Two popular stretches of river in the west have been closed to salmon anglers as water temperatures skyrocketed presenting a danger to the salmon within.
Inland Fisheries Ireland announced the emergency measures after the waters along the Corrib River in Galway city and at Moy, Ballina, Co Mayo topped 20 degrees Celsius.
They told the public that salmon angling is suspended “at the Moy Fishery in Ballina, Co. Mayo and the Galway Fishery, in Galway city, due to prolonged warm and dry weather conditions.”
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IFI elaborated: “Recent dry and hot weather has caused water temperatures to exceed the 20⁰C threshold in both locations over a number of days.
“Freshwater fish species such as salmon and trout can suffer ‘thermal stress’ arising from the impact of adverse warm weather on them.”
The timeline for a return of conditions that would safely allow salmon fishing in the affected waters, and the subsequent end of the suspension, is uncertain and IFI say it “will take some time”. They added that they will continue to monitor the conditions daily before making a decision on restarting angling in the areas.”
Barry Fox, Head of Operations at Inland Fisheries Ireland(IFI), confirmed: “We will continue to monitor the situation on a daily basis before reopening the facilities.”
Fox explained that “Salmon need cold and clean water to survive and thrive. Low water volumes and high water temperatures can lead to fish kills, as there is less oxygen in the water to allow them to breathe.”
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