More than a thousand fish die in pollution incident

The Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (Daera) has confirmed a major fish kill in a river in County Antrim.

It said more than 1,000 brown trout were killed due to slurry in the Four Mile Burn, a tributary of the Six Mile Water river.

The incident happened at Newmills, near Doagh, and is thought to be farm-related.

The Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA) contacted the Antrim and District Angling Association (ADAA) on Friday, informing them an incident had been reported.

In a video posted on social media, the ADAA said several of their members had walked three miles along the river and counted “hundreds of dead fish from last year’s crop, and perhaps thousands from this season’s crop".

The group has called for Minister of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs Andrew Muir and the NIEA to “get a handle” on pollution incidents in the Lough Neagh system, which members say have left it “in tatters”.

Mr Muir's party colleague, Alliance environment spokesperson John Blair MLA, said it was time for fines for polluters to be increased.

"It’s immensely disappointing such occurrences are still happening, particularly when they take place in the catchment area of Lough Neagh," he said.

He said increasing fines and penalties was "the only way polluters will learn and stop acts which risk our environment and its rich biodiversity”.

In a statement, a Daera spokesperson said the NIEA deployed water quality inspectors to the area to confirm the report and assess the environmental impact.

A joint investigation, with Daera Inland Fisheries, is "ongoing", they added.

The department said the source of the pollution had been identified and the NIEA engaged with the owner of the premises involved throughout Saturday afternoon to identify the cause and to prevent further discharge to the river.

"From the assessment of the impact on the fishery, a major fish kill has been confirmed, with 1,109 brown trout of varying ages being killed," it said.

Anglers said they feared hundreds of young salmon had also died in the incident.

President of the ADAA, John Mitchell, told BBC News NI that he believes the incident was due to agriculture.

"It’s just devastation, the whole tributary is dead," he said.

"We have a problem in Lough Neagh with the green algae, this is what is happening, these tributaries have to be kept clean and unfortunately they’re not.

"All the tributaries have to be kept clean and feed into the main river to keep the river clean, and keep Lough Neagh clean.

"This is where it starts and if it’s not clean here, it’s not going to be clean in Lough Neagh.

"The problem is not Lough Neagh, it’s the feeder streams and the rivers running into Lough Neagh that’s causing the problem, which is coming from agriculture," Mr Mitchell said.

Speaking to BBC Radio Ulster’s Good Morning Ulster programme on Monday, John Ashe from the ADAA said pollution incidents like this are hugely damaging to the fish population and are sadly common occurrences.

“This is one of the largest fish kills we have seen on our river,” Mr Ashe said.

“It’s heart-breaking but unfortunately for the 400 members of our fishing club, it’s sadly very regular.”

Mr Ashe said that more needs to be done by the farming community and the government to prevent these kinds of incidents from recurring.

“Our most amazing natural waterways are being hammered,” he said.

“We deal with about 20 to 30 pollution incidents on our river – starting from small to all the way up – every single year."