Inland Fisheries Ireland (IFI) says it would welcome a review of turbine operations at the Ardnacrusha power plant around the peak time for eel migrations.
The statement comes following the publication of its investigation into a report of a fish kill in the lower Shannon last December, allegedly resulting from eels passing through the hydroelectric turbines during Storm Barra.
IFI says a report was received from a member of the public on its confidential hotline late on 8 December, which relayed information seen on social media.
Fisheries officers undertook a detailed investigation during daylight over the next two days, with only one dead eel recovered.
“However, finding only one dead eel may have been due to a variety of reasons,” it says. “For example, there was a time lag between the incident and the reporting of the incident…. Therefore, dead eels may have been taken by predators or are very likely to have been swept further downstream.”
IFI notes the “well-established fact” that the use of hydroelectric turbines such as those used in the ESB plant at Ardnacrusha “results in significant mortalities of eels moving downstream to sea”.
It adds: “In fact, the operation of the turbines at the Ardnacrusha hydroelectric station is estimated to kill over 21% of the total run of down-migrating eels.”
The fisheries body emphasises that it does not have a statutory role in regulating operations at Ardnacrusha, and that fisheries on the River Shannon are owned by the ESB.
“However, Inland Fisheries Ireland would welcome a review of the flow and turbine operations around the time of peak silver eels’ migration. This would improve eel survival rates in the future and improve fish passage generally via the old River Shannon channel,” it says.
The report into this incident can be downloaded below.
