Fishery Officer

Contract Type: Permanent

Organisation: Loughs Agency of Foyle, Carlingford and Irish Lights Commission

Directorate: Conservation and Protection

Location: Foyle Area

Grade/Scale: FOI / £33,542 to £34,231 per annum

Responsible to: Area Fishery Inspector

Hours: Full-time, 37 hours excluding meal breaks. Flexible working hours over 24 hours each day and 7 days each week are required.

Purpose of the Role

Fishery Officers are responsible for carrying out a range of fishery protection and other duties, not only in their assigned area of responsibility, but also in other areas within the Foyle Area or adjoining areas as directed by their Inspector.

Main Areas of Responsibility Include

• Adequate and effective fishery protection, conservation and monitoring measures at all times, having regard to the appropriate legislation, including legislation protecting waters from pollution.
• Adequate and effective checks on all rod licence holders, their rods and other equipment to ensure compliance with the terms of their licence.
• Prompt and effective response to all emergency call outs.
• Regular inspections on all weirs, sluices, mills, dams, fish passes, millraces and watercourses to ensure compliance with the law.
• Examination of watercourses in relation to fishery conservation measures associated with drainage works or engineering works adjacent to watercourses.
• All duties in connection with the prevention and control of water pollution including monitoring and sampling of discharges.
• Assisting with surveys, fishery investigations etc.
• Investigation of complaints relating to the conservation and protection role of the Agency.
• Apprehending offenders and seizing equipment under the terms of the legislation.
• Taking and preparing statements of evidence and presenting evidence in court.
• Duties may include seagoing protection as a crew member and small boats / RIB handling.
• Ensure that all Agency property placed in their care is properly maintained, and if appropriate serviced in accordance with the manufacturers instructions.
• Keep and maintain proper records, notebooks and compile all necessary reports and statements and submit these promptly to the Area Inspector.
• Keep and submit diaries of duties performed in accordance with instructions.
• Keep up to date on fisheries and associated legislation.
• Ensure appropriate legislation and instructions are complied with.
• Bring to the attention of the Area Inspector any matters coming to their attention which may adversely affect the fisheries of the Foyle Area or the operation of the Agency.
• Carry out any other duties that may reasonably be required from time to time within the general level of responsibility for the post.

Core Competencies

Loughs Agency's recruitment and selection process is based on the Northern Ireland Civil Service Competency Framework which sets out how all Agency employees should work. It is important that all candidates familiarise themselves with the Competency Framework.

• Seeing the Big Picture: Keep up to date with a broad set of issues relating to the work of the Agency. Develop understanding of how own and teams work supports the achievement of Agency priorities and delivery to the citizen. Focus on the overall goal and intent of what they are trying to achieve, not just the task. Take an active interest in expanding their knowledge of areas related to own role.
• Changing and Improving: Understand and apply technology to achieve efficient and effective business and personal results. Consider and suggest ideas for improvements, sharing this feedback with others in a constructive manner. Conduct regular reviews of what and who is required to make a project / activity successful and make ongoing improvements. Put aside preconceptions and consider new ideas on their own merits. Help colleagues, customers and corporate partners to understand changes and why they have been introduced. Identify, resolve or escalate the positive and negative effects that change may have on own role / team.
• Making Effective Decisions: Demonstrate accountability and make unbiased decisions. Examine complex information and obtain further information to make accurate decisions. Speak with the relevant people in order to obtain the most accurate information and get advice when unsure of how to proceed. Explain clearly, verbally and in writing, how a decision has been reached. Provide advice and feedback to support others to make accurate decisions. Monitor the storage of critical data and customer information to support decision-making and conduct regular reviews to ensure it is stored accurately, confidentially and responsibly.
• Leading and Communicating: Display enthusiasm around goals and activities, adopting a positive approach when interacting with others. Listen to, understand, respect and accept the value of different views, ideas and ways of working. Express ideas effectively, both orally and in writing, and with sensitivity and respect for others. Confidently handle challenging conversations or interviews. Confront and deal promptly with inappropriate language or behaviours, including bullying, harassment or discrimination.
• Collaborating and Partnering: Demonstrate interest in others and develop a range of contacts outside own team to help get the job done. Change ways of working to facilitate collaboration for the benefit of the teams work. Proactively seek information, resources and support from others outside own immediate team in order to help achieve results. Readily identify opportunities to share knowledge, information and learning and make progress by working with colleagues. Listen attentively to others and check their understanding by asking questions. Take responsibility for creating a working environment that encourages equality, diversity and inclusion.
• Building Capability for All: Take ownership of team and individual development by identifying capability needs and consistently achieving development objectives. Take responsibility for the quality of own work and seek opportunities for improvement through continuous learning. Proactively support the development plans of others. Take account of the diverse contributions of team members and delegate work to improve capabilities of all. Encourage and be open to developmental feedback from others.
• Delivering Value for Money: Manage information and financial data so that it is accurate, easily located and reusable. Can account for expenditure and create well supported argument for extra expenditure. Take opportunities to challenge misuse of resources in order to achieve value for money and sustainable ways in working. Understand that all actions have a cost and choose the most effective way to do something in a resource-efficient way. Ensure that recognised control procedures and practices are maintained. Monitor resources against plans and budget, identify and flag up variances.
• Managing a Quality Service: Explain clearly to customers what can be done. Work with team to set priorities, create clear plans and manage all work to meet the needs of the customer and the business. Ensure that levels of service are maintained, flag up risks or concerns in order to meet customer requirements. Keep internal teams, customers and delivery partners fully informed of plans and possibilities. Promote adherence to relevant policies, procedures, regulations and legislation, including equality, diversity and health and safety. Identify common problems or weaknesses in policy or procedures that affect service and escalate these.
• Delivering at Pace: Create regular reviews of what and who is required to make a project / activity successful and make ongoing improvements. Be interested and positive about what they and the team are trying to achieve. Take ownership of problems in their own area of responsibility. Remain positive and focused on achieving outcomes despite setbacks. Check own and team performance against outcomes, make improvement suggestions or take corrective action when problems are identified. Set and achieve challenging goals and monitor quality.
• Achieving Outcomes through Delivery Partners: Be able to identify and access the Agency's procurement and appropriate expertise. Understand and be able to explain Agency approach to assigning contractual and financial delegations. Recognise when deliverables and/or services derived from a business arrangement are not being delivered to the required level of quality or standard and take appropriate action. Fully meet commercial confidentiality and data security requirement in contracts.

Personnel Specification

Essential Criteria: Applicants must demonstrate that they possess the following criteria, by the closing date for applications. Each essential criteria will be applied.

• 5 GCSEs (Grade A-C) or equivalent to include Mathematics and English Language; or 1 years previous experience in two of the areas below: Fisheries, Environmental field, Law enforcement, Fish counters, Legal background, Sea going duties.
• Candidates must hold a full current driving licence, with not more than 6 penalty points, held for a minimum of two years.

Desirable Criteria: Some or all of the following criteria may be used in the event of a large number of suitably qualified applications.

• Training or qualifications in fisheries management, environmental field, law enforcement, fish counters or legal background.
• 2 years previous experience in two of the areas below: Fisheries, Environmental field, Law enforcement, Fish counters, Legal background, Sea going duties.

Closing Date: Completed application forms must be returned to arrive not later than Tuesday 11th August 2026.