Step up war on fish poachers, UUP's Carmichael urges Stormont

Mr Robert Carmichael, the East Londonderry Ulster Unionist Party Association Chairman, has sent a blunt message to the Stormont Executive to “jointly step up the war on poachers who are wrecking havoc among the angling community”,

   The UUP association chairman said this “no punches pulled strategy with poachers should be implemented sooner rather than later to combat the poaching menace”.

   Mr Carmichael stressed the East Londonderry UUP Association “fully intended to push” Executive Ministers to publicise enforcement actions they take as a deterrent.

   The UUP man said: “By doing this it will give confidence to the angling fraternity that poachers are prosecuted. 

   “As part of our association’s campaign against these poachers, we are also asking the Alliance Justice Minister to publish the names of people who have been subject to an enforcement action, or arm’s-length bodies, and the fines they received.”

     “As an UUP Association, we want to ensure that such information on enforcement action taken by any Stormont departments is also clearly in the public domain,” said Mr Carmichael.