The Lough Corrib Pike Research & Control Group is a voluntary team of local riparian anglers based around the shores of Lough Corrib SAC in Co. Galway, Ireland who monitor the presence of invasive pike (Esox lucius) in the lake and who control invasive pike numbers with rod and line angling within current fisheries legislation.
A Special Area of Conservation (SAC) is defined in the European Union's Habitats Directive (92/43/EEC), also known as the Directive on the Conservation of Natural Habitats and of Wild Fauna and Flora. They are to protect the 220 habitats and approximately 1,000 species listed in annex I and II of the directive which are considered to be of European interest following criteria given in the directive. They must be chosen from the Sites of Community Importance by the member states and designated SAC by an act assuring the conservation measures of the natural habitat.
SACs complement Special Protection Areas and together form a network of protected sites across the European Union called Natura 2000. This, in turn, is part of the Emerald network of Areas of Special Conservation Interest (ASCIs) under the Berne Convention.
The harvesting of invasive pike with rod and line angling is an adjunct to the mechanical controls employed by Inland Fisheries Ireland annually in SAC lakes. Under the EU Water Framework Directive (WFD), pike are classed as "non-native influencing ecology" for Ecoregion 17 (Ireland). The WFD became Irish law in 2003.
A report published by the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) in relation to protected habitats and species, highlight pike as a potential threat to the status of Atlantic salmon in some Irish water-bodies designated under the EU Habitats Directive (NPWS, 2007). This report specifically refers to the Corrib catchment.
When considering the above and bearing in mind that Atlantic salmon are classified as an Annex II and Annex V species in the provisions of the EU Habitats Directive, coupled with Atlantic salmon being a qualifying interest of this SAC, management of pike stocks is necessary in the Corrib catchment as it designated as Lough Corrib SAC (Inland Fisheries Ireland, 2021).
A Special Area of Conservation (SAC) is defined in the European Union's Habitats Directive (92/43/EEC), also known as the Directive on the Conservation of Natural Habitats and of Wild Fauna and Flora. They are to protect the 220 habitats and approximately 1,000 species listed in annex I and II of the directive which are considered to be of European interest following criteria given in the directive. They must be chosen from the Sites of Community Importance by the member states and designated SAC by an act assuring the conservation measures of the natural habitat.
SACs complement Special Protection Areas and together form a network of protected sites across the European Union called Natura 2000. This, in turn, is part of the Emerald network of Areas of Special Conservation Interest (ASCIs) under the Berne Convention.
The harvesting of invasive pike with rod and line angling is an adjunct to the mechanical controls employed by Inland Fisheries Ireland annually in SAC lakes. Under the EU Water Framework Directive (WFD), pike are classed as "non-native influencing ecology" for Ecoregion 17 (Ireland). The WFD became Irish law in 2003.
A report published by the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) in relation to protected habitats and species, highlight pike as a potential threat to the status of Atlantic salmon in some Irish water-bodies designated under the EU Habitats Directive (NPWS, 2007). This report specifically refers to the Corrib catchment.
When considering the above and bearing in mind that Atlantic salmon are classified as an Annex II and Annex V species in the provisions of the EU Habitats Directive, coupled with Atlantic salmon being a qualifying interest of this SAC, management of pike stocks is necessary in the Corrib catchment as it designated as Lough Corrib SAC (Inland Fisheries Ireland, 2021).
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