AN anglers' delegation from the west of Ireland will discuss water pollution in Brussels today.
The delegation is being led by representatives of the Carra/Mask Angling Federation who are meeting officials of the EU Environment, Nuclear Safety and Civil Protection Directorate General.
The' anglers have been to the forefront in campaigning for greater monitoring of agricultural and domestic discharges into the region's major lakes, Loughs Corrib, Mask, Carra and Conn which are among Europe's most important game fishing lakes, notably for brown trout.
Twice during the past five years the federation's environmental concerns were registered as official complaints when forwarded to Brussels. They prompted the European Commission to ask the Irish authorities about the pollution of Lough Conn and Lough Mask highlighted in a Greenpeace report commissioned by the anglers.
The Commission is being asked to seek clarification on the status of the lakes and an outline of remedial measures proposed or implemented, according to the delegation's spokesman, Mr Tony Waldron. "Local authorities are saying everything is all right as far as water quality is concerned, but official reports are not backing up this view."
Mr Waldron cited a report on the Moy catchment which documents instances of "salmonoid stock eliminated" and "organic pollution, sources unknown", when other statements from Mayo County Council referred to "95 per cent of water in a pristine condition".
The federation was concerned that three years after the publication of a report on Lough Conn there was no improvement in the lake because, he said, few of its recommendations had been implemented. "We have supplied the EU with all available information. We are asking the Commission to continue to raise questions with the Irish authorities. While we appreciate we don't have official status, we nevertheless feel that because of our activities, as anglers and there fore as premier users of the waters, we have in many respects a far greater understanding of what is happening."
He added if there was any doubt about the threat to the lakes Mayo County Council had warned of introducing measures to curb discharge of phosphate rich agricultural wastes primarily slurry. But the federation believed that domestic sewage was a major contributing factor in the decline.
Mr Waldron claimed while the Minister for the Environment, Mr Howlin, accepted that phosphates were "the greatest threat to the lakes" and said the Government was committed to reversing the trend of poor quality' and eutrophication (where wastes upset the nutrient balance of water), a strategy document due to be published last year had yet to be circulated.
The delegation is also to raised concern about the impact of overgrazing and afforestation, he said. "We feel very strongly that far more extensive environmental evaluation of the long term impact of such schemes should be completed before they commence, most especially in the context of the vulnerability of the west of Ireland waterways."