A “significant review” of the fines for wildlife, water quality and habitat destruction is needed, Inland Fisheries Ireland (IFI) has said.
Francis O’Donnell, chief executive of IFI, was addressing the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Environment and Climate Action yesterday (Tuesday, November 21) on the recommendations contained in the Citizens’ Assembly report on Biodiversity Loss.
The committee was specifically discussing the enforcement of environmental law and regulation.
Inland Fisheries Ireland (IFI) is the statutory authority with responsibility for the protection, management, and conservation of all fish species in fresh water and their habitats.
Ireland has approximately 74,000 km of rivers and streams, 12,200 lakes and an extensive coastline, all of which fall under IFI’s jurisdiction.
In 2022, IFI carried out 2,489 wastewater and water treatment plant inspections, 1,937 infrastructure project inspections 1,986 agricultural inspections and 575 forestry inspections.
The authority initiated 92 prosecutions for fisheries offences and 15 prosecutions for environmental offences.
IFI also undertakes and commissions research in relation to biodiversity and conservation to assess the status of fish species.
The authority has found that 43% of fish species are threatened. The European Eel is critically endangered, the pollen is endangered and nine species, including the Atlantic salmon and Artic char, are classified as vulnerable.
IFI
The chief executive of IFI told the committee that “over generations many Irish rivers have been severely impacted by human activity, mainly to facilitate land drainage”.
“In some cases, the natural habitats on which a huge variety of fish and wildlife rely has been removed or damaged and cannot be replaced
“Each year, IFI staff survey a number of these channels and develop river habitat restoration plans, which aim to restore these rivers to something close to their natural state,” O’Donnell said.
IFI has also developed a river barrier assessment tool and is currently mapping the extent of barriers to fish migration nationwide.
The authority is also part of an applied climate change mitigation research programme to focus on the impacts of climate change on inland waters.
“We already know that water temperature within catchments is reaching lethal levels for salmon and trout during summer periods. These catchments would have originally been shaded by deciduous forests allowing for refuge in the past,” O’Donnell said.
He added that human activity has resulted in “the removal of natural tree cover which destabilises riverbanks which in turn interrupts ecosystem processes needed for all species that reside in or close to river corridors”.
Fines
The committee heard that IFI is committed to expanding its efforts to restore and protect the environment and enforce legislation where necessary.
“Equally we believe that serious consideration needs to be given to expanding the powers of authorised officers to enforce environmental and wildlife legislation in a wider context.
“This would benefit Irelands aquatic and terrestrial environments and the species that rely on them including humans.
“A significant review of the financial penalties associated with wildlife, water quality and habitat destruction is now required to deter those involved if we are to stem the reduction in Irelands biodiversity loss for future generations.
“Enforcement in this area should be viewed as a positive thing as the natural world belongs to all citizens,” O’Donnell said.