Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 4 November 2015
265. Deputy Bobby Aylward asked the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources if he will commission a survey on brown trout stocks on the River Barrow to decipher if stocks of same are below the conservation limit; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38682/15]
View answer266. Deputy Bobby Aylward asked the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources if he will sanction the restocking of brown trout on the River Barrow to bring the population of same up to appropriate figures; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38683/15]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 265 and 266 together.
I am advised by Inland Fisheries Ireland (IFI) that a major fish stock survey (all fish species including brown trout) in the River Barrow catchment (main channel and tributaries) was completed during July and August 2015. IFI are currently processing the data collected and as soon as a report is compiled and finalised in early 2016 it will be made available to the Deputy.
IFI policy is that management measurements for wild brown trout be directed towards conservation, with return of captured fish, and towards habitat-management/enhancement measures designed to increase carrying capacity and restore depleted wild brown trout stocks. These latter measures may include instream and bankside works that provide spaces or cover to hold additional trout and create increased complexity in the channel reach. These measures are intended to assist in increasing wild trout numbers and in increasing the quality of the angling experience.
Stocking requests are considered in the context of EU legislation, biodiversity considerations and best scientific advice. Stocking of brown trout introduces new genetic material into a river system that may or may not reproduce with the native stock. Stocked trout may also compete for food and habitat to the detriment of native wild brown trout.
As the River Barrow is not managed as a stocked fishery, the introduction of farmed or stocked trout, which would have a capacity to move freely throughout the catchment, could reduce the value of this wild trout fishery.
IFI have confirmed that a series of genetic studies on Irish brown trout populations has revealed that there is enormous genetic diversity within and among brown trout populations. Research has shown that stocking with hatchery reared brown trout makes no significant contribution to those fisheries where they have been introduced. In addition, it has been shown that restocking of non-native salmonids can be detrimental to the freshwater pearl mussel, a protected species included in Annex II and V of the EU Habitats Directive. I am advised that there are three designated pearl mussel sub catchments in the River Barrow catchment.
