SHOALS of fish in the River Barrow are being “minced up” by turbines due to faulty protective grids.
The grids are supposed to stop the young salmon, or smolts, from gaining access to the turbines, but according to local fisherman Frank Hynes, they are not working correctly, and the river’s population of smolts is being decimated as a result.
On Friday last several huge shoals of salmon smolts became trapped at the turbines, close to the lock gates in Bagenalstown.
“At this time of the year, the smolts are going back from breeding, and when that time comes, they congregate into shoals and it is imperative that they get to the sea,” said Frank.
“Last Friday, we had the biggest run of smolts ever witnessed on the river, but they were stuck – that’s guaranteed death to them,” he said.
“There should be a four-inch grid to stop dead animals and rubbish, and then inside that there should be a smaller gird for fish. But that is not the case at the minute, and when the turbines are turned on, they draw in the water and the fish follow their instincts and follow the water, not knowing that a few yards further on they are going to be minced up,” he added.
Frank believes that the Barrow will never recover if the stocks of salmon are not increased, and it beholds the Fisheries Board to guarantee that all available smolts have access to the sea.
Frank and many of his fellow anglers have started a movement to bring this problem into the public domain. They are holding an open meeting in The Estoria in Bagenalstown on 17 May at 8pm.