River Roe: Local angler reports ‘significant’ fish deaths

More than 700 fish were killed on the River Roe at Burnfoot between Limavady and Dungiven, a local angler said.

A spokesman for the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) confirmed that a fish kill occurred in a tributary of the River Roe in County Londonderry on Friday evening.

The investigation is currently ongoing, the spokesman added.

Eamon Mullan, chairman of Roe Angling Limited, told BBC News NI that more than 700 juvenile fish, including salmon, sea trout and brown trout, had been killed in the tributary.

Mr Mullan said Loughs Agency staff were notified of the incident late on Friday night and inspectors were on site in the days that followed.

“It’s a very, very big fish kill,” he said.

Mr Mullan explained that the tributary is a spawning area for salmon and a nursery area for juvenile fish, both salmon and sea trout.

He said the fish kills would have a “significant impact” on the inflow for several years to come.

According to Mr Mullan, agency staff have not yet been able to determine the cause of the fish deaths.

“They were looking for evidence to determine what type of material might have caused the problem and have not been able to determine that so far,” he said.

He added that agency officials would return to the river on Monday to try to determine the cause of the murder.

The fish kill in the River Roe came after reports emerged on Wednesday that pollution in the Glenavy River in County Antrim may have killed hundreds of fish.

The Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA) received a report on Wednesday that several kilometres of the river – which is part of the Lough Neagh catchment area – were polluted and that some fish were in distress and struggling to breathe.

About 30 dead fish were identified, but local anglers feared the number could reach 200 to 300 in this stretch of river.