Plea for pioneering biosecurity plan for Lough Mask

Plea for pioneering biosecurity plan for Lough Mask


Edwin McGreal

A LEADING fisheries officer has pleaded with Mayo County Council to enact legislation to prevent the further damage of Lough Mask from invasive species. Such a proposal is the first of its kind in Ireland.
Greg Forde, Director of the Western Fisheries Board, addressed a committee of the authority last week and expressed strong reservations about the willingness of fisherman to play their part by choice, insisting that they must be forced to toe the line.
Mr Forde gave a presentation on a biosecurity plan for Lough Mask, the key recommendation of which was the need for secure prevention of the entry of threatening organisms  to the lake, which provides in the region of 50% of the water supply for the county.
The fisheries chief added that it was too late to stop the spread of zebra mussels at Mask – a recently arrived invasive species which will change the whole ecology of the lake – but that affirmative action needs to be taken before other corrosive species develop in Mask.
“Zebra mussels will become a feature of Lough Mask. They will get rid of plankton and that will affect the ecology of the lake but Lough Mask is lucky in one sense. Lough Corrib has been contaminated by a lot more invasive species. You need to get into Mask while you have the chance, don’t let it get worse,” Mr Forde told the Special Policy Committee (SPC) on Environmental and Agricultural Policy.
The fisheries chief went on to explain that the most common way for such species to get into the ecology of the lake was by the regular transfer of boats between local lakes. Registration of boats to specific lakes and the requirement to disinfect any boats that move between lakes was the only way forward.
“There is a huge ignorance about the risks of moving boats between lakes. There needs to be a registration system so that boats cannot move between lakes without proper clearance. If you want to fish on another lake you should have a certificate of disinfection. This may be a highly administrative proposal but if it is not mandatory then you are wasting your time.”
Mr Forde went onto say that local fisherman couldn’t be relied on to help voluntarily.
“Anglers may say that they are the saviours of the lake. They are not. We set up a free disinfection service for boats at a recent fishing competition on August Bank Holiday Monday at Lough Mask. There were over 100 boats there and how many availed of it? None. They couldn’t be bothered. If it is not mandatory, it is a waste of time.”
Director of Services for the Castlebar and Claremorris Electoral Areas, Seamus Granahan, said that ‘urgent action’ was needed but that the solution required consideration at national level before local by-laws for Mask were implemented. He did state that water quality from Lough Mask had not yet been affected.
“There are sophisticated checks on the water from Lough Mask because it supplies about 50 per cent of the water in the county. Measures and controls are in place and there is no immediate problem. However, that is not to say we are not concerned.”
Greg Forde agreed that a national system was needed while Senior Executive Officer with Mayo County Council Seán Smyth pointed out that local by-laws could be problematic as the 2001 Local Government Act, under which the local by-laws would function, only made provisions for coastal, and not inland, waterways.
Acting chairman of the SPC, Councillor Seamus Weir proposed that a motion to propose to government of the needs for these by-laws be brought to a full meeting of Mayo County Council.