Ballinderry Fish Hatchery Ltd is a non-profit taking community business owned by the Ballinderry River Enhancement Association (BREA). The hatchery reares around 1.5 million native Ballinderry Dollaghan trout, river brown trout and salmon each year as well as carrying out breeding projects for endangered freshwater species such as the Freshwater Pearl Mussel and White-clawed Crayfish.
Ballinderry Fish Hatchery is Northern Ireland's first fully registered 'river trust' with the Association of Rivers Trusts.
Incorporated in 1994, Ballinderry Fish Hatchery Ltd is a ‘not for profit’ community business owned by Ballinderry River Enhancement Association (BREA).
Ballinderry River Enhancement Association
BREA was established in 1984 by an alliance of seven angling clubs on the Ballinderry River in Co. Tyrone, Northern Ireland.
The Association was formed in response to the dwindling numbers of native Dollaghan trout in the river and the associated problems of water pollution and riverine habitat loss across the catchment.
It was their vision, fuelled by a passion for their local river and the sport of angling, to restore the Ballinderry River to its former glory.
Today, BREA is run by a dedicated board of voluntary committee members and continues to use profits from the sale of angling tickets to lever funding for the undertaking of habitat enhancement projects and restocking programmes in the Ballinderry River.
Ballinderry Fish Hatchery Ltd
Ballinderry Fish Hatchery Ltd was born out of BREA's need for a dedicated facility to rear native Ballinderry trout and salmon, as part of a strategic river conservation and enhancement programme.
European funding was secured to expand an existing ‘small scale’ hatchery, to provide increased production capacity for the rearing of native fish that were required to conserve the fisheries of the Ballinderry system
