Ballinderry Rivers Trust

The Ballinderry River Enhancement Association was established in 1984 by a group of seven angling clubs on the Ballinderry River in mid-Ulster, Northern Ireland. The Ballinderry River Enhancement Association was formed in response to the dwindling numbers of native Dollaghan trout in the river and the associated problems of poor water quality and river habitat across the catchment. Ballinderry Fish Hatchery Ltd was established in 1994, as a result of the Ballinderry River Enhancement Association's need to expand its dedicated facility to rear native Ballinderry brown trout, dollaghan and salmon, as part of a strategic conservation and enhancement programme for the Ballinderry River. European funding was used to extend and equip an existing 'small scale' hatchery, in order to provide increased production capacity for the rearing of native Ballinderry species. Today, Ballinderry Fish Hatchery Ltd employs three full time members of staff, rears over 2 million fish for the Ballinderry and other Northern Irish rivers each year, runs a leading freshwater pearl mussel breeding programme, manages an ark site for white-clawed crayfish, undertakes habitat enhancement projects and consultancy work on rivers across Northern Ireland and runs a River School and education programme for the general public. Ballinderry Fish Hatchery Ltd also provides research opportunities to universities and further education institutions by making its facilities available to readers in the fields of river conservation, biological sciences and social sciences. A small hatchery, in the townland of Orritor, was used, by volunteers, to hatch native Dollaghan, brown trout and salmon eggs for restocking. In 1994, the Ballinderry River Enhancement Association was advised to form a community, not-for-profit, business at the hatchery, funds from which could be used to supplement the work of the Association. The business was named Ballinderry Fish Hatchery Ltd. In 2006, the Ballinderry River Enhancement Association became a member of the Association of Rivers Trusts, an umbrella organisation for similar river charities and groups across England, Wales and Ireland. In that same year, the Ballinderry River Enhancement Association was accepted as a charity by Her Majesty's Revenue & Customs. In 2009, the Ballinderry River Enhancement Association celebrated its 25th anniversary on the river and, to mark this milestone, welcomed the charity's first Patron, Joe Mahon, filmmaker and presenter of the popular UTV series Lesser Spotted Ulster. Today, the Ballinderry River Enhancement Association represents river interest groups from across the Ballinderry River system and is led by a dedicated group of voluntary committee members and a Board of Trustees. The Ballinderry River Enhancement Association continues to use profits generated by its not-for-profit community business, Ballinderry Fish Hatchery Ltd, to lever funding for habitat enhancement projects, restocking programmes and educational initiatives in the Ballinderry River system.