9 Flora, Fauna and Fisheries
9.7 The aquatic environment
The study
area contains a number of important rivers as listed in Table
9.5. Most of these are part of the Barrow system. Rivers in
the south-west of the study area are part of the Nore system.
The main channel of the River Barrow dissects the northern
study area and flows approximately 47km in a south to south-easterly
direction, passing through Athy, Carlow and Muinebheag. A
section of the Barrow Line of the Grand Canal (a pNHA - see
Table 9.2) runs roughly parallel to the river from the western
boundary as far as Athy, a distance of approximately 7km.
The main tributaries of the River Barrow are Tully Stream
and the Greese, Burren and Lerr rivers. Approximately 11km
of the main channel of the River Nore occurs in the south-western
corner of the study area, and is designated as a pcSAC. The
Dinin River is the main tributary.
The Nore is
extremely important for salmonid fish and is a Designated
Salmonid River under the EU Freshwater Fish Directive. Salmonid
fish occur in all the main watercourses in the study area.
The main channels of the Barrow, Nore and their larger tributaries
are primarily adult salmonid waters. The Barrow is also noted
for the quality of its coarse angling at a number of locations.
The three species
of lamprey that occur in Ireland are legally protected under
the EU Habitats Directive (listed in Annex II). Lampreys (unspecified)
have been observed in the upper reaches of the Barrow and
Greese rivers, in the lower reaches of the Burren River, and
in the Palatine Stream (Kurz and Costello, 1999). Brook lamprey
occur throughout the Barrow catchment. Brook and sea lamprey
appear to be common in the Nore catchment. The main channel
of the Nore is a good spawning area for sea lamprey because
it is fast-flowing with a gravely bottom. Sea lamprey usually
spawn downstream of Thomastown but occasionally they spawn
as far upstream as Ballyragget. Unspecified ammocoetes (lamprey
larvae) have been observed in the upper and middle reaches
of the Nore main channel and in the lower reaches of the Dinin
River. River Barrow and River Nore pcSAC is noted for the
presence of all three lamprey species and twaite shad, all
of which are listed in Annex II of the EU Habitats Directive
(see Table 9.2).
Two freshwater
invertebrates that are legally protected under the EU Habitats
Directive (listed in Annex II), white-clawed crayfish (Austropotamobius
pallipes) and freshwater pearl-mussel (Margaritifera margaritifera
and M. margaritifera durrovensis), occur in River Barrow and
River Nore pcSAC. There are records of white-clawed crayfish
from the following 10km grid squares within the study area:
N60, N61, S56, S57, S76, S77 and S78 (Reynolds, 1998). River
Barrow and River Nore pcSAC also contains otter, a legally
protected species listed in Annex II of the EU Habitats Directive.
Otter are likely to be widespread along most rivers in the
study area.
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