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On Thursday the 16th of March the new fish counter at Ballynahinch will be officially commissioned and commence operation. This project has been a co-operative venture between the Ballynahinch Fisheries System Co-Op and the Western Regional Fisheries Board. The Project was initially funded under a catchment management initiative of the Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources, and funding was granted by the then Minister, Frank Fahey TD. Over the past two years a crump weir has been constructed in the river on which the counter has been installed. In the past week the counter has been completed and the commissioning is to take place on Thursday.
This counter, and the replacement of a faulty counter at Lough Inagh, will mean that for the first time two counters will be operational on the Ballynahinch river several miles apart. This will lead to invaluable information being gathered on the timing of salmon and sea trout runs in the system as well as affording an opportunity for any recovery in the sea trout numbers to be monitored. The counter can record fish moving both upstream and downstream, giving a total count of fish migrating within the catchment. The Ballynahinch (Owenmore) River is one of the most important salmon and sea trout fisheries in Connemara, and the counter will provide valuable data that will contribute to the knowledge and management of the catchment.
The official commissioning of the weir and counter will take place at Ballynahinch River on Thursday the 16th of March and will be preformed in the absence of Minister Fahey by Lal Faherty, Chairman of the Western Regional Fisheries Board.
The Western Regional Fisheries Board and the Ballynahinch Fishery System Co-operative would like to acknowledge the co-operation of the landowners in the area, the National Parks and Wildlife Service and the contractor, Paddy McDonagh for their assistance with this valuable project.
The project could not have proceeded without the Catchment Management funding granted by Minister Frank Fahey during his tenure at the Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources, and for that all the project partners express their gratitude.
The counters themselves have been purchased from Aquantic Ltd in Scotland and the counter being replaced at Inagh was the first of its kind installed in the country in 1989.
Further information on this press release can be obtained from the Western Regional Fisheries Board at 091 563118, or info@wrfb.ie
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