Click here to read our third newsletter to find out what has been happening in the Maigue Rivers Trust for the past 12 months. Many thanks to our director, Catherine Dalton, for putting this newsletter..
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..
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..
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..
How Healthy are your Local Rivers and Streams? Would you like to be able to tell? If so, join us for training on the Small Streams Characterisation System Click here to book your free p SSCS article draft OtS issue..
Come and discover the amazing under water world of your local stream with heritage expert Geoff Hunt and The Maigue Rivers Trust. There will be pond dipping events in Kilmallock and Hospital on Saturday the 25th of August and in Lough Gur on Sunday the 26th. To book your place, ..
Trout and Salmon Magazine visit the Maigue Catchment in 2017 and have given us permission to share some their wonderful images Wendigo..
A plant of wet meadows and riversides that is unmistakable when in..
A common plant of wet meadows, lakesides riversides and open woodland. In summer it bears clusters of pink flowers with a strong sweet..
Very common by rivers and streams. Sometimes known as water hemlock because of its..
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