Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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443. To ask the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the studies carried out by her Department on the potential damage pike can indirectly cause to the pearl mussel population particularly in the Owenriff river, near Oughterard, County Galway; the steps she has taken to consult with IFI and the Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment on this matter; if a policy of culling this species in Lough Corrib is proposed and an elimination of it from the Owenriff river near Oughterard; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [4607/17]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Pike are not normally associated with the fast-flowing stream conditions that are typical of the Owenriff River and are not usually a factor in pearl mussel conservation. Regrettably the pike was recently released in some lakes upstream of Lough Corrib on the Owenriff system. I understand that Inland Fisheries Ireland are working to control or ideally eradicate these introduced fish.

Pearl mussels depend for some months of their lives on juvenile trout or salmon. The larval mussels attach themselves in a parasitic manner to the gills of the small fish and then drop off to begin life on the river bed. There is a possibility therefore that pike could have an impact on the number of juvenile fish available to the mussels.

It is believed however that the juvenile fish that host the mussels are likely to have spawned close to the mussel beds, and it may be the case that such stream-living fish are not impacted by pike elsewhere in the river system.

My Department intends in 2017 to carry out a fish host survey, including the Owenriff, to sample juvenile salmon and trout for mussel larvae and will review available fish data to assess trends in host fish populations.