Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 21 May 2024
150. Deputy Mairéad Farrell asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications if it was his intention to increase the overall brown trout daily bag limit per angler to six fish for the entire Lough Corrib SAC under two separate harvesting regimes, with four trout being harvested from the lake and two trout being harvested from the Clare river catchment (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22474/24]
View answerI recently made a bye-law for the conservation of wild brown trout in the Clare River and its tributaries - Conservation of Trout in the Rivers Clare, Abbert, Dalgan, Grange and Sinking Bye-Law No. 1008, 2024 - on the basis of advice from Inland Fisheries Ireland (IFI). The purpose of this bye-law is to reduce the harvest of adult brown trout migrating from lough Corrib to their spawning grounds in the feeder streams of the Clare River catchment.
Comprehensive fish population surveys in this catchment in 2019 indicated that juvenile brown trout stocks had declined at a number of reference sites since previous surveys.
Public consultation prior to the enactment of this bye-law indicated support for this important conservation measure from stakeholders, including angling groups to actively participate in the preservation of their local natural resources.
