2024 will be seen as a landmark year for Cairde an Chláir. In April the two fish bag limit was approved and put into law by Minister, Eamon Ryan and then at the end of July, the dream target of 3000 metres of stream development had been achieved.
What a year, what a memorable time for conservation and nursery stream restoration. It was said that we would not achieve these goals here in the west of Ireland, well we have proved them wrong and conservation and the restoration of nursery stream habitat to create more wild brown trout and salmon for the Clare River and the Corrib catchment have been the winners.
In 2020 Cairde an Chláir signed an memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Inland Fisheries Ireland. This was a commitment by both parties to work in collaboration, to restore damaged nursery stream habitat for the reproduction of wild trout and salmon.
Although Cairde an Chláir had been in disagreement with IFI over the National Strategy for Angling Development (NASD), an initiative which wasn’t working where stream development was concerned, IFI listened to the points of argument put forward and in Mar 2020 made the commendable decision to drop the ill fated NSAD for stream enhancement. Since then Cairde an Chláir have worked in collaboration with the state agency in an open minded and professional capacity, where both organisations have worked tirelessly to improve the nation’s wild fisheries.
2020 was a significant year in the history of Cairde an Chláir and what subsequently followed. Stream enhancements such as the Abbert, Cloondahamper etc took place, and they were completed even though they were hampered by Covid-19 and the Ukraine war with Russia. Then in 2023 we experienced a major setback when a key development, the Omaum was pulled because the Office of Public Works (OPW) was involved in a dispute. Thankfully the work was rescheduled for 2024.
This brings Cairde an Chláir to 2024 and what a year it is shaping up to be. In April 2024 the two fish bag limit for brown trout on the Clare River was passed into law. This was a conservation measure to protect the mature brown trout of the Clare River. Proposed by Cairde an Chláir it was positively received by IFI and put to Public Consultation for review. The result was an overwhelming list of submissions of support for the proposal. Cairde an Chláir had no idea how the proposal would be received and to see those positive submissions of support, not only from local anglers but also national and international anglers was a great relief. It made all the hard work that Cairde an Chlàir had put in, worthwhile and it was very gratifying to see so many anglers with a similar mindset when it comes to conservation.
The new measure will support the development work to create more wild fish, which has now taken place. Conservation measures to protect and reduce the impact of angler exploitation to support wild fish reproduction is a proven strategy which works and modern, open minded anglers realise this and that it is now the way forward to improving underperforming fisheries. Cairde an Chláir are proud to be part of this new mode of thinking, to create and conserve wild fish populations.
Our landmark year then continues in July when both OPW and IFI have completed the programme of instream development for 2024. Instream work on four projects;
- Kilgevrin, 400 metres
- R. Nanny- Birmingham Demesne, 500 metres
- R. Nanny Drumaskin, 700 metres
- Omaum, 1400 metres
has now finished.
The new IFI team for instream work completed three of the projects, while OPW were the main contractor working on the Omaum. Instream development work on this scale hasn’t been seen in the Corrib catchment for over thirty years with an accumulation of 3000 metres of stream enhancement in a single programme of work. We would have to go back to the TAM years of the late 1980’s, to witness instream work on such a scale and it is possible that what we are witnessing now is even greater.
These new enhancements will produce thousands of wild fish and they will be produced naturally for the Clare River and the Corrib catchment. 28% of adult brown trout caught by anglers in the Corrib are produced by the Clare River and it’s tributaries. Anglers from both the Clare River and Lough Corrib will benefit from these stream developments, enhancements which have happened because of a positive collaboration between Cairde an Chláir and the state agency for the protection and conservation of fish in Ireland, Inland Fisheries Ireland.
IFI have been the major contributor to these stream developments. Cairde an Chláir could not have achieved this huge level of success without the commitment and dedication of the IFI team, from the top down they have committed to fulfilling a programme of work that would have been unthinkable a few years ago. We are extremely grateful to the state agency for their commitment and dedication to this new strategy for creating more fish. Stream developments are the most cost effective and sustainable methods for producing those vital wild fish. Its simple, we enhance a length of damaged nursery habitat and restore it to make it productive again and nature will do the rest.
Fish are very fecund, provide the right conditions for reproduction and conservation measures to protect the mature fish and they will recover. Through our actions, we are making positive steps toward helping wild fish populations recover by providing the right conditions for this to happen. This has always been the primary aim and objective of Cairde an Chláir and in 2024, we have made a huge stride forward to achieving that objective.
