'Use this opportunity to create the modern, robust, and enforceable framework that Northern Ireland's rivers and lakes urgently require'
Chairperson of Lough Neagh Rivers Trust, David Kennedy, has issued a robust appeal to the AERA committee for their next Fisheries, Aquaculture and Water Environment Bill to “provide Northern Ireland with modern, robust, and future-proof fisheries and water legislation”.
He was addressing the AERA committee meeting at Stormont on Tuesday (September 8) which was taking evidence for the upcoming Bill – no decisions were to be made.
“We do not believe the Bill, in its current form, goes far enough,” he said.
"In our view, the Bill remains too heavily rooted in the Fisheries Act of 1966. It does not adequately reflect the environmental, societal, or economic challenges facing our waterways in 2026.
“We need a much more robust update from past mistakes and inadequacies of the Bill and the regulatory processes. We know as a fact that current regulation regimes and policies are outdated and would not stand the test within the enforcement and justice systems”.
He said: “There are problems with definition, enforcement powers, penalties, and relationships between existing pieces of legislation.
"Most importantly, there is a risk that weaknesses currently dealt with through policy and guidance will simply continue because they have not been properly addressed within primary legislation”.
Mr Kennedy added: “On penalties, the Bill needs to be considerably stronger.
"A £50,000 cap for water pollution is simply not a sufficient deterrent.
"England, Wales, Scotland have moved towards much stronger financial penalties, including unlimited penalties for the most serious criminal offenses.”
He added: “We believe the cap should be removed, for the most serious pollution offenses to be dealt with”.
He said the Bill should also ‘provide for cost recovery for investigations, penalties that reflect the seriousness of the offence – and the recovery of costs for restoring damaged habitats’.
"There should also be stronger powers to deal with repeat offenders, including the ability to suspend or revoke environmental operating licenses where appropriate,” he added.
"And we need something between informal advice and prosecution. We need the middle road.
"We need to support the introduction of corrective action and improvement notices. Improvement notices, as set out in the likes of the Health and Safety Executive, requiring problems to be addressed within a defined period".
Further addressing the AERA Committee, Mr Kennedy said: “We need stronger primary legislation.
"We need effective enforcement. We need meaningful penalties.
"We need proper protection for sensitive species and habitats, and above all, we need decisions based on scientific evidence.
"Our waterways are not simply fisheries, and we're not here as a collective of anglers.
"They are ecosystem habitats, communities, and a resource that must be protected for future generations.
"We therefore urge the committee to strengthen the bills substantially, and to use this opportunity to create the modern, robust, and enforceable framework that Northern Ireland's rivers and lakes urgently require”.