A GROUP of fishermen say they are being overlooked for licences to fish eels on Lough Neagh - despite having "worked on the water for generations".
The Lough Neagh United Fishermen (LNUF) said they were being denied access to the multi-million pound industry.
Permits to fish for eels are issued by the Lough Neagh Fishermen's Co-operative Society set up in the 1960s.
Brian Wylie from Ardboe is a member of the LNUF and said people had grown up under the impression licenses would be passed from one generation to another.
"These people were born into the ethos and grew up with assurance that the families around the lough shores, would be 'looked after', and were assured that where permits existed in such families these permits would continue with these families and their 'rights to fish for eels' would always be upheld," he said.
"Our members have over many years applied to secure permits to fish for eels (some of our members fish daily for scale fish and have never worked anywhere else). They hold shares in the the Lough Neagh Fishermen's Co-operative Society Ltd and receive an annual dividend from their shares."
Mr Wylie claimed members of the group were "being ignored on a yearly basis" which he said was a "gross injustice and threat to our human rights".
A separate licence is required to catch eels to the one required for the range of scale fish also caught in Lough Neagh.
There are currently around 110 boat owners' licences to fish for eels.
A spokesman for the Lough Neagh Fishermen's Co-operative said: "Decisions in relation to issuing licences each year are taken in consideration of necessary conservation measures".
Around 400 tonnes for Lough Neagh eels are fished every year.
In 2011, the eels of Lough Neagh were officially recognised as a unique luxury - putting them on the same footing as Parma ham and Greek feta cheese.
The eels, considered a rare delicacy in the Netherlands and the Far East, were granted Protected Geographical Indication status by EU law - a mark which proves the authenticity of foods unique to a particular region.
Around one tonne of eels from Lough Neagh is sent to London each week and three times that again is shipped to the Netherlands.
