Biosecurity Initiative at World Cup Angling Championships in Lough Mask

The World Cup trout fly angling championship will be held on Lough Mask between 2nd and 6th August 2012. This premier event in the angling calendar will be contested by up to 500 keen fly fishermen from Ireland and abroad, each anticipating lifting the coveted World Cup. The anglers that fish this competition realise the true gem that Lough Mask represents, providing quality angling in clean, unpolluted waters.In an effort to preserve the quality conditions that combine in Lough Mask to create the productive trout water it is, the World Cup Committee and Inland Fisheries Ireland have joined forces and developed a biosecurity initiative for this competition.
This initiative aims to prevent non-native invasive species and harmful aquatic pathogens being inadvertently introduced into the lake on angling equipment. Central to this initiative is that all anglers must disinfect their landing nets and boots each day, before registering for the competition. Towards that end, anglers will be requested to cooperate with stewards on each morning and to bring their landing nets and boots with them to the registration centre. There, they will dip their gear in supervised disinfection tanks and receive a stamp from the Biosecurity Steward to show that they have used the facility. Only anglers who can show this stamp to the Registration Officer will be registered to fish the competition on that day.
In recent years, despite considerable effort on behalf of IFI and many other angling and conservation groups, the non-native invasive Zebra mussel was introduced to Lough Mask. The present biosecurity initiative represents an effort to make anglers aware of the dangers posed by aquatic invasive species and to alert them to the fact that other harmful and environmentally damaging invasive species are present on the island of Ireland and these can be inadvertently introduced to the lake on wet nets or soiled boots. Information packages relating to the threats posed by invasive species will be available to anglers’ during the competition.

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Media Enquiries:

Suzanne Campion,Head of Business Development, Inland Fisheries Ireland
Anglesea Street,Clonmel, Co. Tipperary.

Tel: 052 6180055 Fax: 052 6123971;
Email: suzanne.campion@fisheriesireland.ie Website: www.fisheriesireland.ie

Inland Fisheries Ireland is a statutory body operating under the aegis of the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources and was established under the Fisheries Act on 1st July 2010. Its principal function is the protection and conservation of the inland fisheries resource. IFI will promote, support, facilitate and advise the Minister on, the conservation, protection, management, development and improvement of inland fisheries, including sea angling and develop and advise the Minister on policy and national strategies relating to inland fisheries and sea angling.

World Cup Trout Fly Angling Championship 2012

Cuslough Bay, Lough Mask, Co. Mayo. www.worldcuptroutfly.com

Background information on invasive species

What are Invasive Species and why should we be so worried about them?

Invasive species are non-native plants and animals that successfully establish in their new aquatic habitats. Not all non-native species are, or become, invasive species and current problems are caused by only a small percentage of those non-native species that have been introduced into the country. Those non-native species that grow rapidly and exert a lasting adverse impact on native species and habitats are regarded as being invasive.
Invasive species represent one of the greatest threats to biodiversity worldwide, second only to that caused by direct habitat destruction. Their introduction is acknowledged to be one of the major causes of species extinction in freshwater ecosystems. In addition to reducing native biodiversity, invasive plants can adversely impact the recreational use of infested watercourses by restricting angling, boating, cruising, swimming and other leisure activities. Furthermore, they pose a significant threat to economic interests such as agriculture, forestry tourism and fisheries.

The estimated damage from invasive species worldwide totals more than $1.4 trillion –or 5% of the global economy. Estimated damage and control cost of invasive species in theU.S.alone amount to more than $138 billion annually. An estimated $100 million is spent annually to control aquatic weeds that clog waterways and alter natural ecosystems in the U.S. Controlling invasive aquatic species and repairing the damage caused by them costs European economies in excess of €12 billion each year. In the UK, it is estimated that the total cost of removing just one invasive weed - the Japanese Knotweed - using current techniques, is approximately £166 million annually.

How did Invasive Species get here and why are they now an increasing problem?
The expansion of world trade and the tourism market to include more destinations, coupled with the impacts of climate change, have led to the increased introduction, establishment and spread of invasive non-native species inIreland.

Rapidly accelerating world trade and international travel have allowed both deliberate and inadvertent movement of species between different parts of the globe, often resulting in unexpected and sometimes disastrous consequences. While expanding globalisation is having an acknowledged affect on the rate of non-native species introductions toIreland, it is considered that climate changewill have an equally substantial impact in the coming years by enabling some non-native species to reproduce and/or overwinter successfully, at the expense of our indigenous communities.

The number of invasive non-native aquatic and riparian species recorded inIrelandhas increased significantly in the past two decades. Those that are most invasive and that currently represent the greatest threat to biodiversity and commerce in Ireland include the fishes – Chub and Dace, the macroinvertebrates – Zebra mussel, Chinese mitten crab and the Bloody red shrimp, the riparian plants - Giant hogweed, Japanese knotweed and Himalayan balsam, and the aquatic plants – Curly leaved waterweed, Parrot’s feather, Fringed water lily, Water fern, Nuttall’s waterweed and New Zealand pigmyweed. This number is small by comparison with our nearest neighbours in theUKandEuropeand the threat of new invasions is ever-present and a constant cause for concern.

What was the stimulus for initiating the project on invasive species?

It was the increasing concern for our unique and fragile indigenous biotic communities and habitats, and in response to key recommendations in a 2004 report on Invasive Species, that led to the establishment of the Invasive Species inIrelandproject in 2006. The primary objectives of this all-Ireland (32 county) project were to reduce the risk of invasions of new species, develop contingency plans, engage key stakeholders and heighten public awareness.
In addition, as a signatory to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) the Irish Government is required to, as far as is possible and appropriate, ‘prevent the introduction of, control or eradicate those alien species which threaten ecosystems, habitats or species’. Signatories must report on what has been done to implement the Convention and how effective this is in meeting the objectives of the Convention. Furthermore, invasive species are included as part of the assessment of pressures and impacts that will determine ecological status for the Water Framework Directive (WFD). It is widely recognised that invasive non-native species have the potential to compromise the achievement of Good Ecological Status for waterbodies, and the conservation objectives (‘to maintain or restore, at favourable conservation status’) for natural habitats and species (as per the Habitats Directive). The obligation on the Irish Government to prot ect Natura 2000 sites and features, under the Habitats Directive, offers a further important driver in the fight against invasive non-native species.

What is CAISIE and what are its main goals?

The broad objective of the project is to contribute to the halting of biodiversity loss inIrelandby preventing further impacts on native biodiversity from high impact aquatic invasive species. This will be achieved through the development and demonstration of effective control methods, a programme of stakeholder engagement and awareness raising, the enactment of appropriate robust legislation, and policy development and dissemination. Implicit in the project is the target of restoring natural communities and habitats once the invasive species have been controlled.

The project will focus its efforts on the control of an aggressive southern African weed (the Curly leaved waterweed)in one of our great western lakes, Lough Corrib, and on a variety of high impact invasive species in theGrand Canaland River Barrow Navigation. While it would have been desirable to broaden the scope of the project to include a far greater range of habitats and of invasive species, the level of funding available simply would not accommodate this. This project, therefore, will act as a demonstration project that will develop species control and management initiatives, codes of best practice, stakeholder engagement opportunities and significant capacity building arrangements. It is anticipated that these will have broad application throughout Ireland and Europe.