Mayo wild salmon numbers now face a "significant risk"
One of the fish that has been traced back to the Killary escape.
There is major concern that farmed salmon believed to have escaped from Killary Harbour in Connemara last month have entered Lough Corrib and Mayo waters.
The waterway is an important special area of conservation and the west of Ireland’s largest wild fishery. Following the escape of thousands of farmed salmon from a damaged cage on August 11, some have since been discovered in nearby lakes and prime angling rivers for wild Atlantic salmon.
“The Killary escaped farmed salmon have travelled as far North to the Owenmore River in North Mayo and some have travelled South as is evidenced by the capture of one in the Galway Salmon Weir. We will never know how many escapees have entered the Lough Corrib SAC as the system is so large making it impossible to capture all of the escapees,” said Billy Smyth, chairman of Galway Bay Against Salmon Cages (GBASC).
There are also unconfirmed reports of escapees being caught on the Cong Canal, north of Lough Corrib, and more than 100km away on the Kilcolgan (Dunkellin) river in east Galway.
The Department of the Marine launched an investigation into the escape at the facility run by Mannin Bay Salmon Company but declined to indicate how many farmed salmon escaped. Estimates vary from 10,000 to 30,000 fish.
“This environmental disaster is no longer just a concern for the Connemara area, it is now of national concern with so many rivers along the West coast being affected,” said Mr Smyth.
“GBASC call on the Government and in particular Minister McConalogue to shut down all open sea cage salmon farms as soon as possible but in the meantime we demand that all farmed salmon smolts be micro tagged before being transferred to sea cages so that when escaped farmed salmon are captured in rivers, they can be traced back to their farm of origin and sanctions imposed. This should be done as a matter of urgency,” he added.
Inland Fisheries Ireland said it believes the escaped farmed Salmon from Killary Harbour “pose a significant risk to wild Atlantic salmon populations in Galway and Mayo”.
“This is a serious ecological disaster,” said Mayo County councillor Harry Barrett.
He said questions need to be asked about how this was allowed to happen. “This could impact on livelihoods here in Mayo. If we have fish that are making their way into the different catchments around the county we have a major problem,” said Cllr Barrett.
