Thread by @IrelandsEnviro

1. Hi everyone 👋, last day today. Lets take a look at the captive breeding program of #FreshwaterPearlMussels Margaritifera margaritifera (FPM) in the @MarineInst hatchery in Furnace
@npwsBioData @pearl_mussel @ACRESWestConn @Dept_ECC @DeptHousingIRL @agriculture_ie @WAN_LIFEIP

2. Some background first. FPMs are bivalve (shell in 2 halves) molluscs that are native to Irish rivers and lakes. The species is protected under the Wildlife Act and listed on Annex II and V of the EU #HabitatsDirective. npws.ie/research-proje…

3. It is on the verge of extinction, in unfavourable-bad conservation status and categorised as critically endangered in Ireland, and one of the 365 most endangered species in the world
Check out these #FreshwaterFactCards from @LeibnizIGB
igb-berlin.de/en/freshwater-…

4. FPMs are a long lived species, and the populations that we have left in 🇮🇪 are just not producing enough healthy juveniles to sustain the populations. Some of them are >100 years old! As old as the state!
Imagine the changes that have occurred in their lifetime

5. Improvements in catchment management and aquatic habitats are needed to ensure the long term survival of this amazing species, and just to acknowledge the great work of @pearl_mussel and @kerry_life in this area. Onwards with #ACRES_CP
pearlmusselproject.ie

6. The @pearl_mussel released this excellent storymap recently which gives the background way better than I can storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/951774…

@pearl_mussel 7. Until #FPM habitat improves, the National Conservation Strategy for the FPM recognises the importance of captive breeding projects for ensuring the survival of populations in severe decline.
Breeding programs are well advanced across Europe e.g. nature.com/articles/s4159…

8. In 2019, the @MarineInst, @npwsBioData and @EvelynMoorkens started planning for a first cohort to be produced at the hatchery in Furnace, where a #Salmon hatchery has been running since the 1960s

@MarineInst @npwsBioData @EvelynMoorkens 9. The salmon hatchery part is really important because part of the life cycle of FPMs requires the #glochidia (larval mussels) to attach on to the gills of salmon or trout for at least a year.
Tks to @StreamScapes for providing this photo

@MarineInst 10. This is a crucial part of the life cycle of FPM. @StreamScapes have produced this beautiful picture of the life cycle and all its intricacies

11. As the @MarineInst is already operating a well regulated, @TheHPRA licensed hatchery, with #Salmon in production, it takes a lot of the work out of the process of setting up a captive breeding program marine.ie/site-area/infr…

12. In 2020, 30 adult #FreshwaterPearlMussels were brought from the #Newport river (down the road from us) to Furnace, and were put in a tank with 300 #Salmon. And then we waited to see if the mussels had spawned, and if there was any encystment was successful

13. May 2021: Mary, @ElizabethRyder7 and @edeeyto had a nerve wracking afternoon, checking through all the fish..... Good news! .....

14. #Glochidia were visible on about 100 of the fish . You can see them as the tiny white spots on the gills

15. These fish were moved to a separate tank to await drop off. Once we were sure this stage was finished, we had a look through some of the gravel at the bottom of the tank and success! Live mussels! These ones are about 0.7 mm. It was so exciting for us 🎉🥳🕺💃

16. A year later, at least some of the mussels are still alive and growing ( they are now about 1.3 mm) and we have started producing our second cohort

17. This year, we are testing the success of the 2020 adult cohort of FPM against a new batch retrieved from the Newport River. Next year, we will try and encyst trout, which involves the production of a trout cohort in the hatchery.

18. We are at the early stages 🐣of this program. We have lots to learn before we reach full production 🦅. A huge part of this process is knowledge exchange and discussion. We had a great day in July with our colleagues from @npwsBioData & @opwireland doing just that

19. The aim is have our hatchery facility set up to take in adults from vulnerable populations and produce cohort of juveniles. This is a last resort for conservation of #FPM. We would prefer not to be in this position. Far better to preserve populations in the rivers @CABioLoss

20. Massive thanks to @ElizabethRyder7, Davy, Pat H., Fintan & Alan particularly, but all the @MarineInst team in Furnace. Worth putting up this group photo again, because almost everyone here has helped out with this work at some stage (and a couple more not in this photo)

21. We could not be doing this without the help of @EvelynMoorkens and Ian Killeen, as well as our colleagues Richard O’Callaghan and Áine O’Connor in @npwsBioData
It is truly a #TeamEffort

22.Im going to wrap up now. You can keep up to date with research outputs from the @MarineInst Burrishoole research station here, and I'll be back at @edeeyto after today. If I've missed any questions, dm over there
scholar.google.com/citations?hl=e…

23.What a great week of interaction! Thanks so much for joining me, and for all your kind words, and also to @IrelandsEnviro for the opportunity

I believe the account is being taken over this week by Aisling and Jeremy from the @NativeWoodTrust 🌳🌳🌳
Oíche Shamhna shona duit