Donegal fish kill investigations under way

IFI said juvenile brown trout and European eel were among the fish killed

Two separate investigations are under way into a fish kill in County Donegal near the border with Londonderry.

Inland Fisheries Ireland (IFI) said more than 300 fish had been killed in an incident on a tributary of the Skeoge River in Bridgend on Wednesday.

It is now investigating the cause of the kill, adding that juvenile brown trout and European eel were among the dead fish.

Donegal County Council has also begun an investigation.

Donegal County Council said officials were alerted to the kill by a member of the public

A council spokesman said: “A senior central laboratory staff member carried out an inspection at the scene that evening and samples of effluent discharging to a tributary of the main river were taken for analysis, with the results awaited”.

The tributary runs to Farland Bank on Inch Level, a special conservation area.

Follow up investigations, the council spokesman added, “may lead to enforcement action being taken under the relevant legislation”.

'Probing the cause'

IFI, which is the body with responsibility for freshwater fish and their habitats in Ireland, said the kill covered around a one kilometre stretch of water.

A total of 263 brown trout and 26 elver have now been collected, the IFI added.

“IFI is actively probing the cause of this harmful ecological event, but it’s too early to definitively establish how it occurred,” the agency said in a statement.

“Monitoring and assessment of the impact will continue to be undertaken to identify the cause of the fish kill, and the quality of the water”.

A number of water samples have been collected, IFI said, “to gather evidence of the discharge”.

The IFI added that a separate investigation is being carried out by officers from Donegal County Council.