The State agency cancelled all angling along the entire River Corrib fishery for six days from last Monday, May 20, during the peak Mayfly tourist fishing season, and Connemara’s Erriff fishery, for nine days, from Saturday, May 17.
Over the past five years, IFI has taken the decision to close parts of fisheries in the west of Ireland eight times when water temperatures in rivers and lakes have exceeded 20 degrees Celsius for two days running, but never before as early in the year as the month of May.
IFI said it closed the fisheries so that cold-water fish species, such as brown trout and Atlantic salmon, do not suffer potentially lethal angling-related stress.
“Fisheries can re-open once temperatures return to levels where fish will not be thermally stressed, and is conditional on at least two successive water temperature readings of less than 18 degrees Celsius,” said an IFI spokesman. He added that although centralised records only go back five years, and older documents have not yet been thoroughly analysed, there is no institutional memory in the 340-strong organisation of an entire fishery ever being closed because of high water temperatures before much later in the summer.
This year, Galway’s Corrib and Erriff, and the Moy fishery in County Mayo, were closed early in the year, in May, because of fears that fish caught and released by anglers may not survive when returned to consistently warm water.
No fisheries were closed due to high temperature last year, while in 2023, Galway and Moy fisheries were closed in June for nine and ten days respectively.
In 2022, County Mayo’s Moy, Cloongee and Ballyvary fishing areas were closed in warm weather during late August. In 2021, there were no closures due to water temperature, but anglers were encouraged to voluntarily pause catch-and-release fishing during infrequent warm weather.
With an annual budget of €39m, the IFI has statutory responsibility for Ireland’s 74,000km of rivers and streams, together with 128,000 hectares of lakes, and 12 nautical miles of coastline.
Next month, Galway City Council is to decide on a planning application from IFI to renovate its regional headquarters in Weir House on Earl’s Island, next to the Salmon Weir.
The iconic, nineteenth century lodge, built in a Tudor Revival style unusual in Galway city, is in need of substantial internal modernisation, according to a planning application submitted in March. Proposals include replacing an internal, timber staircase, and thermal upgrade works to improve insulation and ventilation for Fisheries staff.
