asked the Minister for Fisheries and Forestry the number of trout per year caught by the Inland Fisheries Trust on Lough Corrib, County Galway, from 1960 to date.
Written Answers. - Lough Corrib (Galway) Fishing.
337.
The Inland Fisheries Trust remove predators on trout from Lough Corrib in order to improve the lake as a trout fishery. Some trout are unavoidably caught in the nets set for the predators. Trout that survive these operations are returned to the lake. The number taken by the trust each year since 1968, when records were first kept, is as follows:
|
Year |
No. of trout released from nets and returned to lake |
No. of trout found dead in nets |
|
1968 |
1,905 |
1,130 |
|
1969 |
1,435 |
1,022 |
|
1970 |
1,224 |
943 |
|
1971 |
1,025 |
574 |
|
1972 |
959 |
552 |
|
1973 |
689 |
448 |
|
1974 |
775 |
534 |
|
1975 |
914 |
589 |
|
1976 |
924 |
724 |
|
1977 |
674 |
498 |
|
1978 |
573 |
358 |
|
1979 |
288 |
255 |
338.
asked the Minister for Fisheries and Forestry if the Inland Fisheries Trust have sprayed any of the waters of Lough Corrib, County Galway with rotenone and, if so, why.
Rotenone has been used in small quantities in Lough Corrib by the Inland Fisheries Trust in shallow weeded areas, which are pike nursery grounds, in order to kill off young pike and thus reduce the predation on trout. Trout do not frequent these areas and the concentration of the chemical used is such that no damage is caused to the trout in other areas of the lake.
339.
asked the Minister for Fisheries and Forestry if his attention has been drawn to the complaints made by Collinamuck Angling Club, County Galway, that the activities of the Inland Fisheries Trust at Lough Corrib have resulted in seriously depleting the stocks of coarse and game fish and if he will make a statement on the matter.
I am aware of the complaints made by Collinamuck Angling Club regarding the activities of the Inland Fisheries Trust in Lough Corrib. The lake is being developed as a trout fishery and, in order to ensure the survival of the trout, strict control has to be exercised over predators such as pike and perch which reproduce themselves at a much greater rate than trout.
The trust are engaged in carrying out a policy of predator control in Lough Corrib and improving the trout spawning and nursery grounds in the tributary streams so as to build up and maintain the stocks. To that end the trust are engaged in the netting of pike and perch in Lough Corrib and in these operations it is inevitable that some trout are caught. The capture of trout is kept to a minimum by confining the netting to areas predominantly frequented by pike and perch. The number of trout captured is small and those that survive are returned to the lake.