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AN OUTBREAK OF CRAYFISH plague has been confirmed in the River Nore, Co Kilkenny, bringing the total of Irish rivers where it’s been detected to eight.
The disease is threatening Ireland’s native and globally-endangered white-clawed crayfish; in Europe, the plague has decimated crayfish numbers. Ireland now holds the largest population of the white-clawed crayfish in Europe.
This plague is spread by being carried by a North American species of crayfish.
In a previous press release issued by the National Parks and Wildlife Service and the Marine Institute, “it is predicted the disease will wipe out the crayfish from the river system”.
Other rivers that have been confirmed to contain crayfish plague in recent years are:
The government and other wildlife authorities are advising people to adopt emergency containment measures if using these rivers.
Water users are asked not to move water sports and angling equipment out of these rivers, or if they are, to Check, Clean and thoroughly Dry all equipment for 48 hours, to reduce the chances of spreading the plague.
The advice is to power-steam wash equipment at a suitably high temperature (at least above 65 degrees), or use power washers at service stations.
You can also disinfect everything using an approved disinfectant such as Milton, Virkon Aquatic (3mg/L), Proxitane (30mg/L) or an iodine-based product for 15 minutes.
Items difficult to soak can be sprayed or wiped down with disinfectant. Engine coolant water or residual water in boats and kayaks should be drained and where possible flushed out with disinfectant.
Any suspected sighting of many dead or dying native white-clawed crayfish should be reported with photos here if possible.
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I know Tyrone tried it with Kerry, but this is a bit extreme from Tipp.
as a keen angler i always make sure i wash and disinfect my nets and terminal fishing tackle after every days fishing , a lot of ‘day ticket’ waters here do not provide net /tackle washing facilities on their banks , it should be mandatory practice to do so ! illegal removing of fish from waters is also a big problem, but dont expect much help from inland fisheries ireland -you wont get it !
@Eric Davies:
Spot on about the inland fisheries crowd but you could also add NPWS to your remark. NPWS fail miserably at everything they attempt to do…..look at their large bird of prey reintroduction, their efforts to preserve the Curlew, limit illegal dumping, illegal hunting, control of invasive species, prosecutions for illegal burning, etc etc etc. This Fine Gael Government doesn’t really give a flying f#$%.
@Barry Foster: agree 100% on ffg barry – yet people still vote for them – there is have a small water on former bord na mona bog land near us ,its a lovely little lake with great walks around the area ,picnic tables ,and lots of wildlife , lake has a good head of rudd and their numbers are increasing year on year . it used to have carp ,perch , bream ,roach and tench and was occasionally stocked with brown and rainbow trout . sadly due to the lack of education among some so called anglers those stocks have been wiped out – not depleted -actually wiped out – now there are just the rudd left – and even they are not safe . 4 times this year alone i have reported people removing fish from this venue – not just one or 2 but bucket fulls of them – tipped into large blue tubs with screw on lids and put into the back of jeeps and 4x4s and taken away , i have given vehicle registration numbers and even photo’s of those involved to the fisheries board -all to no avail – they dont want to know -far too busy gong through the latest car showroom mag’s looking for their next new works 4×4 …. they are using home made ‘stun nets’ down there now – going out in inflatable boats with a net – and trawling the lake – small motorbike battery attached to the head of a landing net and ‘shocking’ the fish to the top of the water they take everything and leave nothing – from the smallest of fry to near specimen fish of a kilo plus !!! its a disgrace because a lot of time and effort was put in in the past to make the lake and its environs a place for people to enjoy – these self centred morons are spoiling it for everyone – big gang of 20+ of them down there last bank holiday weekend – tents up ,inflatable boats , fires going , swimming in the lake -all things which are prohibited by the way -and the mess they left behind them was disgusting , beer cans and bottles , including the plastic ‘tie ‘rings around a 6 pack – broken glass , used nappies just throw to one side – food waste ,polystyrene takeaway containers and pizza box’s even items of underwear they used to swim in !! i was down there early on the tuesday morning after the bh weekend and took 3 bags of their rubbish home with me – to call them animals is to insult the animal kingdom … ireland relies on tourism and its natural beauty to bring in tourists – these ‘people’ are destroying that and no one in authority gives a dam !
Serious enough story hi. Should be hearing more about this if we’ve got the last big “colony” of the fish. Doubt too many people will go to the trouble of disinfecting etc unless a bigger deal was made out of it. Sure that washdown & disinfecting of the boat is a pure handling.
10 minutes boiled in a pot of water with a pinch of salt will sort this plague out.
@Free Online Games: sitting then on a different type of pot for three days
@Free Online Games: and a backside resembling a japanese flag the next day !!
Delicious.
Oh well . “Democracy” journal style .
Post deleted .
Sad.
@Michael Fehily: how is them enforcing their terms and conditions, which we’ve all accepted, undemocratic?
What’s wrong with eating them?? Good and enjoyable way of getting rid of a plague. Give people a free hand to catch them.
@Brendan Woods: don’t know about that. Depends on what form the plague takes. BSE and swine flu spring to mind.
@Brendan Woods: go for it… Johnny cash’s song ring of fire comes to mind..
That sh*t cray
@John Paul: totes Cray Cray
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