Joe Carey
Question:574. Deputy Joe Carey asked the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the number of fish that have passed through a fish counter (details supplied) in County Clare in the past 12 months [45845/14]
View answerTuesday, 2 December 2014
Questions (574)
Written answers
A fish pass was incorporated to the flood relief scheme through the Office of Public Works contract in 2013 and a Logie counter was installed by IFI. I am advised by IFI that as the counter is located beside two sluice gates which salmon can traverse when open, the counter will, when the necessary validation process is complete, contribute a partial count.
As the Deputy will appreciate, a fish counter is a complex piece of electronic equipment operating in a static position within a highly fluid and mobile body of water. The water-body itself is subject to a multiplicity of water levels, weather and other environmental conditions in any operational year.
As is the case with all new counter installations, a research programme, over a number of years will be required to estimate the level of the partial count before the data can be reliably used as a direct index of returning salmon population.
In line with the statutory protection and conservation imperatives, it is long-standing IFI policy not to make verified and reliable fish counter data public in the current operational year as such data can be used by those who wish to engage in illegal activity such as poaching to target particular events and times.
I am advised that some 450 “up-river movements” were recorded by the, as yet, unverified counter in 2014. However, I am also advised of the need to exercise extreme caution in relation to this raw data as these movements would, include movement of debris and other material, and a variety of fish species. The ability to disaggregate salmon movements within the overall metric will require the completion of the scientific programme and subsequent installation of a video verification array.
I understand that it is not appropriate, at this stage to draw reliable conclusions as regards salmon movements from the counter at present. Once the substantiated estimate of partial count is established in the required research programme, a video verification process will be implemented. However, the fish counter currently provides important information, from a protection perspective, on run timing and when fish enter the system.
As the counter is only active since the end of last year and requires at least three years of data for inclusion in the Independent Standing Scientific Committee for Salmon advice process, the current method of assessing the status of the river is through Catchment Wide Electrofishing (CWEF) surveys.
The data used currently by the Standing Scientific Committee is the CWEF results for the Fergus River which is returning an average of 7.45 fry, well below the required Scientific Committee’s threshold of 17 salmon fry per catchment average to consider facilitating a catch and release fishery.
The following represents the CWEF surveys carried out:
Catchment Wide Electrofishing Surveys
|
Year |
Average Fry per 5 minute fish |
|
2013 |
5.89 |
|
2010 |
6.84 |
|
2009 |
4.10 |
|
2007 |
12.96 |