Inland Fisheries Ireland has confirmed that it is investigating a serious incident in a stream near Kinsale in Co Cork which has resulted in the deaths of at least 2,000 fish.
An IFI spokeswoman said that incident had resulted in the deaths of both brown trout and eel over a 4-5 kilometres stretch of the Brownmills Stream which flows into the estuary at Kinsale.
“Inland Fisheries Ireland first became aware of the issue on Wednesday when a member of the public informed staff of seeing dead fish in the stream,” said the IFI spokeswoman.
The IFI spokeswoman confirmed IFI staff had removed both fish and water samples from the affected area and they have been sent for analysis by Cork County Council’s Environmental Department.
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“Inland Fisheries Ireland is not in a position to confirm the specific cause of the fish kill at this early stage, but our investigations are continuing,” added the IFI spokeswoman.
Members of the public who come across instances of fish kills, pollution or illegal fishing anywhere in the country can report it to IFI’s 24/7 confidential number 0818 34 74 24.
IFI has a statutory responsibility for Ireland’s 74,000 km of rivers and streams together with 128,000 lake hectares while it also has a coastline patrol jurisdiction of 12 nautical miles.
Established under the 2010 Fisheries Act and operating under the aegis of the Department of Environment, Climate and Communications, the agency has a staff of over 300 people nationwide.
