RIVER SHANNON:UNTOLD DAMAGE will be caused to the aquatic life in the river Shannon due to the floods, a member of Shannon Regional Fisheries Board has said.
Patsy Peril, who is a fisherman, an environmentalist and a member of the fisheries board, said the unprecedented level of flooding in the past week will have “a serious, adverse impact” on fish stocks in the river Shannon.
“We have been trying to restore wild salmon to the Shannon, and this will put us back even further,” Mr Peril said.
“It’s a bit of a disaster. Wild salmon are practically extinct in the Shannon from Plassey up as it is.
“It’s becoming nearly an impossible task to restore salmon to the Shannon,” said Mr Peril.
He added that stocks of eels in the river had also been depleted in recent years and there was now a ban on eel fishing in the Republic.
The already small supplies of trout and grayling in the Shannon are also expected to diminish as a result of the floods.
To reverse this situation, the Government, farmers and fishermen have to make a “radical” adjustment, according to Mr Peril.
“If the rivers are not right, and I don’t believe they are, something radical has to be done.
“The dams have been a primary cause, but everybody has a part to play,” he added.