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Interaction between biological research brown trout fishery. It is a highly scenic lake which produces in the re- gion of 6,000 brown trout annually and several hundred salmon. Together with the River Moy, it is tremendously important to the local economy as it attracts large numbers of visiting an- glers from all over Ireland and from abroad each year. 4 MANAGEMENT OF LOUGH CONN 4.1 Main Elements of th Board's Work on Lough Conn The main elements of the Board's work in relation to management of Lough Conn are as follows: - Enforcement of the fisheries laws and regulations, - Predator (pike) control, - Competitor (perch) control, - Habitat improvement work, - Cropping of streams, - Water quality control and moni- toring. An overall fisheries management and development plan for the Moy system, which includes Lough Conn, was published by the Board earlier this year (Anon. 1992). 4.2 Enforcement of Fishery Laws and Regulations Enforcement of the fisheries laws in- volves carrying out patrols on the lake 3 to ensure that salmon and trout are not taken by illegal means. A minimum size limit of 10 inches applies on Lough Conn and this is also enforced by the Board as well as the require- ment that salmon anglers possess a State licence. 4.3 Pike Control Mixed fisheries are not an option in Ireland and, for successful manage- ment of a game (salmon and trout) fishery, it is vital that pike numbers be kept under control; otherwise, the stock of trout would quickly be dep- leted and the pike would also prey on salmon smolts making their way downstream (Toner, 1959; Beyerle and Williams, 1986; Anon, 1986 and Fitzmaurice, 1992). 4.4 Perch Control Perch are major competitors with trout for a broad range of invertebrate food items. A large stock of perch can se- riously limit trout production and re- duce insect hatches (Moriarty, 1963; Thorpe, 1974; Anon, 1986 and Gar- gan and O'Grady, 1992). For this rea- son, the Board has for many years been removing large numbers of perch from the lake. This is done mainly by the use of wire mesh traps which are placed in the perch spawn- ing areas. 4.5 Habitat Improvement works Research has shown that trout stream development programmes have been