Huge fish hauls recovered from the Grand Canal

Press Release 22nd January 2009

Central Fisheries Board and Waterways Ireland staff recovered more than 43,000 coarse fish during a recent fish relocation project on the Grand Canal near Vicarstown in Co. Laois. The teams were relocating fish to allow essential canal repair work to take place and were delighted with the volume of fish captured during the operation.

One of the huge hauls of over 25,000 fish was captured in a short 350m stretch of the canal by staff from the Research and Development Division of the Central Fisheries Board with the assistance of the Operations Division of Waterways Ireland.

Paul McLoone Research Officer with the Central Fisheries Board said "we are all delighted with the great stocks of coarse fish in the canal. The previous stretch that we fished also produced close to18,000 fish". He added "even though I have been doing this job for several years now I am still amazed at the quantity and quality of fish that we encounter. The presence of stocks of fish like this in the canals should serve to encourage tourist and Irish anglers to fish and enjoy this great recreational amenity."

The relocation project took over two days to complete due to the sheer number of fish involved. Electro-fishing techniques were used to safely remove the fish alive from the canal prior to essential dredging operations taking place. The catch was mainly made up of roach but large numbers of bream, roach/bream hybrids, perch and even one specimen carp, were successfully relocated to new areas within the same section of canal.

Waterways Ireland and the Central Fisheries Board are committed to ensuring the long term sustainability of fish stocks in Ireland's navigable waterways and to minimising the disturbance to resident fish communities during such essential maintenance operations.

For Media Enquiries
Katrina Mc Girr, Waterways Ireland Tel 087 9918412
Linda Mc Kenny, PR and Communication Officer, Central Fisheries Board, Swords Business Campus, Swords, Co. Dublin Tel: 01 8842639, Mobile: 087 3294440
Email: linda.mckenny@cfb.ie Website: www.cfb.ie

Notes to Editor:
Waterways Ireland is responsible for the management, maintenance, restoration and development of the inland navigations principally for recreational purposes.

The Central Fisheries Board (CFB) is a statutory body operating under the aegis of the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources and was established under the Fisheries Act 1980.

Its principal functions are to advise the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources on policy relating to the conservation, protection, management, development and improvement of inland fisheries and sea angling, to co-ordinate and provide specialist and support services to the Regional Fisheries Boards, and to advise the Minister on the performance by the Regional Fisheries Boards of their functions.

The Central Fisheries Board work under contract to Waterways Ireland to manage Fisheries Development, Weed Management, and Water Quality on the Grand Canal and Royal Canal.