Demon shrimp, invasive salmon and zebra mussels are among the current and future non-native threats to Northern Ireland’s waters being discussed as part of an international conference in Belfast this week.
The 24th International Conference on Aquatic Invasive Species (ICAIS) has gathered global experts at Queen’s University Belfast (QUB) from August 23 to August 28, marking the first time the event has been held in the city.
The week-long event will include a range of discussions which aim to build on “cutting-edge research” and best management practices, which could also help inform how freshwater invasive species are dealt with in the north.
Read more: Vigilance urged as ‘highly invasive’ mussel discovered for first time in NI
Speaking to The Irish News, Dr Ross Cuthbert from QUB’s school of biological sciences, said that the conference was significant both “internationally and locally”.
Dr Ross Cuthbert is a lecturer at QUB’s school of biological sciences and one of the chairs of this week’s conference PICTURE: QUB
“It really helps to boost the reputation of the university but also help to address our local issues, so environments like Lough Neagh which have been severely affected by harmful algal blooms recently – invasions have a role to play there,” he said.
“But we’ve seen that also in other parts of the world, so we can learn from those international perspectives and hopefully address some of our local issues through this conference as well.”
Dr Cuthbert said that invasive species cost “billions to these islands” through losses in agriculture, forestry, on land and in water.
“The effects are quite substantial,” he said.
“Invasions by the zebra mussel are particularly noteworthy in the Lough Neagh context but there’s lots of other invasives that have caused issues, such as invasive waterweeds which clog waterways and affect recreation and angling, as well as invasive parasites that may threaten fish populations in the future.
The demon shrimp was first identified in Irish waters in September 2025 PICTURE: CANAL & RIVER TRUST
“The challenge really in aquatic systems is management because we often don’t know when an invasion is there until it’s very abundant, at which point it’s very difficult to manage.”
Dr Cuthbert added that climate change and the spread of invasive species “very much feed into each other”, meaning that species from the likes of the Azov and Caspian Sea regions are “more primed to succeed”.
“That’s a particular region that’s had quite a lot of notorious invasions in Ireland and other parts of Europe recently, including things like the zebra mussel which is in Lough Neagh, the quagga mussel which recently arrived on the island of Ireland as well as the so-called ‘demon shrimp’ which has been invading Irish waters and recently detected as well.
“It’s not yet in Northern Ireland, but it is rapidly spreading.
“We can certainly look at what’s happening elsewhere to understand what could be coming in the future and climate change fuels that as well.”