Salmon Watch Ireland is delighted to welcome Mossy Earth and Artic Stone as sponsors of our new underwater camera system. The Camera system utilises Go Pro Hero 9 technology with underwater WiFi extension cabling allowing viewing of footage remotely on over water monitor. This technology allows operator to film at the most opportune periods. Live video can also be streamed to social media.
Salmon Watch Ireland has always sought to examine various ways in which we could further citizen science in relation to Atlantic salmon and sea trout conservation. Salmon Watch Ireland has always prioritised science in all our dealings regarding wild salmon and sea trout and to as far as possible include the public through education and information in relation to our policy formation.
To this end we have instigated a system to facilitate inspection of coastal river and stream systems to provide an early warning database regarding premature sea trout post smolt return in areas adjacent to salmon aquaculture facilities.
The project on an initial pilot basis would involve four distinct regions in the south west of Ireland, two aquaculture areas and two non-aquaculture areas as controls. This could be further enlarged to examine river systems in the West of Ireland if additional cameras were to be funded.
A database would then be visually available through a designated website with video evidence incorporated. The visual evidence would be examined, and cross referenced with salmon farms in area. The levels of infestation would be categorised and reported to Inland Fisheries Ireland and the Marine Institute to allow further inspection and research in coastal waters. This may facilitate environmental DNA sampling in coastal waters to quantify sea lice density.
The level of inspection by both organisations has not been satisfactory in recent years principally due to resource shortages and our project could help to focus resources on a timely fashion. As an additional focus the web resource could be expanded to facilitate the receipt of photographic evidence from other concerned stakeholders.
The web resource would also include an extensive data base outlining information regarding farm sites to include physical data relating to farm site stock levels, disease reports, ecological reports, benthic monitoring, and legal aspects of individual licences. This resource would act as a one stop resource to allow public to view the situation as it pertains on an on-going basis.