Fishermen tag lobsters to conserve stocks

Lobster fishermen in Waterford are to go ahead with the tagging and release of up to 500 brood lobsters today - despite fears that a dredging operation in the estuary will destroy the shellfish.

The tagging of egg-carrying lobsters is part of an eight-year programme of lobster conservation, funded by the fishermen and Bord Iascaigh Mhara. The programme involves the fishermen releasing the marked brood lobsters back into the wild. These are recognised by fishermen if they are caught, and so released again, allowing stock numbers to recover.

The programme has also involved a campaign to persuade the Government to introduce a licence for lobster catching, with mandatory regulations that lobsters which are marked and tagged must be returned. The Government has not acceded to the requests for regulation and this year the East Waterford Lobster Fishermen's Co-operative claims a dredging operation in the estuary, carried out by Waterford Port Company, has the potential to destroy their conservation efforts.

According to Mr Trevor Simpson, chairman of the co-operative, the lobster fishermen had already bought and released into the area several thousand lobsters in a bid to increase stocks. But the important spawning grounds were located on either side of the approved dumping area for spoil from the dredging operation, jeopardising the project.

The chairman of the Port of Waterford, Mr Ben Gavin, has said it was "stretching it a bit" to suggest that the dumping was causing damage to shellfish. It was more likely, he said, that the spoil was being generated by the spring tides. The dredging operation had only about a week left to run.