Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 23 July 2019
2179. Deputy Noel Grealish asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment if he considered the implications of his statement (details supplied) for the native salmonid populations in view of anthropological spreading of invasive species to salmonid fisheries; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31950/19]
View answerI can confirm that the e-mail referenced by the Deputy and referred to as a statement made by me was not issued by me or by my Department nor did the Department receive an e-mail as detailed.
However, in order to assist the Deputy, I have consulted with Inland Fisheries Ireland (IFI), which advises that full details of the models referred to in the e-mail are available in the peer-reviewed scientific publication “Pike (Esox Lucius) in Ireland: Developing Knowledge and tools to Support Policy and Management”, published by IFI in 2018.
In addition, the scientific paper “Coexistence of Pike (Esox Lucius) and Brown Trout (Salmo trutta) in Irish lakes”, which supports the coexistence element of the above publication, was peer-reviewed and published in the internationally reputable Journal of Fish Biology, 93, 1005-1011.
IFI has confirmed that statistical models suggest that lakes with greater area, maximum depth and stream connectivity show a higher probability of coexistence. Only the largest and deepest lakes with strong connectivity can be confidently said to have a high probability of successful coexistence. The IFI report also states that introductions of pike are likely to have negative effects on trout (Salmo trutta) stocks in small isolated lakes.
