Ken Whelan B.Sc., PhD, FIFM, Game Angling Instructors Certificate, National Angling Guide Certificate, AAPGAI (Professional Instructor)
Inland Fisheries Trust Incorporated – 1975 to 1980 – Completed a Ph.D. study on the biology of Irish ephemeroptera (mayflies). Carried out a major environmental impact assessment on the impact of peat bog development on freshwater ecosystems.
Central Fisheries Board – 1980 to 1989 – principal adviser to the Board on the conservation and management salmon and sea trout stocks.
Director and CEO of the Salmon Research Agency – 1989 to 1999
Executive Director in the Marine Institute – 1999 to 2011 – adviser to various Government Departments on all matters relating to salmon and eel stocks. I advised on a broad range of policy areas: freshwater fisheries, recreational fisheries, the freshwater environment, fish habitat, fin fish aquaculture and climate change issues.
Chairman National Biodiversity Forum – 2008 to 2011
Member of the Platform for Biodiversity Research – 2004 to 2011
Council of Management of AIDSA (Association Internationale de Défense du Saumon Atlantique) – 1996 to 1998
Joint Secretary of the Institute of Fisheries Management (Irish Branch) – 1992 to 1996
President of NASCO (www.nasco.int) 2004 – 2008 – an intergovernmental organisation which advises on all matters relating to the conservation of Atlantic salmon in the North Atlantic.
Chairman of the International Atlantic Salmon Research Board (www.salmonatsea.com) – 2007 to June 2011
Chairman of the Scientific Council of the Loire Basin Salmon Restoration Programme – 2007 to present.
Adjunct Professor in the School of Biology and Environmental Science at University College Dublin (www.ucd.ie) – 2009 to present
Research Director of the Atlantic Salmon Trust (www.atlanticsalmontrust.org) – 2010 to present.
Chairman, Slaney River Trust (2014 to 2016). Board member (2016 – present) – ( https://www.slaneyrivertrust.ie/ )
East Wicklow Rivers Trust – Board Member (2018 to present)-(https://wicklowrivers.ie/)
External examiner in Tralee Institute of Technology (www.ittralle.ie) – 2011 to 2014
Angling
- A keen angler since the age of 4!!
- Written extensively on angling topics. The Angler in Ireland – Game, Coarse and Sea (1989) is considered one of the most detailed works on Irish angling yet produced.
- Initiated and tutored on the first professional Angling Guide courses to be run in Ireland.
- A member of GAIA, the Game Anglers Instructors Association, holds the GAIC (Game Angling Instructors Certificate) qualification in salmon and trout angling instruction and also the National Angling Guide Certificate (NAGC).
- Professional Instructor with AAPGAI, the Association of Advanced Professional Game Angling Instructors.
- Produced, presented and scripted many films and videos on various aspects of Irish fisheries and angling.