One of the rights attached to holding the monastic lands of Beabeg under the grant at the time of King John (1199–1216) was the 'liberty of keeping a boat on the Boyne with fishing rights and rents out of Marinerstown (Mornington)'. This right passed to subsequent owners. The fishing by draft nets was done from around 14 set stations and "Boyne salmon fishermen had a particular method of working which involved two men. One man stayed onshore holding a rope attached to the net, while the other rowed out into the river with the other end of the net. Once the whole net was spread out, the boatman rowed back to shore and the two men pulled the net to shore, trapping fish as it went". The salmon boats had a particular stern platform for holding the net. Fishing took place from February to August. In 2006 amid concerns of dwindling spawning salmon numbers, the decision was taken to ban draft net fishing. Of the 50 fishermen then with licenses only 14 remained on and "they came to an agreement with the Inland Fisheries Ireland to take part in a scientific experiment that tags fish caught in the nets, under the eye of fishing inspectors. They are then released, allowing them to head back upstream". Licences in former times were passed from father to son, with the equipment going with the licence. However current licences now run only for the life of the holder making them without commercial value and given the age profile of licence-holders and the delay in the resumption of fishing will inevitably lead to a situation where there are none left to resume the tradition. The tradition of mussel fishing, which existed for about 300 years, has also been suspended since 2006. An initial halt took place in 1998, as the river channel was to be dredged, and while the beds were re-seeded the year afterwards with the expectation of harvesting in 2003 re-establishment was poor. Then in 2006, the Drogheda Port Company undertook a second silt dredging this time from Tom Roe's Point deepwater berth to the viaduct at Drogheda. The fishing involved a particular currach-style boat or punt (also called a pram, or more commonly locally, a canoe) and a mussel rake with a twenty-foot pole, dredged by hand similar to that on the River Conwy in North Wales. These can be seen in