Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 23 October 2012
390. Deputy Pat Deering asked the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the location at which Inland Fisheries are counting salmon stocks in the River Barrow; and the way these locations were selected. [45720/12]
View answerCatchment-wide electric fishing (CWEF) is the semi-quantitative technique used to assess salmon fry (0+) abundance on rivers like the River Barrow which are closed to angling and do not have any other means to assess salmon status. The data collected using this standard approach is comparable with similar data from other rivers nationally.
Sampling is generally undertaken at sites throughout each catchment to report on likely salmon bearing habitat. Sites are selected in riffle/gravel areas, suitable for wading, where there is good access to the river. Sites are generally selected at more than 1 km distances from each other and an effort is made to include all the tributaries in the catchment.
No sites are sampled in the Barrow main channel (navigable section) as it is unsuitable for salmon production and is too deep to sample. The sampling programme for the Barrow (and all other catchments) is designed to ensure coverage of as many sites as is feasible across the extent of the catchment, within the time frame allocated, based on the methodology outlined.
The catchment wide survey on the Barrow catchment (85 sites) was carried out in August and September 2012. This was the fifth CWEF survey of this catchment. With the exception of 2008, the Barrow survey has been carried out annually since 2007.
