Fisheries rows back over Corrib’s predatory pike

Inland Fisheries Ireland (IFI) has recommended a change to byelaws on Lough Corrib to remove legal protection from invasive species such as pike – throwing a lifeline to under threat native salmon and brown trout.

In a major policy U-turn that has been welcomed by local salmon and trout anglers, IFI has conceded that byelaws in operation on Lough Corrib Special Area of Conservation (SAC) are in breach of EU Habitats Directive legislation.

In a submission to the Department of Environment, its parent department, IFI recommends that changes are made to the bye-laws to bring them in line with the EU Habitats Directive.

If this happens, then pike and other non-native coarse fish will no longer be afforded the same protections in Lough Corrib as the native wild fish.

Salmon and trout conservationists have hailed the change in policy as a success that, if implemented, could save native species from the threat posed by predatory pike.

Michael Donnellan of Oughterard Anglers welcomed the change in direction of IFI and he urged Government to implement its recommendation, which would strip pike and other non-native species of protections they are currently afforded under byelaws 806 and 809.

“The statutory body involved with fisheries management, the IFI, have accepted the Habitats Directive, and we now want the Department of Environment and Minister Eamon Ryan, to formally adopt the recommendations of the statutory body. They need to amend the byelaws as recommended by IFI.

“If that is done, that basically means that non-native species will not have any legal protection within the SAC, which would then mean that it is in compliance with the Habitats Directive,” Mr Donnellan said.

Earlier this year, the Department held a public consultation about Designated Salmonid Waters Byelaws.

In its submission, IFI has conceded that byelaws 806 and 809 were “conflicting” with the aims of trying to conserve salmon and trout on Lough Corrib.

This is thought to be the first public confirmation by IFI that its policy to date of supporting the byelaws had been misguided.

The IFI said byelaws introduced in 2006, to prohibit the wide-scale harvest of pike and coarse fish from certain waters in Ireland, was “directly in conflict” with aims of the then Central and Regional Fisheries Boards.

The byelaws were intended as a “stop-gap”, it said “but the anomaly caused by these byelaws in respect of the management and marketing of the Great Western Lakes as wild brown trout fisheries has continued for a period of time”.

The IFI said the “proposal to designate these lakes as salmonid, or wild brown trout lakes must address this inconsistency once and for all”.

IFI’s submission added: “It is evident that unless the lakes ... are exempted from the provisions of the two Byelaws, the byelaw as it stands does not achieve its stated aim of protecting the wild brown trout status of the lakes.

“In fact these byelaws have resulted in fish species which have become ’naturalised’ in these lakes, afforded equal protection to the native species which have been there since the retreat of the last ice age. This is contrary to the aims of the Habitats Directive and fisheries legislation in general.”

Mr Donnellan has written to local TDs, Senators and Councillors urging them to put pressure on the Department and Minister Ryan to change the byelaws to reflect IFI’s new position, which would afford salmon and trout a higher level of protection on Lough Corrib SAC and comply with the EU Habitats Directive.