Also on the agenda for Friday's meeting of Cork Co. Council was the status of the freshwater pearl mussel (FPM) in the Munster Blackwater.

1/25

*Image from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freshwater_pearl_mussel#/media/File:Group_of_Margaritifera_margaritifera.jpg, used under GNU Free Documentation License*

The upshot is that council will, unfortunately, send a delegation to Min. for Cul/Her/Gael, to lobby that efforts be made to remove (in the main channel of the Blackwater) the protected status of one of the 365 MOST ENDANGERED SPECIES on Earth. 2/25

I was strongly opposed, and spoke to that effect, but the motion carried without a vote being called. If there was a vote, it would have carried by landslide, but in hindsight I might have tried to force one to register that opposition more formally on the record. 3/25

My stance, basically: It's not EITHER the FPM OR houses. It won't be easy, but we need to change how we do business. We have moral and ethical duty to preserve our wildlife. Lets aim high. Doing so is pragmatic adjustment to reality of increasing environmental protection. 4/25

The remainder of this thread is a background to the situation for those unfamiliar with the animal and why Cork County Council are discussing it at this time. I will also leave a link to what I said in council on Friday. 5/25

First, a little on the biology of the FPM, one of the 365 most endangered species on Earth according to Cork Co. Co.'s own public consultation document for the upcoming, County Development Plan. 6/25

FPMs were once found in rivers throughout N. hemisphere.

Ireland's FPMs represent 46% of the EU population.

Acoording to 2019 assessment of EU protected species, their status here is 'bad and deteriorating.' 7/25

FPM adults release larval young. Young live in oxygen-rich gills of a fish for a year. If they drop onto suitable river/lake-bed, they settle down to a sedentary filter-feeding life. Can live to 140, so there may well be FPM in Ireland older than Cork Co Co (f. 1899). 8/25

FPM habitat is degraded, stressing FPM, by sedimentation inflow which makes the water muddy/turbid, and nutrient inflow, making the water nutrient rich/eutrophic.

Sources of pollution are waste-water from houses, quarries, etc., and land-use by forestry and agriculture. 9/25

The main problem for long-term survival in most rivers seems to be that the young are no longer finding suitable places to establish themselves (too muddy). FPM population is ageing, and not being replaced. 10/25

Background to recent events:

2009: Munster Blackwater (Main Channel) incl. in list of habitats of FPM in S.I. 296/2009 EU Env. Objectives (FPM).

2014: Cork Co. Dev Plan identifies conflict between strategic priorities and conservation of FPM downstream of Mallow. 11/25

2018: Dept of Cul/Her/Gael adjudged protections afforded FPM disproportionate. Dept commenced S.I. 2008/355 EU Env Objectives (FPM), with the effect that the Munster Blackwater (main channel) was removed from the list of habitats of the FPM. 12/25

2020: Cork Co. Co. notified of Sweetman v Minister for Cul/Her/Gael/, Ireland and the Attorney General (Cork Co. Co. were not involved).

Outcome of case: 2018 regulation quashed and 2009 regulations reinstated. Munster Blackwater again included on list of habitats of FPM. 13/25

State respondents agreed with Mr Sweetman to the quashing of the 2018 regulation, i.e. recognised that said regulation was unlawful. 14/25

Cork Co. Co. have now confirmed that Blackwater (main channel) is again included on the list of habitats for FPM. Accordingly, planning applications, proposed projects, etc. must have regard to the habitats directives with respect to FPM. 15/25

This places stringent demands on water quality. Councillors who wish to remove protection for the FPM believe these demands too onerous, and will result in a cessation of housebuilding/development in large catchment area.

E.g.

https://www.irishexaminer.com/breakingnews/ireland/no-development-on-blackwater-if-pearl-measures-not-reversed-998015.html15/20 16/25

I don't see it that way.

In terms of wastewater treatment plants, the 2011 Conservation Strategy by National Parks and Wildlife Service notes "a clear mechanism exists for achieving the required discharge standards for quarries, sand and gravel pits, WwTPs, etc.” 17/25

Furthermore, with respect to on site sewage systems (septic tanks), the document says that "of the significant diffuse pressures, on-site sewage systems (OSS) may be the most manageable.” 18/25

However, “the most difficult, and costly [conservation measures] are likely to be those associated with agriculture and forestry."

The document concludes that “the management planning process has clearly indicated that these populations are effectively un-conservable.” 19/25

'Unconservable' FPM are those which reside in a particular category of river, assessed by population size, age, etc.), including Blackwater main channel.

The 8 rivers deemed to have the most 'conservable' FPM are now the focus of the excellent FPM project ( @pearl_mussel). 20/25

I don't question the data in the 2011 strategy.

However, I do wonder about the conclusions drawn, and how representatives of agencies concerned with forestry and agric. especially, represented on the working group which advised the plan, may have influenced them. 21/25

Certainly, populations of FPM will be far more 'unconservable' unless we change how we do business, particularly regards forestry (clear-fell allows sediments to enter the water) and agriculture (e.g. winter-sown crops leaving soil bare at the time of heaviest rain). 22/25

I'm speculating, of course. However, signing the protections away is the easy option.

What's harder, or just different, is exploring alternatives before we consign the FPM to what may be, in the long run, eight Irish rivers (currently thought present in 150). 23/25

Why not demand wastewater treatment plants to improve the quality of water discharge, or disincentivise clear-fell forestry, or incentivise farmers to plant native woodland buffers along rivers to reduce sediment mobilisation and nutrient ingress into the river? 24/25

So much more to be said on this, but I am now at my 25-tweet thread-limit. The more rhetorical text of what I said on the matter during the discussion in council on Friday (a paraphrase, reconstructed from notes an memory) can be found at https://www.facebook.com/CllrAlanOConnor/posts/891811308004129?__tn__=K-R. 25/25