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Yearly Archives: 2019

Help Bring Back the Salmon to Limerick

September 9, 2019 Rhiannon Laubach Leave a comment

2019 is the International Year of the Salmon. Atlantic salmon return every year from the sea to spawn in our rivers and streams. Sadly, the numbers of salmon have been declining rapidly in recent years. Reasons for the decline are mainly commercial fishing at sea, climate change affecting the oceans, impact of salmon farms at sea, and poor water quality in our rivers and streams where the young salmon live before they go down to the sea to grow to adults. Because numbers are now so low, a ban on the killing of wild salmon has been introduced as a conservation measure in Limerick rivers and many other rivers in Ireland. In the region of only 1200 salmon now return to the River Maigue and its tributaries (Camoge, Loobagh and Morningstgar rivers ) each year, whereas at least ten times that number returned in the mid-1970s. The Drumcamoge River, a small headwater stream of the River Camoge, flows near the communities of..

The Status of Salmon in the River Maigue

August 29, 2019 Rhiannon Laubach Leave a comment

Historically, the Maigue was recognised as a salmon fishery. Up to the middle of the 17th century, there were at least seven head weirs in the Maigue estuary below Adare where salmon were taken. There were also two salmon weirs associated with the monastic settlements in Adare up to the dissolution of the monasteries (Went 1960). By the end of the 19th century, salmon runs had declined significantly, probably because of over fishing in the Shannon Estuary: “Let me direct your attention to the River Maigue, which flows into the Shannon estuary a few miles below Limerick. This was once a well-known salmon angling river, but according to the testimony of Mr. R., who was born on its banks, it has totally erased from people’s minds as a fishing stream owing to over-netting at its mouth and in the estuary, and consequent dearth of salmon. (A Salmon Fisher’s Revolt. A letter addressed by the Earl of Howth to the Irish Fisheries..

Citizen Science Investigations – river environmental stewardship (CSI-River)

July 15, 2019 Rhiannon Laubach Leave a comment

This interdisciplinary science-society project, CSI-River, will partner individual citizens, the Maigue Rivers Trust (MRT), and a Community Water Officer with a postgraduate researcher to support, motivate, jointly implement and measure environmental stewardship. The project is based on the fundamental concept that that our relationship to nature is ultimately shaped locally but has been underdeveloped in an Irish context. The PhD will, 1. Examine the socio-cultural context for citizen science (CS) and environmental monitoring, 2. Analyse a range of biodiversity and in-stream CS projects on a local scale and 3. Develop a template to mainstream CS in water quality monitoring. The project will use a mixture of natural and social sciences to bring together the knowledge and skills of lay-citizens and academics in field-based activities within a River Trust framework in a catchment which is ‘At Risk’. The project addresses..

The Cooperative Education Programme at the University of Limerick

June 25, 2019 Rhiannon Laubach Leave a comment

A University of Limerick BA (History) Eoghan Fitzgerald undertook his second year work placement with the Maigue from January to June 2019. The Cooperative Education programme (or undergraduate placement ) at the University of Limerick is a core element of all undergraduate degrees. Work undertaken by Eoghan for the trust included:Data mining historical newspaper articles and folklore material with relevance to the catchment, georeference historical river and corridor features (natural and artificial), collation of social and historical materials for exhibition, compile lists of schools and business to establish networks and to assist with social. Eoghan we would like to thank you for all your hard work over the past 6 months. If you are a 3rd level student who is interested in undertaking a work placement with the trust.You can contact us on..

Crayfish Plague in the Maigue Catchment

June 5, 2019 Rhiannon Laubach Leave a comment

Crayfish Plague is an invasive water mold that can causes 100% mortality in our native crayfish populations. It has unfortunately been recorded as being in the river Maigue Catchment. To prevent the spread, of crayfish plague it is important that you check, clean and dry any equipment such as boots, fishing rods and kayaking before and after using them on the..

Festival of Fun on the Maigue

May 30, 2019 Rhiannon Laubach Leave a comment

Join us for a family friendly festival of fun on the river Maigue on June the 15th in Croom town park. Activities on the day will include an outdoor classroom with Biodiversity Expert Geoff Hunt.The opportunity to learn more about fishing with fly tying and casting lessons in the park and a display of native fish by Inland Fisheries Ireland. There will also be a fun dog show, games, children rides, face painting and market..

Explore the River Maigue by Kayak

May 14, 2019 Rhiannon Laubach Leave a comment

Join us for a unique kayaking trip on the beautiful river Maigue. Adults and children over 12 years are welcome. Suitable for beginners as well as more experienced kayakers, this trip will give participants the opportunity to try this fun sport and learn about the environment and biodiversity of the river. Instruction and all equipment will be provided. Book your tickets on this..

Are you concerned with Invasive Species in your community?

May 2, 2019 Rhiannon Laubach Leave a comment

unfortunately, due to unforeseen circumstances, we have had to cancel the invasive species training. We hope to run the training again in..

Are you concerned about invasive species in your community?

April 26, 2019 Rhiannon Laubach Leave a comment

The Maigue Rivers Trust will be offering training on identification and control on the most common invasive species found in Ireland. The training will be on 4 dates in May, you can book your place on eventbrite, ticket prices start from €10. This is the link to book..

The instream biodiversity of the River Maigue

March 4, 2019 Rhiannon Laubach Leave a comment

The Maigue Rivers Trust has commissioned Sweeney Consultancy to do biological assessment of the River Maigue to establish the biodiversity of the freshwater macroinvertebrate fauna and macrophyte flora, the status of the population of the protected white-clawed crayfish and the distribution of otters. A total of 110 macroinvertebrate taxa were identified from the 30 samples taken throughout the Maigue catchment. Seven of the taxa found were not previously recorded in Co. Limerick: two segmented worms (Nais pardalis and Nais variabilis), one stonefly (Diura bicaudate) and four caddisflies (Cheumatopsyche lepida, Lype reducta, Ithytricha sp. and Wormaldia sp.) If you would like to read more about the macroinvertebrates, white-clawed crayfish and the distribution of otters in the Maigue Catchment. The full report can be found on Maigue Instream Biodiversity Crayfish Otters..