Will cleaning the river kill the fish?

bmcdona

Hi All,
I'm looking for some advice please... we have a river which runs through our property, which used to be maintained by the board of works. The river has become very overgrown with weeds and trees growing in it and the locals are getting together to clean up the river, under the guidance of the OPW of course...I was talking to one of the other land owners and he told me that the river has crayfish (?) eels and salmon in it further up river (area known as the lakes)... my question is will cleaning up the river endanger these fish? What's the chances of these fish swimming down river to my land - I've a 5 year old who would be delighted to be able to fish from the back garden!

SeaFields

Water quality is the key determinant of whether fish will be present.

While trees and weeds may be aesthetically less pleasing, they do no harm to the fish. Sometimes, nutrients leaking from agricultural land will cause a excessive weed and fishing clubs remove them. Overhanging branches and too many trees are the bane of many a fly angler and many clubs do an annual river cleanup where branches are cut down.

Could I suggest you upload a few photos of the problem area so we get a better idea of how bad the problem is.

smokiebeverage

Hi,

Cleaning up the river shouldn't be an issue if it is done correctly. If you have concerns you should check that the OPW are in contact with the fisheries board and that they have some input. Also you could have a look at http://www.wildtrout.org/ in the UK they do some great work on river habitat and have worked with Irish fishing clubs in the past

coolwings

One point that not many clean up crews fully appreciate is that the river brown trout uses in-stream timber for cover.
So the more wood in the river, and on the riverbed, the more and bigger trout there will be in the same place.

So it's good to have wood under the water.
Above the water the same trees form a canopy reducing sunlight. This will reduce weed growth, and insect numbers. So a thin or no canopy is best above the water.

famoussheamus

If the OPW cleared it in the past they would still have a responsibility to the river. Crayfish are a protected species under the habitats directive. It is easy find them if they are in your river by looking under rocks or you may see crayfish carcases left on the bank from predatory mink or otters. Talk to the local OPW office, they would advise against woody debris in rivers because of flooding issues unless it was under the direction of the Fisheries under a Environmental River Enhancement Program. The local NPWS or Fisheries may have an officer in the area who would be only glad to talk to you about the species existing in your waterways and ways of getting involved.