Vol. 544 No. 4
88 Mr. Higgins (Mayo) asked the Minister for the Marine and Natural Resources if he has received a preliminary report from the Central Fisheries Board regarding water quality on Lough Conn and Lough Cullin; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24856/01]
The Central Fisheries Board carried out a fishery survey of the Castlebar river, Lough Cullin and Lough Conn in 2001 at the request of the North-Western Regional Fisheries Board. The comprehensive reports of the survey are not yet available. However, the Central Fisheries Board informs me that an initial review of the data allows it to make the following comments. The lower reaches of the Castlebar river are badly polluted and support very poor stocks of salmonids relative to other clean channels in the Moy catchment; the phosphorous load from the Castlebar River has created eutrophic conditions in Lough Cullin periodically and is probably contributing to the eutrophication problem in Lough Conn; and the decline of Lough Cullin as a trout angling fishery is both directly and indirectly related to the polluted nature of the Castlebar River.
