‘Are fish kills being accepted as if they’re normal? This is not normal’

Anglers angry as questions remain over fish kill

A devastating fish kill in the Captain’s Bay of Lough Sheelin has sparked outrage among anglers, who say government agencies have not properly investigated the incident.

Estimates suggest between 1,500 and 2,000 fish perished in the event, which was reported on July 15, leaving the local angling community shaken and demanding accountability.

“So we have what we would consider to be a major fish kill here,” said Eamonn Ross of the Lough Sheelin Trout Protection Association. “We’re extremely disappointed that that happened. We’re extremely worried that it has happened, and we’re really concerned at the response from government agencies that have responsibility for water quality and for the protection of wild fish and wild habitats.”

Inland Fisheries Ireland (IFI), which confirmed it was investigating the incident, suggested at the time that prolonged hot weather and low dissolved oxygen levels were to blame. An IFI spokesperson told the Celt on July 17:

“Investigations thus far have not yielded any evidence of pollution. IFI staff were on site late yesterday and early today to investigate the incident, which is believed to have been caused by prolonged recent hot weather. Monitoring and assessment of the lake and river will continue to be undertaken.”

However, local anglers are far from convinced. Eamonn believes that the event was not a result of natural phenomena, and that too many questions remain unanswered.

“We do not believe that it was a result of the water temperature,” he said. Early August, IFI director of operations Ronan Matson was interviewed by RTÉ in relation to the Lough Sheelin fish kill. In his statement, he seemed to agree with the local anglers’ assessment: “It’s a rare thing that a fish kill in Ireland would be caused purely by low water and high temperatures. A good healthy river would generally be quite robust and resilient to pressures. But in a river that has problems ongoing, it can be catastrophic."

Eamonn choses his words carefully: “What we would say is that, if you have water coming down in from a river and, at the mouth of that river, you have 1,000 dead fish, and they don’t die 300 yards away, common sense would say something triggered that kill.” Eamonn emphasises: “We don’t believe it was an agricultural issue. We’re fairly confident of that.”

He shares a major concern among the angling community: “There doesn’t seem to have been a proper investigation into exactly what has happened. For example, we don’t believe that there were any fish samples taken and examined by the Marine Institute, like has happened within the River Blackwater [in Cork]. Are fish kills being accepted as if they’re normal? This is not normal.”

Uisce Éireann is responsible for the Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) in Mountnugent upstream of Captain’s Bay. The semi-state water body was asked for a statement in relation to the recent fishkill.

“There are stringent conditions attached to wastewater discharge licences to ensure the treated effluent is of good quality and does not negatively impact on the environment,” a spokesperson said. When asked to provide the Celt with the results of the bi-annual water tests the WWTP has to conduct according to the license agreement with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Uisce Éireann said "We don't have any more comment to make beyond our original statement of September 9th."

According to the EPA “Uisce Éireann checked the WWTP on July 28th and confirmed to the EPA that they found no unusual operation or occurrences which could result in an incident.”

What frustrates local anglers most is that the incident risks undoing decades of careful conservation work undertaken in co-operation with landowners, local fishery staff with funding from LEADER and the County Council. “There were a lot of people involved and it has been done without any publicity.”

Eamonn recalls efforts made in the early 2000s to restore fish stocks in key tributaries feeding into the lake. “We identified a lot of areas, especially in the upper Mountnugent are, where the fish kill happened...

“Those two rivers account for nearly 78% of the recruitment (the transition from a nursery phase to adult fish).”

“We’ve done an enormous amount of work on both rivers in terms of making sure that we have pools, and habitat that fish can survive in. The outcome was more fish, more wildlife, more otters, more birds. The ecology of the whole lake improved, and during the early 2000s we began to see fish numbers rise. Since then, we’ve had really, really good fishing here. That progress has been hard-won and could now be reversed.”

For Eamonn, fishing is more than a pastime: “Before mindfulness was ever invented, fishing was something that gave you that sense of peace,” he said.

“You’re out in the open air, in areas of beauty, with the sound of water. Fishing for wild trout out in the lake is something special, because I don’t think people realise how special this place is.”

Despite the setback, he remains hopeful. “I’m an optimist,” he added with a smile. “You have to be an optimist when you’re a fisherman.”

The Celt contacted IFI again on August 21 to ask whether the incident was in fact caused by hot temperatures or if pollution played a role. IFI officials declined to comment on the phone.

On August 27, the agency issued a brief response: “We are working on the replies and will revert asap.” This was reiterated on Sept 15th.

The Celt have approached egologists to examine the substantial chemistry monitoring data of Lough Sheelin and the river Inny acquired from the EPA of the past 7 years.

An update with their findings will be issued shortly.