2025 fish stocking figures

The Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) will restart the stocking of the Public Angling Estate (PAE) from the department’s Movanagher Fish Farm, the first since June 2023.

Limited stocking

Stocking was suspended because of the identification of zebra mussels, an invasive species, at the fish farm.

DAERA and the Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute (AFBI) have been working to develop stocking protocols to make sure compliance with the Wildlife Order (NI) 1985.

Results from recent sampling at Movanagher and the low water temperature, typically below that for reproduction of zebra mussels, is allowing limited stocking of some PAE waters. This would be part of the usual annual stocking programme. The window for this stocking is likely to be only four to six weeks.

Assessing water samples

AFBI will continue to assess water samples taken from Movanagher for the presence of live zebra mussel veligers and water temperatures. This is to mitigate the risk of spread of zebra mussels to waters being stocked.

Should water samples be found to contain live zebra mussel veligers (larva) and/or water temperatures increase to 10°C then all stocking will stop.

The waters stocked, with the number of fish and species, will be published on the DAERA website after stocking has been finished.

DAERA is not able to confirm if any further stocking of PAE waters will take place later this year. It continues to work with AFBI to develop a longer-term stocking protocol that will be compliant with the Wildlife Order (NI) 1985.

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2025 fish stocking figures

Limited stocking

Assessing water samples

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What to do next

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