Gravel removal from rivers causing ‘serious damage’ to fisheries
Spawning areas for salmon and trout are being destroyed and four incidents in the past three weeks will lead to prosecutions, board chief executive Aidan Barry said yesterday.
“It has to be pointed out that destruction of fish habitat is just as serious as fish kills,” he said. Fish cannot spawn without gravel and it can take years for a riverbed to recover after the extraction of gravel,” he said.
Last year, the board received 185 reports of an environmental nature, including 20 relating to drainage and gravel removal.
“Unfortunately, this activity seems to be ongoing,” Mr Barry said. “We’re asking people to contact the board first before they undertake any activity around rivers.”
He believed low water levels and the current cheap availability of diggers for hire were among the reasons for increased activity.
Apart from interference with the spawning season, Mr Barry said young fish could be in a river for several months of the year, often until May, and they were also wiped out when riverbeds were damaged.
Last year, the board also got reports of several incidents of silt discharges from large civil engineering development sites.
Among the 185 environmental complaints were reports of discharges of effluent from agriculture, industry and local authority sources, non-compliance with planning conditions and dumping of materials close to watercourses.
Most of the reports were received from the general public, with the remainder being from fishery officers, anglers and board members.
On a positive note, however, for the first time in many years, no fish kills were recorded in the board’s area during 2009.
That may have been the result of improved effluent management and farming practices and high rainfall.
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