Mallow TD, Eoghan Kenny has called on the Minister of Agriculture to step in to investigate the ecological disaster on the Blackwater, where locals believe close to 50,000 fish have been killed.
Inland Fisheries Ireland (IFI) did carry out an investigation over the past week and have put the number somewhere between 8,000 and 10,000 fish killed along an 30km stretch of the river between Killavullen and Roskeen.
The fish that have died are mainly brown trout but it is also having an affect on other fish and species in the area.
Local angling clubs in Mallow, Lombardstown, and Killavullen along with fishery operators are still waiting on further test results to be revealed to find out the cause of the fish kills.
John Murphy, spokesman for Salmon Watch Ireland (SWI), said the conservation body is “alarmed at the scale and extent of the recent fish kill on the River Blackwater”.
He added: “We await the outcome of tests being carried out by the relevant State agencies, and call for full clarity on the causes of this ecological disaster.”
IFI, along with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Marine Institute are all carrying out investigations to determine the cause.
In a statement released to the Irish Examiner, the Environmental Protection Agency said: “The EPA inspected EPA-licensed industrial sites and urban wastewater discharges in the area on that same day.
“While the investigation is ongoing, preliminary sample results indicate no causal link between the fisk kill and discharges from EPA-licensed sites. The preliminary results from river water samples taken by EPA and Cork County Council indicate normal water quality in the area.
“EPA continues to liaise with Inland Fisheries Ireland, who are investigating the cause of death of the fish, and Cork County Council accordingly.”
