IMAGE: TIMOTHY KNEPP Connecting fish, rivers and people
Alison Alderton looks at how the waterways can be adapted to help migrating fish.
WORLD Fish Migration Day (WFMD), May 16, 2020, is a one-day global celebration designed to create awareness of open rivers and migratory fish. Co-ordinated by the World Fish Migration Foundation, organisations from around the world had been planning to hold their own events on the day, based around the common theme connecting fish, rivers and people.
Many migratory fish species are endangered or threatened and the main causes are from man-made barriers, weirs and sluices which disrupt the natural flow of rivers and prevent their usual migratory routes. In Ireland both eels and salmon are celebrated migratory fish.
The Old River Shannon Trust was established to research and raise awareness about issues affecting fish stocks and the natural course of the River Shannon. They are fighting to improve survivability for fish stocks passing both up and downstream through the two major obstacles of Parteen Weir; allowing access to the old natural course downstream to Limerick, and the alternative ‘headrace’ feeding water to the Ardnacrusha Hydroelectric Station. They are striving for sustainable management of Ireland’s great river and to be compliant with the Habitats Directive, Water Framework Directive and with the interests of the catchment’s residents and user groups.
There is no downstream fish pass at the Ardnacrusha Hydroelectric Station and the critically endangered silver eels migrating down the river end up in the turbines. The same happens with salmon smolts attempting to return to the sea.
The Habitats Directive, Water Framework Directive and Eel Regulation have all come into force but ESB have not reviewed the management of the river in 90 years. Today, no infrastructure would be required to manage the river in a sustainable way.
If the trap from the fish pass was removed and more water allowed down this pass, there would be immediate benefits. Also if the spillway at Parteen weir was left open, salmon smolts and eels could pass downstream unimpeded, and salmon could find the pass here easily if again there was no trap and more water in it.
The hydroelectric station could still be used but now in a sustainable way.
The headrace could continue to have a role in flood management and power production, balanced with restored fish runs to the ecological and amenity value of the river for the benefit of all.
Last year was named International Year of the Salmon and saw awareness being raised throughout Ireland for this impressive migratory fish. The Auxiliary Ketch Ilen is Ireland’s sole surviving traditional wooden sailing ship. Designed by Limerick man Conor O’Brien and built in Baltimore in 1926, she was delivered by Munster men to the Falkland Islands where she served valiantly for 70 years.
The Ilen was rebuilt through a community educational programme in Limerick and set sail from Limerick Docks during the summer to follow the migratory journey of salmon from the Shannon to West Greenland.
At the time, Dr Ciaran Byrne, CEO of Inland Fisheries Ireland, said: “We know that for every 100 salmon that leave Ireland to go out to sea, 95 don’t make it back due to a range of challenges which they face. The Ilen project’s ‘Salmon’s
Wake’ programme is a timely tribute to this iconic species during International Year of the Salmon and it is hoped that it will help create awareness around their decline in Ireland and across the northern hemisphere.”
The Ilen project’s voyage followed a creative programme which saw building workshops and community days take place at multiple locations across the city with local schools, artists, craft makers and institutions all playing a role in bringing this majestic ship back to the sea.
Young people from Limerick and West Greenland participated in the project and discovered what both communities share as North Atlantic maritime island peoples, while the captain of the Ilen provided updates on the ship’s progress as a guest blogger on Inland Fisheries Ireland’s blog: www. fishinginireland.info
As our climate continues to change, it will impact both the marine and freshwater phases of the Atlantic salmon’s life cycle through changes in water temperature, habitat quality and survival at sea.
Additionally, increasing freshwater temperatures affect how far south salmon populations can exist but the incredible journeys made by migrating fish will continue to fascinate us, not just today but hopefully for future generations as well.