anglers while fishing. For anglers who require tags on or before Tuesday, 5th January, online licences must be purchased on or before Monday, December 21st.

Alternatively, licences will be available in approved licence sales distributors from the end of December/early January. For those who do not require tags in advance of January 5th, online licences and log books will be available from the online shop throughout the Christmas period.

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Anglers are advised to comply with Government guidelines specific to the region in which they live and wish to travel to. Anglers are also reminded that due to Covid-19, working arrangement for distributors and fisheries may have changed. Please check before travelling.

Licences for the 2021 season will cost: All districts – annual: €100. Juvenile (under 18 years), all districts – annual: €10. One district – annual: €56. All districts – 21 days: €40. All districts – one day: €20. Foyle area extension: €80.

Funds generated from the sale of angling and commercial licences provide revenue for the Salmon and Sea Trout Rehabilitation, Conservation and Protection Fund. The fund, which represents a major contribution by licence holders, is reinvested to promote the recovery of stocks countrywide.

Anglers are reminded to return their 2020 log book and unused gill tags as soon as possible, even if there is no catch recorded and to make the return via the business return envelope supplied at time of purchase.

In the absence of the prepaid log-book return envelope, anglers can return their completed log book and unused tags to the fisheries address on their licence/log book.

These returns provide vital information regarding the status and management of our wild Atlantic salmon and sea trout stocks for the future.

Dún Laoghaire RNLI

Due to Covid-19, the annual Dún Laoghaire RNLI Christmas Eve ceremony to honour the memory of 15 lifeboat volunteers that died on service 125 years ago has been cancelled this year and will be shown online.

The ceremony at the East Pier lighthouse is part of a long-standing tradition to acknowledge the sacrifice of their colleagues in carrying out their duty. The ceremony also remembers all those who have died around the coast and on inland waters in 2020.

On December 24th, 1895, the number two lifeboat was wrecked while proceeding to the assistance of the SS Palme of Finland, the whole of her crew, 15 in number, drowned.

This year, two wreaths will be placed by the lifeboat crew at sea and the service can be viewed later on Christmas Eve on the Dún Laoghaire RNLI Facebook page.

The tribute will feature musician William Byrne performing The Ballad of the Palme and broadcaster Fergal Keane reading a newspaper account of the disaster. An ecumenical blessing will be given by Reverends Ása Björk Ólafsdóttir and Fr Paul Tyrell before a lament is played by piper Paul McNally.

Angling show in Swords

Mara Media has announced that the upcoming Ireland angling show in Swords, Co Dublin, will not proceed in February 2021 due to the pandemic. However, with the rollout of the vaccine, the team at Mara Media remain optimistic to announcing a new date when the situation improves.

Company managing director Hugh Bonner said: “We are using this time to take a fresh look at the show and come back with an exciting reinvented new look.”

angling@irishtimes.com